Reading the comments on twitter last night – NZFirst are really angry about what the greens have said.
I dont think the greens have clicked as to how bad the consequences will be for them (and labour by association and MOU) will be.
Taking into account that Key has gone, Shane Jones is in and Winston’s loathing of the greens a National / NF1st for government is almost a certain now.
Yeah, Metiria should have flip-flopped, denied saying it at all, claimed to be misremembering, or wearing her non-Green hat when she (didn’t) say anything about anything.
As perfected by John Key and attempted by Bill English, your men, James.
Nope, I go with courage and conviction, thanks Metiria.
“Taking into account that Key has gone, Shane Jones is in and Winston’s loathing of the greens a National / NF1st for government is almost a certain now”.
I know you don’t want to address that – because you know its true.
Watching you spin for some moral high ground is hilarious.
Read the thread, “Peters posturing”
“A minor blip on the electoral radar this weekend as Metiria Turei called out Peters’ “very racist approach to immigration”, and Peters responded with denials and warnings of “consequences”.
Before anyone gets too excited about this friction between possible coalition partners, do recall that in the last few weeks Winston Peters has laid a Parliamentary complaint against Bill English, and called on him to resign. In his turn English has called Peters “irresponsible” and “misleading”.”
So, James, NZF and National are “at each other’s throats”.
How were your predictions in the Northland bye-election James ?….
Do you agree that Winston is a king and knight slayer ????
That Johnny Made off …. to avoid the humiliation of his head being displayed in a wine box 🙂 .
Its quite funny how Winston from the knights watch got Keys scalp in the end ……
Especially as Key effectivly revived his political career with first the tea-pot tapes shit show …
and then next election the Dong Liu dirty politics smear on Labour/Cunliff….. with Winston coming through and picking up the ‘pox on both your houses ‘ voters.
John Keys legacy ……. reviving NZ First from the dead.
Im sure you are wrong. I have predicted National the last few elections – which puts me in a position of being more right on election outcomes that a lot on here.
But how about trying to comment on the point as opposed to making it all about me – some people on here – or do you have nothing to say on it?
Come now, Robert. Picking that the party massively ahead in the polls would win has to be recognised as an expertise-based, risk-assessed gamble, surely?
This is good because people will know that to the change the government you can’t rely on NZ First. That realisation will result in support moving to the Greens and maybe Labour
Well, yeah – same party’s still way ahead in the polls.
…NZF and Greens at each others throats.
So how is that good for labour?
Looks to me more like the Green Party disagreeing with NZF’s xenophobia.
Everyone who wants a change of government this year should be pleased to see it made clear that voting NZF is not a way of achieving that. The clearer Lab/Green can make it that a vote for NZF is a vote for maintaining National in power, the better.
Personally, I’d rather that if it came down to a government having to rely on NZ First, National got to be the ones picking up that particular gross, sticky tarbaby. NZF has been the kiss of death for every government they’ve been involved in and there’s an excellent reason for that (actually, with Shane Jones on board, there are now two excellent reasons).
James, I’m a numbers person, numbers are like a binary code for events.
I’m not talking about poll numbers, I’m more into Tesla, 3,6,9, galactic numbers and events.
There will be great change. I’m ready, I hope you are.
I’ve already made a bet with Red re either of us not commenting for a set period of time dependent on the outcome of the election.
Won’t make that bet with you, because am looking forward to your comments when National loses and they will.
I expect that Winstons target market is National party voters, easiest way to get those votes is to have a crack at the Greens when they speak their mind.
PS I predicted two of Muldoons wins in the ’80’s. Should have been given a fortune telling certificate when I was five for that.
Did you get a certificate for your two election prediction outcomes?
Numbers and patterns it’s all related, question everything, never let anyone say it can’t work. Many of the greatest inventions and social changes in history came from those who believe anything is possible.
Just out of interest James and BM, who did you give your party vote to last election?
But James – I picked the outcome of the rugby much better than you and I really don’t like the game much and didn’t bother watching most of it.
I think I said it would be “very close, probably 2-1 either way”
You don’t really engage in ‘predictions’ as such James – just utter boosterish inanities in support of your desired outcome.
Leave off talking about yourself for a minute, James, and have a read of this:
“The disturbing truth about the Green Party” – I know you’ll be all a-quiver from the title, James: read on:
“The disturbing truth about the Green Party (for any detractors or National supporters) is that it is a growing political force, part of an expanding global movement, and is here to stay. When more and more people around the world are embracing green solutions for our very real global challenges, it surely makes sense to put those who really understand what what needs to be done in charge. The Green Party leaders front an organisation that has substance and integrity and will continue strongly if they step aside, what other party can claim that level of proven stability and resilience?”
The sibling rivalry between the Greens, the “ingenue” & the much “older brother”, Peters is a bit pathetic from both sides! FFS!
Yes the Greens polling is tanking, RNZ’s PoP & Pundits PoP are reliable.Pundits PoP removes “Don’t Knows” RNZ doesnt, and polling sources look the same?
The ingenue(s) should just focus on their own shit & stop poking the monster because between the pair of them, theyre jeopardising a change of Government! FFS!
Need to accept that the kids arent going to get on, theyre from different (adoptive) parents, generation and experiences! FFS!
He gives 4 main reasons based on some recent Massey Uni research showing large numbers of people left and right have no faith in our political systems or politicians:
1. Lack of information. Need more and better civics education.
2. Decline of party membership.
3. Long term decline in political media.Too much infotainment in mainstream media. A lot of info available online, but people don’t know how to understand it, and don’t have time to work it out. Politicians go to a lot of effort to get and control media attention.
4. Rising influence of money and professional lobby groups. Not to tighten regulations on this.
The article ends:
One of the principal aims of the codified constitution that Dr Andrew Butler and I have proposed (which we have called A Constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand) is to strengthen understanding of New Zealand’s system of government, by gathering all of the main laws in one document which people can easily find.
A second aim is to promote discussion and debate. Do you agree that New Zealand’s democracy could be made stronger? If so, how? What should change?
Tell us your views at http://www.constitutionaotearoa.org.nz/.
Palmer carries on about infotainment yet he was in the cabinet that signed off on the corpriatisation of TVNZ and RNZ as well as the deregulation of broadcast media.
Shits sticks and forever leaves a stain except in the case of Sir John; he didn’t stick at all but did leave a bad smell that’s still emanating particularly strongly from the ninth floor.
Barry Soper shines a spotlight on the reality of the National Government’ track record on trade
Trade Ministers are a curious bunch. They’re usually articulate, well educated, are generally self obsessed about their ability to cut a deal and are forever lauding their successes, or at least taking about the potential.
But in recent years blathering on about success has been misplaced. Our success in doing trade deals in recent years has been woeful, in fairness with the Trans Pacific Partnership not helped by the current occupant of the White House.
National Ministers have been strong on rhetoric but short on delivery.
IMO the opportunity for new trade agreements that have a substantial impact on the economic activity between the parties has diminished. This is what you should expect after (insert management speak) the “low hanging fruit have been picked.” The economic impact of the TTP Agreement was so low that the it Zero was as good a place holder any other number.
Unless you are going for customs and currency unions there is not much left on the table. And of course Brexit is likely to negate moves in this area for a long time to come.
While not trying to excuse Nationals gap between rhetoric and delivery, I think we should not expect much, and not invest much in the process. McClay has been doing the diplomatic/trade jaunts around the world: may as well park him up in that Scenic Circle resort in the South Pacific.
It all looked pretty hard when Helen Clark first came to power.
Why should a tiny country ever succeed in bilateral trade deals? Our only real success in the previous multiple governments had been CER with Australia under Muldoon. Whereas Clark – by spending much of the hard-won soft power New Zealand had accumulated over previous Labour governments – hooked multiple deals.
Check out the post on the Rainbow Warrior today – we garnered massive international goodwill by turning the Rainbow Warrior into a moral crusade about nuclear war, culimating in our anti-nuclear legislation. We gained profile and respect far beyond our trade or GDP worth. Labour governments consistently understand the effect that soft power has for advancing our interests.
On all diplomatic fronts, including trade, this government has delivered us three terms of nothing.
That article carries the normal false assumption that trade deals are a good idea. The TPPA and our FTA with China (Sub par steel) have now proven that they’re not.
Bill English lying about his part in the Barclay situation was one thing but you’re unlikely to hear any more bullshit in one place than I heard from Bill English this morning.
It was a session of, “I’ll ask questions you have no rational answers for and listen to what you have to say.”
It’s embarrassing hearing a plonker trying to obfuscate, determinedly trying to not come across as a plonker. And coming across as a plonker.
kim hill missed a trick though…when double dipton said house prices in Auckland had stabilised in the last 9 months she should have asked ‘so you think average prices of a million is affordable do you?’
Kim was maybe a bit aghast – but she needed only to let him speak.. He would have pointed out that ‘affordable’ is not necessarily the average price.
I think it went well. English needs to speak as often as possible. 2005 was a good year…
Couple of good articles about placebo effects. One of them make the good point that all the disclaimers and warnings about side-effects has the result of lessening the efficacy of modern medicine. In contrast, it’s well known all the cheery nonsense spouted by the woo-merchants really reinforces the placebo effect.
Well now, that’s a truly devastating evidence-based and referenced critique of the points raised in those articles. I’ll go scuttle back under my rock in shame at your overwhelmingly superior logic.
The drug companies are an impediment to affordable health ….. the TPPA exported the usa model …… with extended patent lengths / profit gouging
Studies funded by drug companies are scientifically unreliable … often showing pro-drug bias .. and non-repeatable results/statistics when later studies are done by independent scientists and researchers.
Side effects is a euphemism for ‘other Effects’ ….. or ‘unwanted effects’….. Its the sales people and marketing that want to push these real but unwanted effects off to the side.
Finally the secrecy behind developing modern drugs …… to protect profits …. shows a gaping flaw when medicine is run by corporations and neo lib capitalism.
If medical research was open source and available knowledge was accessible to everyone … advancements and cures for cancers and disease would be much more advanced.
What this showed was not that the drugs were getting worse, but that “the placebo response is growing bigger over time,” but only in the US, explains Jeffrey Mogil, the McGill University pain researcher who co-discovered the trend. And it’s not just growing stronger in pain medicine. Placebos are growing in strength in antidepressants and anti-psychotic studies as well.
It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the construction and marketing of mental disorders and overdiagnosis in a country with a privatised health care system could it?
I’m sure that $50,000.000 is but a drop in the bucket for him. How did this wonderful squillionaire make his money is more to the point. The joys of Capitalism……. one in a million is a winner.
I think the point trying to be made is that this wealthy person should have been taxed so highly to the point that they could not have possibly been so charitable. The taxes collected should have been used by the government to build this Children’s hospital not due the generosity of an individual. Perhaps this guys should have kept his donation anonymous to avoid coming to attention of social justice warriors, the Twitter-sphere and blog commentators.
“Dunajtschik said he was often asked why choose to build a hospital.
“It is no secret, nor commercially sensitive, that a large part of my income is from government departments as my tenants.
“One particularly large department punctually pays their rent every month throughout the year, but they have the curious habit, at the end of the year they ask for one-third back. It is not called a rent refund. It is a three letter word.
Tax!
“Needless to say, thoughts had crossed my mind – how to stop this money-go-round?
“Suggestions like contacting some creative accountants in Panama were quickly dismissed…the suggestion [of a hospital] appealed to me on the spot.”
He is a long-time benefactor of charitable causes.
His financial help enabled Wellington helicopter pilot the late Peter Button to set up an air rescue service, now called the Life Flight Trust – a service that has been credited with saving 22,000 lives.
I wonder how much he donates to the National Party so that his wonderful generosity can continue to impress the likes of you James.
Meanwhile the rest of society suffers from the excesses and greed of free market Capitalism…….
Well, there are two types of people in the world, I guess.
When presented with an amazing soup made from a pig’s ear, the first type marvel’s at the ability of the chef and eats the meal.
The second type of person appreciates the skill of the chef, but also wonders at the social and living conditions of a culture that had to invent such a dish. Who consistently got the rest of the pig?
Short answer: because I plagiarise from Terry Pratchett too much and it would eat into TS trust’s legal fund 🙂
Longer answer: I’ve done a couple of posts, but it requires an attention span I don’t really have time for when my brain is awake. Writing to a word count is also a discipline I lost shortly after graduating.
Yeah, he should have spent his life’s energy being a bitter & twisted commentator at TS.
If you ever need someone to put you out of your misery DTB, I’m your gal.
I/S sums the property developer’s donation thus:
“Which is great news for Wellington kids. But its also a sign of the failure of National as a government. Building hospitals is a core function of the state in New Zealand, so having to rely on charity to do it means the government is simply failing to do its job. Ultimately, this comes back to taxes: National’s obsession with cutting taxes for its rich mates starves the government of the revenue needed to perform core functions like schools, hospitals, and state housing.”
One of the biggest constraints on DHB’S is the return they pay the gvt for the use of assets,if the 50 million asset was provided by the gvt the 8% return would by transferred back to the gvt.
The quasi neoliberal raptors spent more time on these aspects then solving health needs.
Cuba’s medical service is greatly overrated, just like China’s barefoot doctors of the 1970’s.
On just about every measure the Cuban people are probably the most deprived in the whole of Latin America, lowest GDP per capita, no elections, no freedom of expression, no freedom of travel.
By hey, if the hard left want to showcase Cuba as an exemplar of people’s freedom and prosperity, feel free to do so.
Um no here is the perception paradox,whereas metrics (usually wielded by the mathematical ungainly are not comparative ,as the map is not the territory)
Children in Auckland with absent, stressed out parents as both work for inferior wages to provide for them and to service a lifetime of debt for housing. What sort of “freedom and prosperity” does that exemplify ?
I presume your solution is to tax the rich so highly so that they are, well not rich any more.
Legislate them out of existence assuredly but not necessarily tax them. After all, the richest people aren’t even in the top tax bracket.
Has worked well in Cuba and Eastern Europe prior to 1990.
Last time I looked Cuba has a functional health that’s better than the US’s, produces huge amounts of necessary drugs, and other essential services. That’s because it’s actually invested in developing its own economy. Something that NZ isn’t doing enough of as we try to stay as a commodity exporting country.
in fact, NZ is failing quite badly as the ever increasing poverty caused by capitalism shows.
After free training Cuban doctors are paid $70 per month. Cubans are all equally miserable. Modern documentaries feature the fledgling green shoots of capitalism. A rural woman that came to Havana to sell chickens and now selling apartments.
It was all one way traffic at the Berlin wall. Hey Draco, you could of made history as the only man trying to sneak into East Germany.
I see Wayne Mapp as a dishonest helicopter trophy hunter ……
For years he was telling us he’d got the head of a Bull Thar ( taliban ) …. But in reality he’d killed a little kid nanny goat (an infant female … named Fatima )
Wayne is known for bending the truth and blaming victims ….
So for some context on Cuba ….. the side of the story that helicopter hunter wayne won’t mention ….
“After the Cuban Revolution in January 1959, we learned that there are also good and bad hijackings. On several occasions Cuban planes and boats were hijacked to the United States but they were not returned to Cuba, nor were the hijackers punished. Instead, some of the planes and boats were seized by US authorities for non-payment of debts claimed by American firms against the Cuban government. ”
“Bombing and strafing attacks of Cuba by planes based in the United States began in October 1959, if not before.6 In early 1960, there were several fire-bomb air raids on Cuban cane fields and sugar mills, in which American pilots also took part—at least three of whom died in crashes, while two others were captured. The State Department acknowledged that one plane which crashed, killing two Americans, had taken off from Florida, but insisted that it was against the wishes of the US government.”
” In March a French freighter unloading munitions from Belgium exploded in Havana taking 75 lives and injuring 200, some of whom subsequently died. The United States denied Cuba’s accusation of sabotage but admitted that it had sought to prevent the shipment…..
8 And so it went … reaching a high point in April of the following year in the infamous CIA-organized invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs…. ”
“The Bay of Pigs assault had relied heavily on the Cuban people rising up to join the invaders,10 but this was not to be the case……. As it was, the leadership and ranks of the exile forces were riddled with former supporters and henchmen of Fulgencio Batista, the dictator overthrown by Castro, and would not have been welcomed back by the Cuban people under any circumstances.”
” Despite the fact that the Kennedy administration was acutely embarrassed by the unmitigated defeat—indeed, because of it—a campaign of smaller-scale attacks upon Cuba was initiated almost immediately ”
” Throughout the 1960s, the Caribbean island was subjected to countless sea and air commando raids by exiles, at times accompanied by their CIA supervisors, inflicting damage upon oil refineries, chemical plants and railroad bridges, cane fields, sugar mills and sugar warehouses; infiltrating spies, saboteurs and assassins … anything to damage the Cuban economy, promote disaffection, or make the revolution look bad … taking the lives of Cuban militia members and others in the process” …”
pirate attacks on Cuban fishing boats and merchant ships, bombardments of Soviet vessels docked in Cuba, an assault upon a Soviet army camp with 12 Russian soldiers reported wounded ”
“The commando raids were combined with a total US trade and credit embargo, which continues to this day, and which genuinely hurt the Cuban economy and chipped away at the society’s standard of living. So unyielding has the embargo been that when Cuba was hard hit by a hurricane in October 1963, and Casa Cuba, a New York social club, raised a large quantity of clothing for relief, the United States refused to grant it an export license on the grounds that such shipment was “contrary to the national interest”
.14 Moreover, pressure was brought to bear upon other countries to conform to the embargo, and goods destined for Cuba were sabotaged: machinery damaged, chemicals added to lubricating fluids to cause rapid wear on diesel engines, a manufacturer in West Germany paid to produce ball-bearings off-center, another to do the same with balanced wheel gears…
—”You’re talking about big money,” said a CIA officer involved in the sabotage efforts, “when you ask a manufacturer to go along with you on that kind of project because he has to reset his whole mold. And he is probably going to worry about the effect on future business. You might have to pay him several hundred thousand dollars or more.”15
Wealth is mobile. When the tax hooks get too sharp, Mr Dunajtschik need not sell up his NZ assets, merely move head office offshore. In France hefting up taxes on the wealthy saw the actual tax take go down.
Most of those in Mr Dunajtscik’s club are picking out rosewood veneers for the grand saloon ceilings in their 200 footers. As with the retired judge that recently made a substantial donation to the Labour party campaign, I’m grateful they have chosen to spend their money in this way, thanks guys.
When the tax hooks get too sharp, Mr Dunajtschik need not sell up his NZ assets, merely move head office offshore.
A reasonable change of law would prevent his profits following him without them being taxed. Which is, of course, what a lot of political parties have been promising for awhile now because the international corporations are ripping us off.
Of course, I tend to think that offshore ownership should be banned anyway and that businesses should be self owned and run by the workers. This way he wouldn’t have any NZ assets when he left and would thus end his exploitation of NZ.
According to the OECD stats tables, the personal tax revenues rose. It was the corporate taxes that decreased post-2012.
Interesting argument that increases in personal taxes result in decreased corporate tax revenues. Probably some tax dodge that’s as trivial to close as the secret trust loopholes.
It’s really not. Why are children’s hospitals having to rely on charitable handouts from rich people? All this says to me is that there isn’t enough tax being paid, and people like this guy have a lot of spare cash lying about. Vote for a government that can/will join those two dots.
21 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
Adam – I was referring to other standard commenter using the term god freak in another thread – where no others called them up on it (I’m assuming because they don’t like the target of the abuse)
It seems that abuse like god freak and tub o lard is allowed to be used against people that some in this blog disagree with.
Of course should it be used back at them then people start calling it vile.
You’re saying, James, that Sean Plunket is “overweight”.
That’s very judgmental and hardly kindly of you to make such a comment in public. What’s next from you: a comment about John Key’s nose?
You offer such great material to work with, James – one of the best in the business, you. I don’t think you should be commenting about the physique of other people, except perhaps if you are complimenting them, but of course, it’s up to you what you do here.
Tend to agree on the tub o’ lard line, but “god freak”? The use a couple of days ago that you took exception to was related to people who felt that teaching sex ed and evolution was so bad they had to have their own schools that didn’t deal with such trash.
Slightly different to merely mentioning an appropriate tract from a particular magic book.
I took the meaning of God-freak in that context to be an attack on fundamentalists. Fundamentalism or Christian Fascism is a real worry, and we must be all vigilante to stop it from stealing the reigns of power.
I would have thought the Daesh would have opened people eyes, both left and right to the horrors of fundamentalism, plus the pitfall and failures of any theocracy.
Not really, given that a “Christian Charter School” would be for sects that find the already existing school types insufficient to teach what they believe should be taught (or not).
What advantages does a charter school have over the mixed model, for the educators? Other than disproportionately large per-student funding, of course?
Standard practice is to put a link to it james, as you know.
And yes I have been abused for being a Christian on this site, but turning the other cheek is how it works. Not some fundamentalist clap trap of living in the past, and attempting to pull down a point, because it does not fit with your greed theology.
Now back to the point, your comment was desperate and vulgar because no one accused Macro of anything. All I saw was Robert Guyton agree with it, plus I found it very good as well, but then I have a lot of time for the Gospel of Luke.
OK – I will withdraw and apologize to all (esp Marco) – who took offence to my comment – I can see how offence was taken to that particular post.
But – my point about abuse using terms – and for this example ‘tub ‘o lard’ are leveled at people generally that people on this blog do not agree with.
They are terms that would (I assume) never be tolerated in other forums.
If (and Im not – this is just an example) someone called Metiria Turei a tub ‘o lard – do you think people would simply let it pass?
Is tolerating this kind of language supportive of it?
Name calling? James said, ad nauseum ,
Angry Andy, Angry Andy, Angry Andy.
Hypocrite.
Or are you a “born again” champion of those who get called names, James?
Have you had a “Road to Damascus” experience?
Tell us about it, friend!
Ever done a count up of how many times you did use it?
Guess you’re all clear now and can chastise others for their sins.
That said, you did own your behaviour straight off and I admire you for that; you made Key and English look like crooks. I may tease you a bit, James, but I respect the way you sometimes front-up.
I don’t think Blinglish is smart enough to engineer this level of good news. Not election season yet, we’re still waiting for the dirty politics machine to crank up. I gotta give kudos to the Herald for maintaining its anti suicide campaign. It’s not all just fluff in the news
Savage’s – and Labour’s – opportunity came in 1933 with the death of its leader, Harry Holland. Whereas the hard-line Holland had scared middle-class voters, the gregarious but soft-spoken Savage personified Labour’s diluted socialism, or ‘applied Christianity’. As one historian said, Savage ‘smelt of the church bazaar, not at all of the barricades.’
The parable of the Widow’s Mite is great as a symbol, but it’s not going to build a whole hospital.
Jesus never had to deal with philapthropy, and could be argued that he made a pretty clear distinction between tax contributions and the stuff you could do for the service of God:
“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s”
It’s very rare in this country to see philanthropy in action at that kind of scale in New Zealand, and we need more of it.
We would have more philanthropy in action if the people earning those huge amounts paid a fair amount of tax in the first place. Conscience-salving charity afterwards reeks of egotistic smugness. That rat-bag Carnegie was a classic case.
In Vino
“Conscience-salving charity”. I think not. Just like sirjohn few of these people have a conscience, it is purely driven by bang for your buck, another tax dodge. Better return for his $$ than just paying straight taxes.
““Mr Dunajtschik has said his philosophy is that people blessed with a sound mind and body can look after themselves, but those born with or suffering illness and disability need our support.” – Jonathan Coleman – media release.
It is good that there is funding for a hospital, (as long as it is spent efficiently and on target to reduce waiting times and improve health care – Good luck with that).
Myself, I would prefer that sufficient funding for health care – in all sectors, including mental health and ACC – was adequately funded by the state. (Let’s give up a frigate or two to get it done.)
The emphasis above, highlights the problem with relying or utilising private donations (and charities) to meet the responsibilities of state and society. It always – always – comes with some form of judgement and prejudice.
Despite the admirable human intention of doing good, this donation does come with stings.
Different resources so that makes no sense especially when you consider that we do need to be able to defend ourselves. We could, and should, have both.
“Different resources so that makes no sense especially when you consider that we do need to be able to defend ourselves. We could, and should, have both.”
Yes, you are right. But we don’t have the same public discussion about defence spending that we do on issues such as health, education, welfare, environment etc. That leaves us vulnerable to overspending on defence for little or no benefit to NZ.
There was a good post on TDB, from Keith Locke regarding the defence capabilities of NZ, and how they are adequate for defence and civil emergencies excluding the frigates.
Te Kaha and Te Mana are used for foreign engagement – mostly for the benefit of the US – and cost many millions to maintain and upgrade. I would agree with him on this.
There was a good post on TDB, from Keith Locke regarding the defence capabilities of NZ, and how they are adequate for defence and civil emergencies excluding the frigates.
I seriously disagree with Keith Locke. We could not defend NZ from an invader. If the US or China decided to invade NZ we couldn’t stop them and the world is moving into a position that we need to consider that.
Te Kaha and Te Mana are used for foreign engagement – mostly for the benefit of the US – and cost many millions to maintain and upgrade.
That doesn’t mean that we should have them but that we should consider and discuss their use more openly.
And, again, money isn’t the issue. It’s more a question of resources and we have those resources. Even a 100,000 strong well equipped defence force wouldn’t stop us being able to have a fully equipped and staffed health care system.
We could stop an invasion fleet, sink it before it came even close. We probably couldn’t stop them if they decided to continue sending them. Eventually their ability to manufacture weapons and send personnel would overwhelm us. But we need to be able to stop that first one so that they decide not to send it.
Yeah we could make shields and really polish them and then aim them so the sun is reflected into 1 point and use that to annihilate the enemy. Plus that big hollow horse thing.
Three times, they also looked at it in the president’s episode.
Thing is, they couldn’t do it but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be done or was otherwise ineffective. It’s been reproduced with very mixed results over the years, mythbusters was just televised.
Which satellite guided missiles do we currently have in inventory? Even if we had them, GPS is easily countered. Even satellites are becoming vulnerable. Star map navigation isn’t precise enough to target vessels. And besides, anyone with the logistics to invade us will have actual jets that could easily wipe our choppers (oh, and whatever the poseidon can drop) off the board well before our lot get into firing range.
We could probably repel an invasion by Tonga. Anything more than that, we’re fucked.
Even if we mobilised the entire population to developing and operating a defence system, we’d not match the capabilities of a global power with less than 1% of the impulse to attack us as we have to defend ourselves.
We could stop an invasion fleet, sink it before it came even close.
From his involvement in the attempt to defend Sicily against Allied invasion in 1943, Von Senger und Etterlin took the valuable lesson that it’s impossible to prevent a seaborne invasion by a force that has naval and air superiority. That was reinforced by subsequent invasions at Anzio and Normandy. If more senior German commanders had figured that lesson out the war might have finished sooner.
Bottom line: the defenders don’t get to sink any of the invasion fleet without a sizable fleet of their own and the ability to protect it from air attack, and they don’t even get to put up much of a fight against the landing forces if they’re busy getting turned into mince by sustained air and naval bombardment. New Zealand lacks both the means to prevent a seaborne invasion and the ability to get and sustain the means.
Bottom line: the defenders don’t get to sink any of the invasion fleet without a sizable fleet of their own and the ability to protect it from air attack, and they don’t even get to put up much of a fight against the landing forces if they’re busy getting turned into mince by sustained air and naval bombardment.
That may have been true in WWII when they couldn’t see or fire beyond the horizon. Not true any more.
New Zealand lacks both the means to prevent a seaborne invasion and the ability to get and sustain the means.
We presently lack the means but we have the ability to produce and sustain those means. Rocketlab is proof of that.
“That may have been true in WWII when they couldn’t see or fire beyond the horizon”.
That was no longer true in WWII by about midway through 1942.
In the battle of Midway the fleets were never within sight or gun range of each other. They were always at least 200 km apart and all the attacks were being carried out by aircraft.
That wasn’t that different from today, in my opinion.
The principle still applies. Modern navies have anti-missile defences, so there’s nothing decisive about being able to fire missiles at an invasion fleet. Apart from which, without an air force to protect them your shore-based defences have too much on their plate to be targeting ships off-shore.
Modern navies have anti-missile defences, so there’s nothing decisive about being able to fire missiles at an invasion fleet.
there is if you fire enough missiles.
Apart from which, without an air force to protect them your shore-based defences have too much on their plate to be targeting ships off-shore.
Who said I’d be missing out an air-force or ground based air defence?
And then there’s the fact that I’d go for a 2000km curtain. Nothing above the surface of the water to be able to exist within that radius without our express permission.
Yes, if NZ had a substantial air wing, massive amounts of surface to surface and air to surface missiles, an integrated air defence system running surveillance out to 2000km with a parallel satellite surveillance system, a standing patrol of picket ships and sonar bouys, and about 50,000 people in uniform to operate it all, then we could probably repel almost any invading force.
Although I’d be wanting some Romulan disruptor beams and a photon torpedo bank, too, just to be safe. /sarc
If we faced a conventional invasion we wouldn’t be able to stop it. But we could and would make it expensive – we could give the invaders our supermarket chains intact and watch their ground forces go broke and morale plummet before our IED campaign really got underway. If we really hated them we’d gift them Treasury.
Or we could have strategic alliances with friendly countries that guarantee our borders.
Oh, hang on.
Or we could use trade to gain defensive weaponry.
Oh, hang on.
You embarrass yourself sometimes.
Only if you’re happy to find that we can’t defend ourselves because those ‘friendly’ nations are the ones invading.
And trading for defensive weaponry won’t be possible once the trade routes have been cut.
And I’ll note that Britain’s guarantee of Belgium’s neutrality didn’t work too well when Nzai Germany decided to invade France.
So we sit in the middle between two major powers and juggle it so that an invasion is more trouble than what they’ll get from trade.
As soon as the decision is made to invade, they’re basically on our shores. We just need to make it more attractive for them to decide to do something else.
We did once the ACF A-4’s specializing in Martime Strike with the P3’s and Frigates providing the C3 ( Command, Control and Commutations). If the Argies went for the RN Landing Ships and Support Ships instead of the Combat Ships the Falkland’s war would’ve ended before it started. BTW the Land forces almost ran out of ammo, if the Argies had put a fight the Pom’s would have been in a rather tight spot at the ass end of the world in the middle of the winter and the 83 election could’ve a British Labour party victory.
“We could not defend NZ from an invader”.
I agree, which is why the justification for the purchase and continued use of these frigates is nonsensical.
“And, again, money isn’t the issue. It’s more a question of resources and we have those resources. Even a 100,000 strong well equipped defence force wouldn’t stop us being able to have a fully equipped and staffed health care system.”
A few years ago – our defence force sent a team to assess damage in Samoa after Cyclone Evan. Usually as a precursor to rebuilding efforts. After a couple of weeks of assessment and partaking of hosting from already devastated communities, or Defence Force had to tell Samoa that NZ did not have the budget to assist. That year, they undertook a series of exercises alongside the US – which continues.
It depends on values and ideas of security. I believe a greater value in gained in helping local nations in our region repair and rebuild, than in playing war games with others with big toys and budgets.
Especially, when we are actively inviting economic “invasion” and ownership of land and resources with government policy.
And the lack of public discussion about resources and priorities is a problem.
I agree, which is why the justification for the purchase and continued use of these frigates is nonsensical.
No, it means that we need to build up our defensive capability to be able to do so.
After a couple of weeks of assessment and partaking of hosting from already devastated communities, or Defence Force had to tell Samoa that NZ did not have the budget to assist.
Which is a load of bollocks caused by our capitalist system.
I believe a greater value in gained in helping local nations in our region repair and rebuild, than in playing war games with others with big toys and budgets.
I think we should be doing both and that we have the resources to do both.
Especially, when we are actively inviting economic “invasion” and ownership of land and resources with government policy.
And that needs to be stopped ASAP.
And the lack of public discussion about resources and priorities is a problem.
And that particular discussion has been diverted through the discussion of money. As a nation we don’t really know what we can do because we don’t know the resources we have available.
You forgot about East Timor during INTERFET Molly, The Frigates, Canterbury F421 a Type 12 class and Te kaha ANZAC class provided over watch (Air Defence, Naval Gun Fire Support, Anti Surface and Anti Sub Surface warfare and C3 support) to the Peacekeeping Forces. Both NZ Frigates did contact a TNI Sub operating inside East Timor waters and on both occasions they tracked the Sub to a point where they hit the Sub with active sonar and pinged it to death until it left East Timor’s waters.
We never head from the TNI Sub’s again after what RNZN did to them. Also the mock air attacks conduct by TNI Airforce ended the same time against INTERFET sea lane’s of commutations as every Combat Naval Ship hit their aircraft with radar they had.
As my grandmother once said, the Locke family do love the sound of their own voice when their head up own asses.
What little I know of East Timor – I have from reading John Pilger’s reporting.. Australia does not come out of that area with much honour from that perspective.
I didn’t know we were part of the peacekeeping force there. I’m not sure if peacekeeping is the right word, if the intention was to secure access to natural resources.
I’d have to look into the political aspects before commenting further. If you have any links to direct me to, that would be great.
I have family in active duty, and take care to differentiate the difference between criticism of decisions at higher levels, rather than those who perform their duty with capability, integrity and service. Particularly, decisions made from behind nice safe desks that send our troops in to unsafe areas to support “allies” for trade benefits, or create situations where they and/or our nation becomes more unsafe.
“As my grandmother once said, the Locke family do love the sound of their own voice when their head up own asses.”
Interesting sounding lady, your grandmother. Don’t know if I agree, but she sounds like a character.
I have a good story a about my mate Lenny and the cover up after wards. I’ll tell it tomorrow. We were Both Tankies, did crewman’s case together before he transfer to 2/1 Battlion, B Coy and I was in 2Troop NZ Scots,1 Recon SQN Burnham as of part 3 Land Force Group in the 90’s and this will tell you why I the Tories and pro defence in what happen to Lenny.
Just been reading your link. John seems to skip over the INTERFET bit, but I can you from most the of us INTERFET vets now felt we were righting a wrong since the 75 invasion by the TNI. I was back there again in 06 to stop the civil war from breaking out, but that tour did leave me along with a couple of INTERFET vets in our SQN few unanswered questions. What other INTERFET vet’s piss us of the most is the way the Australian government still treats the Timor Leste atm, but that’s not only thing that us going!! It’s what happening in West Papua ATM that gets us going off like a belt mortar because the bloody TNI are doing the same thing over there as what they did to East Timor and that was not pretty to see or witness.
Then you get dickheads like Locke saying we don’t need frigates, a Air Combat jets and Christ know’s what else he and his muppets friends want to rid of within the NZDF? When we came so god damm close to have an all out shoot war with those TNI bastards during INTERFET and We know if do end up freeing the people of West Papua from TNI rule in the future, we are going to need every tool in our tool box because the TNI may not make the same mistake again.
It’s a shame I can’t find diary from INTERFET and my orders notes, to share with everyone on the Standard. But only i’ve my memory to relie on, but the other to that is my emotions and PTSD goes into overdrive.
Hence I’m Pro Defence and can’t stand 2 face peaceniks idiots like the Locke family who campaign for the Dutch to give up West Papua only to handed over the Left wing Indonesia government at the time and want us to go into West Papua to sort this bloody mess with no tools in the tool
box?
My grandmother said be always watch your back with the Locke family as they make other people to do their dirty work for them or fell you under the bus if you tell the truth just like you great grandparents did back in Blackball in the 30’s. In other words they are parasites my grandmother said.
Thanks exkiwiforces. Sorry to hear that you lost a friend, there. Pvte Manning is only a name to me, but you have a loss of a person with whom you shared memories and experiences.
My family is involved in the forces – my parents met there in fact, many, many years ago.
I’ve never joined (too much of a pacifist) – only been on a couple of weekends in my long ago youth. But had friends and family that were (and still are) long time TF, or RF. From my personal experience, the defence forces attract people with a clear idea of service, and train them well. The camaraderie of the armed forces seems to stay with them in their civilian and family life.
The issue of deployment and changes are ones I watch from the sidelines. I don’t want our troops deployed for trade reasons, or access to resources disguised as human rights. It is the responsibility of those who do not serve – to ensure that those who put themselves at risk – do not do so unnecessarily. (Of course, that might be in conflict with troops themselves who may look forward to deployment in order to put their training into use).
The failed civilianisation project, seemed to me to be less to do with the unachieved savings but more to do with changing the culture within the defence forces. Which to my mind were markedly different (and superior) to the US, UK and Australia. 🙂 And from what I hear, there have been noticeable changes.
Will read with interest your posts on the situation – when you have time. (I usually take care to do so, just because it is good to hear that experience. I don’t know if you realise, but conversations like that usually happen within the forces – not out of them so much.)
Actually NZ spends very little compared to other countries on Defence.
$2.2B out of total Govt Expenditure of $74.4B is around 3% of total Govt Expenditure, or in terms of GDP it is just under 1% of GDP. (The Chump has been admonishing European countries at the NATO conference for not spending 2% of their GDP on defence.)
The frigates are an integral part of NZ defence policy, which until 1985, was based upon the ANZUS alliance. As NZ depends upon shipping for its economic survival, frigates such as Te Kaha and Te Mana are essential elements in protection of shipping should there ever be a threat in the South Pacific. They are specialised vessels with emphasis upon Anti Submarine warfare. Obviously such a limited force is unlikely to be sufficient for the protection of all shipping visiting these shores, and alliances with Australia, and in the past the US, were the basis for the need for interoperability. It still is, perhaps to a lesser extent.
As to which Service gets the most – it may come as a surprise to Keith but the Navy receives the smallest share of Defence funding:
As usual, the New Zealand Army leads with $543 million, followed by the Royal New Zealand Air Force with $517 million and the Royal New Zealand Navy with $308 million.
I fully concur with your comments Macro. New Zealand is a sea based nation that’s relies on it ability to trade in order to generate wealth for the nation and if those sea lanes of communication are cut in some ways then NZ’s economy head south and some sectors of the economy will go down faster than a sinking ship. And thanks to theses Neo Lib Muppets, NZ has very little slack now weather it the NZDF, its Manufacture sector, it reliance on Petrol, Oils and Lubricate products (POL) and many other sectors that have hit by these Muppets with their stupid economic polices.
In other words: if you can’t import, you can’t export and if you can’t export then your economy tanks. We all know what happens the economy goes tits up.
I leave you with this quote from Sir Walter Raleigh:
” Whoever’s commands the sea, commands the trade, whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.”
400 years later it succinctly explains why the US are driving ships within 12km of artificial islands in the South China Sea, and why the islands were built.
I’ll drag up the figures on how much trade goes via the Singapore hub to the north east Asia nations and it will you an idea on the effects if war broke out on the New Zealand economy. There is nice article about South China Sea and its northern neighbors in the Australian Navy League magazine. It’s worth a read.
I agree with those comments, but you forgot to add the “one road- one belt” as over the over arching strategy that the Chinese are pushing ATM. This strategy that the Chinese are pushing will enable them to isolate the 3 major economies in North East Asia which in turn will effect just about every economy within the Asia/ Pacific region if the not world if war broke out.
Anyway, as promise from last night here are the maritime trade figures via the Singapore Hub.
Two- thirds of the worlds oil shipments transits the Indian Ocean, with more than 15million barrels of oil transiting the Malacca Strait daily in 2014.
30% of the global maritime trade transits through the South China Sea annually, including $1.2trillion in ship- borne trade bound for the USA ports.
Developing East Asian economies- responsible for about one-third of the world’s GDP growth – the prosperity of the world hinges, in large part, on freedom of navigation through the Asia- Pacific region.
Source:
“The Navy” The magazine of the Navy League of Australia, Jul- Sep edition.
Page 11, Dealing with Two Superpowers: Australia must understand what China and the United States want.
By George Galdorisi
Yes, someone is playing a very long game and it’s not us, as they playing us for mugs ATM and when we realised that we have been con into playing their game it will be too late. To understand their thinking you just to read Sun Tuz the update version, with sprinkle of Mahan, Clausewitz, Bismarck and someone’s little red book.
Somewhere I’ve got a nice copy of Sun Tzu with annotations by a PLA general who illustrated each of Sun Tzu’s points with anecdotes from throughout the PLA’s history, from before the Long March through to at least the contretemps with India in the late 60s. Complete with judgemental corrections to Sun Tzu’s feudalist pre-revolutionary thinking.
Certainly an interesting perspective when compared with someone like Liddell Hart.
A successful elderly guy gives away most of his money to build a childrens’ hospital, no doubt as a final thank-you to his adopted country for offering him a chance at a good life.
And the standard hates him for being successful and making money.
This is one of the least impressive things I’ve ever read on here. I’m embarrassed to call you lot my fellow New Zealanders.
He could have done absolutely anything he wanted with his money, he chose to donate a new childrens’ hospital to the people of New Zealand. The only thing we need to say is thank you. I certainly will be.
Before that he spent years trying to demolish a listed building so he could build his own pet project. That alone should tell you he doesn’t give a shit about the public good.
We can’t even afford to build new stuff we need, there is no way we should be squandering money on embalming old, unsafe, dysfunctional relics of the past that no longer serve a purpose.
I repeat what I wrote above:
“We would have more philanthropy in action if the people earning those huge amounts paid a fair amount of tax in the first place. Conscience-salving charity afterwards reeks of egotistic smugness. That rat-bag Carnegie was a classic case.”
Study the tactics Carnegie used to become an oligarch in the USA, then rate all the ‘charitable’ things he did.
When a broken society starts to rely on rich people’s charity we know that the society is broken. The charity should never have been needed in the first place.
But you are so overwhelmed with gratitude, aren’t you RRM?
If I had 50 million I wouldn’t give it away to ungrateful envious people like you just want to assassinate my character. I’d be driving a 1960s Ferrari around Europe eating and sleeping at 5-star and up places every night!
That is a dumb reply, RRM. The money is not being given to people like me – I am too old to get into a children’s hospital. And I am not envious. I have had a good life, and spent 5 years working and living in Europe, but no Ferrari, and a 5-star meal on one occasion only. I doubt that you have any idea of what living in Europe means, and your character remains as poor as you have already displayed it.
But revealing. RRM typifies a ‘sort’ or thinker that is genuinely moved by something and can’t or won’t tolerate discussion outside of the simplest description of what he or she supports. Here, commenters think, yes, but what about…and are, in the minds of RRM, James et al, “haters”. You mustn’t question these things; they’re obviously beyond criticism, ’cause. Those who do want to tease apart the fabric can be, and often are, careless in their choice of rejoinders, forgetting how reactionary the JamesRRM-crowd is. It’s a tribal split that never seems to mend.
Apologies if posted beforehand but a good (short) interview with Naomi Klein and Owen Jones that articulates how I respond to a lot of the coverage of Donald Trump.
How when all the focus on on his not-unexpected, or not-out-of-character behaviours – issues of real importance and concern for Americans – and the wider global community – are being pushed through by the Republican party.
Good sum up near the end.
“… and it is also the urgency of the climate crisis, that we have so little time left on the climate clock to reverse the trends and get our emissions radically down which is entirely in conflict with neoliberal economics.
We need to so radically reverse the logic of austerity.
We need to massively reinvest in the public spirit in order to re-invent it, in order to fundamentally change where we get our energy from, how we move ourselves around our countries – our cities, how we live in our cities. So we are talking about huge investments in housing, infrastructure, energy, transit, rail.
So where’s the money going to come from? This is a redistribution project, right…
…But it is fundamentally in conflict with our economic paradigm.
So we have that urgency of the rising right, we have the urgency of the climate clock, we are out of time on all these fronts, but yet, on the other hand, we are also realising it’s within our grasp.”
Poor diddums James. It hurts me so to see the anguish you are suffering today. Normally your glass is always half-full, and the world is a beautiful place to live in. But you waste your time trying to troll this website with deliberate provocation, and the replies have finally got under your precious skin. How sad. You could always solve the problem by just buggering off, you stupid egg.
Here are the NAtiona Mps and the money we ghacver given them or cost use since thet giot into office. bILLIONS
Did we get a good result for our money.
Did they make our country better ?
I think they make have acted to make it worse, selling those state assets at that time seemed economny a bad decsion for us.
They tax system has ment housing is the only way for people to get rich. they do wierd things like tax tobbacsoo so much there are deaths , tax aclohold so low there are deaths dont tax sugars at all so there are deaths diotn tax natural resources like water so there could be deaths
They spent billions on a motorway to taurnag ?
OI mean if they had styayed hoime for last 190 years we could al be fincvally better off?
Money huh… So lets buy more houses and more houses and build more houses and more houses and make money out of renting houses and selling houses and making painting houses, lets all do houses make houses sell houses look at houses. Lets increase prices of houses lets let over seas people come and pay more than the locals can afford for houses. lets do this lets do it again and again and again and lets the media talk about cricket and cooking shows and then talk about suicide as some weird thing once and a while and lets back to making houses again lets sell houses lets pay the council money to let use build the houses lets build houses lets make more more and more houses and lets rent the houses to make money to build another house or paint our existing house lets make a new roof colour for our house lets put a fence in front of our garden lets make another house lets build houses, lets get money from a bank on a loan $600,000 dollars in dollars to buy a painted house a white one. Lets make and sell houses lets put them fro rent to sell to others to make more hoses and then lets paint them again and again and again lets paint our house blue this time and sell it again and lets rent it and sell it an mow the lawns and then lets talk about it and publish a magazine on houses lets make a coffee table for our house lets do this make a house make a house make a house make a house make a house. rent a house rent a house,. rent a house, paint a house, rent a house, money lets put a pink kitchen in the house to rent the house for more it now has a pink kitchen lets rent rent rent rent rent the houses and now lets buy the house an lets loan some money to purchase a house and then rent the house and loan money for the house and loan money and loan money and rent a house and pain the house again. So this is New Zealand.
Rugby is a national obsession but Houses are our true religion, the objective of our lives, the subject of our conversations and TV programmes and the substance of news and advertising and the basis of our bubble economy. A false religion of greed that is causing massive inequality and misery.
In a healthy society housing is a human right and available to all citizens at a reasonable cost. In NZ the housing market is a plaything of the rich putting the entire economy at risk
Nicely said, you wonder why each say 1-5% price increase in housing and all those rent hikes aren’t reported like a financial earthquake that reverberates right through our towns and cities.
This morning on Rnz about retirement. Only about 3 mins and full of very problematic figures. With low wages all your life, not owning a home with the mortgage paid off, very gloomy. Looks like many of us won’t be able to work and earn enough to live on, and won’t be able to live in any sort of comfort with visits to family or treats or little pleasures. But what expectation of retirement are these assessors working on, there isn’t a scale as there was when I heard the Otago University measures of cost of a food basket, I think they had three levels?
I can’t see why the attitude to retirement payments can’t change at political and advisor level. Volunteer work as return for the old age benefit should be de rigueur, so helping the country tick on, and doing all sorts of things including mentoring the young and making up for the lousy education many children are receiving under the cookie cutter model. Further education so that older people are in a place where they understand politics and economics and not be the retired children that seems the meme for so many smarmy young and middle aged people. Money created by government is already being talked about by deeper thinkers than those we usually hear from. The inflationary and unbalancing effect can be limited in various ways according to the economic innovators.
And last not least an extension of hospice so people can be cared for as they totter off to the great beyond when their bodies break down and they can’t have extensions of life every year, they may be in the care home for a year or so, able to walk and take an interest and enjoy end of life in comfort. And legally devised, carefully considered and consulted with people who care about euthanasia, so after the decision and legal steps taken, people can be free to relax and life to the full for as long as they can and wish.
i have gotten an e-mail purportedly from inland revenue saying i had a refund and to use a link to claim.
the address that pops up at the top of the page is luckycatmob.com/ird….
all looks legit, however that address is concerning.
chees james,
what has gotten me engaging with ird is setting up a ‘myIR’ account to enable a few refunds over the last few financial years.
i assume this is the quick/easy/free you are referring to.
Just reflecting on the change to decimal thirty years ago in 1967, before I was born.
In the early 80’s Muldoon was in power, I’m still at primary and ended up writing a letter to Merv Wellington, the then minister of education complaining that our maths text books were still in imperial measurements. We eventually received decimal math’s text books.
Around 15/16 years after the decimal system was introduced, kids didn’t have up to date text books (schools must have been underfunded, because that should not have been happening) and there were around 40 kids in a classroom.
The infamous Minister Merv Wellington tried to get every school to salute the flag and pledge allegiance every morning. He also started a project to remove any books that showed any form of nudity such as in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Some schools started going though such library books using a black felt-tip pen or ripping out such awful pages. Weird times.
Many here rush to point out that the state should already have provided that hospital anyway, but our current govt. is too busy talking about tax cuts while underfunding state services in order to create a false budget surplus.
I suggest (as above) that you read some history and find out how Carnegie became an oligarch in the USA, then used his millions for ‘charitable’ purposes. An egotistic, smug hypocrite. Don’t rush to fall to your knees and cross yourself, Stunned mullet. That man has probably ‘avoided’ paying more than $50 million.
Good grief..
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
What a delight to tune in to Kim Hill this morning. Nine to noon was so good when Kim ran it….good memories.
National ministers used to a gentle touch from Espiner and Ferguson will be scarce.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11888165
Andrew Little piggy in the middle.
Reading the comments on twitter last night – NZFirst are really angry about what the greens have said.
I dont think the greens have clicked as to how bad the consequences will be for them (and labour by association and MOU) will be.
Taking into account that Key has gone, Shane Jones is in and Winston’s loathing of the greens a National / NF1st for government is almost a certain now.
And the Mighty All Blacks will win the series 3-0, I just knows it!!
yeah james don’t care one way or tother – yeah, nah. Funny how he is going off and fizzing so much about this BIG issue lol.
Yep – But I have gotten the elections right for the last few – so Im happy with my track record.
So How do you see this as being good for Labour / Green government?
“Despite Peters’ reaction, Turei was sticking to her guns a few hours later. “I’m telling it like it is.”
I like a political leader with courage and conviction. It bodes very well.
Yeah – this is the right thing to double down on. hahahahaha
Bodes well for 3 more years in opposition.
Yeah, Metiria should have flip-flopped, denied saying it at all, claimed to be misremembering, or wearing her non-Green hat when she (didn’t) say anything about anything.
As perfected by John Key and attempted by Bill English, your men, James.
Nope, I go with courage and conviction, thanks Metiria.
Whatever Robert – My point was:
“Taking into account that Key has gone, Shane Jones is in and Winston’s loathing of the greens a National / NF1st for government is almost a certain now”.
I know you don’t want to address that – because you know its true.
Watching you spin for some moral high ground is hilarious.
Read the thread, “Peters posturing”
“A minor blip on the electoral radar this weekend as Metiria Turei called out Peters’ “very racist approach to immigration”, and Peters responded with denials and warnings of “consequences”.
Before anyone gets too excited about this friction between possible coalition partners, do recall that in the last few weeks Winston Peters has laid a Parliamentary complaint against Bill English, and called on him to resign. In his turn English has called Peters “irresponsible” and “misleading”.”
So, James, NZF and National are “at each other’s throats”.
No chance of a marriage there then…
Still baiting James, you sound desperate. How about some logical sound reasoning.
Your question, Johan?
James has no answer to Robert Guyton, and fails to reply. But he has work to do further down the thread!
How were your predictions in the Northland bye-election James ?….
Do you agree that Winston is a king and knight slayer ????
That Johnny Made off …. to avoid the humiliation of his head being displayed in a wine box 🙂 .
Its quite funny how Winston from the knights watch got Keys scalp in the end ……
Especially as Key effectivly revived his political career with first the tea-pot tapes shit show …
and then next election the Dong Liu dirty politics smear on Labour/Cunliff….. with Winston coming through and picking up the ‘pox on both your houses ‘ voters.
John Keys legacy ……. reviving NZ First from the dead.
I’m sure you are just as bad at picking political outcomes as rugby results james. ps- don’t poison your kids attitude over such matters.
Im sure you are wrong. I have predicted National the last few elections – which puts me in a position of being more right on election outcomes that a lot on here.
But how about trying to comment on the point as opposed to making it all about me – some people on here – or do you have nothing to say on it?
“I predicted National the last few elections”
“O” for oarsome!
How ever did you manage that, James? Against all odds!
Come now, Robert. Picking that the party massively ahead in the polls would win has to be recognised as an expertise-based, risk-assessed gamble, surely?
James – living on the edge!
James can’t put a foot wrong with the media on his side, but of course the totally stacked media has nothing to do with it (sarc).
Yet so many on here still though Labour would win them.
Not looking good this time either is it PM – esp with NZF and Greens at each others throats.
So how is that good for labour?
This is good because people will know that to the change the government you can’t rely on NZ First. That realisation will result in support moving to the Greens and maybe Labour
That is good for Labour James
That will only be good for labour if that happens – but I doubt it will.
Not looking good this time either is it PM…
Well, yeah – same party’s still way ahead in the polls.
…NZF and Greens at each others throats.
So how is that good for labour?
Looks to me more like the Green Party disagreeing with NZF’s xenophobia.
Everyone who wants a change of government this year should be pleased to see it made clear that voting NZF is not a way of achieving that. The clearer Lab/Green can make it that a vote for NZF is a vote for maintaining National in power, the better.
Indeed – but when they do this – they will be making it harder to get NZF in a collation with them – and they look like they are going to need them.
Personally, I’d rather that if it came down to a government having to rely on NZ First, National got to be the ones picking up that particular gross, sticky tarbaby. NZF has been the kiss of death for every government they’ve been involved in and there’s an excellent reason for that (actually, with Shane Jones on board, there are now two excellent reasons).
How did so many on here get it so wrong should be the question.
James, I’m a numbers person, numbers are like a binary code for events.
I’m not talking about poll numbers, I’m more into Tesla, 3,6,9, galactic numbers and events.
There will be great change. I’m ready, I hope you are.
I’ve already made a bet with Red re either of us not commenting for a set period of time dependent on the outcome of the election.
Won’t make that bet with you, because am looking forward to your comments when National loses and they will.
I expect that Winstons target market is National party voters, easiest way to get those votes is to have a crack at the Greens when they speak their mind.
PS I predicted two of Muldoons wins in the ’80’s. Should have been given a fortune telling certificate when I was five for that.
Did you get a certificate for your two election prediction outcomes?
Weka
This is the arrogance I was talking about yesterday that you questioned me on
Makes sense – Ive always wondered why political parties do polling when they could just refer to Tesla, 3,6,9, and galactic numbers.
Its obvious when you think about it.
42, James, that’s the answer.
Everything else is nonsense.
42 was a joke made by Douglas Adams when writing the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
“I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought ’42 will do’ so I typed it out. End of story.”
How ever you are almost there BM 4+2=6
Expand your mind if you dare.
Numbers and patterns it’s all related, question everything, never let anyone say it can’t work. Many of the greatest inventions and social changes in history came from those who believe anything is possible.
Just out of interest James and BM, who did you give your party vote to last election?
What do you think of Fibonacci ratios?
The Greens
Fibonacci sequence, Golden Ratio…
But James – I picked the outcome of the rugby much better than you and I really don’t like the game much and didn’t bother watching most of it.
I think I said it would be “very close, probably 2-1 either way”
You don’t really engage in ‘predictions’ as such James – just utter boosterish inanities in support of your desired outcome.
Actually I think I predicted 3-0 at some point.
Leave off talking about yourself for a minute, James, and have a read of this:
“The disturbing truth about the Green Party” – I know you’ll be all a-quiver from the title, James: read on:
“The disturbing truth about the Green Party (for any detractors or National supporters) is that it is a growing political force, part of an expanding global movement, and is here to stay. When more and more people around the world are embracing green solutions for our very real global challenges, it surely makes sense to put those who really understand what what needs to be done in charge. The Green Party leaders front an organisation that has substance and integrity and will continue strongly if they step aside, what other party can claim that level of proven stability and resilience?”
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2017/07/the-disturbing-truth-about-green-party.html
Are there other Green Parties in the world tracking at even 5%?
nope james ….the obvious thing that will happen is nzf will go with labour but insist greens not part of coaltion.
Which is great because then the Greens get to keep their Purity Ring shiny.
…nzf will go with labour but insist greens not part of coaltion.
In other words, NZF will ensure National remains in power, either by joining them in government or rendering a Labour-led government impossible.
It’s a cunning plan to share out nuttyanal voters who want something a bit more racist, or a bit more wet.
The sibling rivalry between the Greens, the “ingenue” & the much “older brother”, Peters is a bit pathetic from both sides! FFS!
Yes the Greens polling is tanking, RNZ’s PoP & Pundits PoP are reliable.Pundits PoP removes “Don’t Knows” RNZ doesnt, and polling sources look the same?
The ingenue(s) should just focus on their own shit & stop poking the monster because between the pair of them, theyre jeopardising a change of Government! FFS!
Need to accept that the kids arent going to get on, theyre from different (adoptive) parents, generation and experiences! FFS!
Get on with it! FFS!
Geoffrey Palmer’s op on Newsroom, about the decline in democracy in NZ.
He gives 4 main reasons based on some recent Massey Uni research showing large numbers of people left and right have no faith in our political systems or politicians:
1. Lack of information. Need more and better civics education.
2. Decline of party membership.
3. Long term decline in political media.Too much infotainment in mainstream media. A lot of info available online, but people don’t know how to understand it, and don’t have time to work it out. Politicians go to a lot of effort to get and control media attention.
4. Rising influence of money and professional lobby groups. Not to tighten regulations on this.
The article ends:
Palmer carries on about infotainment yet he was in the cabinet that signed off on the corpriatisation of TVNZ and RNZ as well as the deregulation of broadcast media.
IIRC, he’s recently said that he regrets his then support for neo-liberalism.
Wasn’t it Bolger who said that?
Ah, you could be right on that.
Shits sticks and forever leaves a stain except in the case of Sir John; he didn’t stick at all but did leave a bad smell that’s still emanating particularly strongly from the ninth floor.
After ‘Reform’ ? Deserves another book then. If you could point to evidence?
As arguments for a written constitution go, that’s pretty piss-weak.
Barry Soper shines a spotlight on the reality of the National Government’ track record on trade
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11888206
IMO the opportunity for new trade agreements that have a substantial impact on the economic activity between the parties has diminished. This is what you should expect after (insert management speak) the “low hanging fruit have been picked.” The economic impact of the TTP Agreement was so low that the it Zero was as good a place holder any other number.
Unless you are going for customs and currency unions there is not much left on the table. And of course Brexit is likely to negate moves in this area for a long time to come.
While not trying to excuse Nationals gap between rhetoric and delivery, I think we should not expect much, and not invest much in the process. McClay has been doing the diplomatic/trade jaunts around the world: may as well park him up in that Scenic Circle resort in the South Pacific.
It all looked pretty hard when Helen Clark first came to power.
Why should a tiny country ever succeed in bilateral trade deals? Our only real success in the previous multiple governments had been CER with Australia under Muldoon. Whereas Clark – by spending much of the hard-won soft power New Zealand had accumulated over previous Labour governments – hooked multiple deals.
Check out the post on the Rainbow Warrior today – we garnered massive international goodwill by turning the Rainbow Warrior into a moral crusade about nuclear war, culimating in our anti-nuclear legislation. We gained profile and respect far beyond our trade or GDP worth. Labour governments consistently understand the effect that soft power has for advancing our interests.
On all diplomatic fronts, including trade, this government has delivered us three terms of nothing.
I’ve got plenty of nothing that’s the song for NZ today when looking at our politicians achievements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giVGv_dnmdY
That article carries the normal false assumption that trade deals are a good idea. The TPPA and our FTA with China (Sub par steel) have now proven that they’re not.
Bill English lying about his part in the Barclay situation was one thing but you’re unlikely to hear any more bullshit in one place than I heard from Bill English this morning.
It was a session of, “I’ll ask questions you have no rational answers for and listen to what you have to say.”
It’s embarrassing hearing a plonker trying to obfuscate, determinedly trying to not come across as a plonker. And coming across as a plonker.
If this was the interview with Kim Hill, I totally agree. Incoherent floundering.
kim hill missed a trick though…when double dipton said house prices in Auckland had stabilised in the last 9 months she should have asked ‘so you think average prices of a million is affordable do you?’
Kim was maybe a bit aghast – but she needed only to let him speak.. He would have pointed out that ‘affordable’ is not necessarily the average price.
I think it went well. English needs to speak as often as possible. 2005 was a good year…
Thanks, am guessing it was from this morning, watching and listening to the link now. Gosh the outgoing PM is stiff, defensive and unenthusiastic, he should have been a horse racing announcer.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/334786/video-bill-english-on-affordable-housing-in-auckland
Penny Bright gets a column from Damien Grant. A colourful woman.
“I don’t share many of her views but I am impressed by Penny Bright’s courage and willingness to take a principled stand; a truly rare thing….”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/94437519/damien-grant-im-in-awe-of-this-recklessly-defiant-nonratepayer
That admiration society explained…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BCtXQt2CYAA1wLA.jpg:large
(h/t joe90)
Couple of good articles about placebo effects. One of them make the good point that all the disclaimers and warnings about side-effects has the result of lessening the efficacy of modern medicine. In contrast, it’s well known all the cheery nonsense spouted by the woo-merchants really reinforces the placebo effect.
http://www.salon.com/2017/07/09/the-wonderful-placebo-effect/
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/7/7/15792188/placebo-effect-explained
‘A good point’…
No, it’s not!
Misplaced belief in toxic chemicals masquerading as ‘health care’
By those who NEVER read the listed side effects nor are talked through them by ‘sponsored doctors’…
Does the toxic placebo effect apply to those people? Would it be lessened or highteneded, in your opinion?
You’re absolutely one of the weakest commentators at this blog
Well now, that’s a truly devastating evidence-based and referenced critique of the points raised in those articles. I’ll go scuttle back under my rock in shame at your overwhelmingly superior logic.
Or not.
The drug companies are an impediment to affordable health ….. the TPPA exported the usa model …… with extended patent lengths / profit gouging
Studies funded by drug companies are scientifically unreliable … often showing pro-drug bias .. and non-repeatable results/statistics when later studies are done by independent scientists and researchers.
Side effects is a euphemism for ‘other Effects’ ….. or ‘unwanted effects’….. Its the sales people and marketing that want to push these real but unwanted effects off to the side.
Finally the secrecy behind developing modern drugs …… to protect profits …. shows a gaping flaw when medicine is run by corporations and neo lib capitalism.
If medical research was open source and available knowledge was accessible to everyone … advancements and cures for cancers and disease would be much more advanced.
Simple logic
This is the part I found most intriguing:
What this showed was not that the drugs were getting worse, but that “the placebo response is growing bigger over time,” but only in the US, explains Jeffrey Mogil, the McGill University pain researcher who co-discovered the trend. And it’s not just growing stronger in pain medicine. Placebos are growing in strength in antidepressants and anti-psychotic studies as well.
It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the construction and marketing of mental disorders and overdiagnosis in a country with a privatised health care system could it?
Mark Dunajtschik – Top Bloke !!!!!
Donates $50 Million for a children’s hospital.
That is awesome !!!!!
Tory Charity
When you cannot be positive for someone donating $50 million for a children’s hospital – then you really need to look at yourself.
I’m sure that $50,000.000 is but a drop in the bucket for him. How did this wonderful squillionaire make his money is more to the point. The joys of Capitalism……. one in a million is a winner.
How did this wonderful squillionaire make his money is more to the point.
How is that more to the point?
Some people just cant stop being haters.
I know nothing of the guy – but what he is doing is a great good for the community.
I think the point trying to be made is that this wealthy person should have been taxed so highly to the point that they could not have possibly been so charitable. The taxes collected should have been used by the government to build this Children’s hospital not due the generosity of an individual. Perhaps this guys should have kept his donation anonymous to avoid coming to attention of social justice warriors, the Twitter-sphere and blog commentators.
How many diseases in children would have been prevented if the community’s wealth was more evenly (i.e. rationally) distributed among its members?
“Dunajtschik said he was often asked why choose to build a hospital.
“It is no secret, nor commercially sensitive, that a large part of my income is from government departments as my tenants.
“One particularly large department punctually pays their rent every month throughout the year, but they have the curious habit, at the end of the year they ask for one-third back. It is not called a rent refund. It is a three letter word.
Tax!
“Needless to say, thoughts had crossed my mind – how to stop this money-go-round?
“Suggestions like contacting some creative accountants in Panama were quickly dismissed…the suggestion [of a hospital] appealed to me on the spot.”
Kiwiblog rejoices in the great switcheroo
Thanks Robert.
Interesting in the disconnect shown that his income is derived from other people paying their taxes – yet he wishes to avoid paying his.
““Needless to say, thoughts had crossed my mind – how to stop this money-go-round?”
I have friends that have this disconnect, and sometimes struggle to excuse their contradiction and keep them in affection.
It is no different that me donating 50 bucks, but he will try and make us all bow to him
Actually – its a lot different.
For starters $50 does very little. Its just over 3 hours at minimum wage.
He will be remembered for doing a great good – and hopefully he will help save many childrens lives.
I guess his contribution in life will far outstrip anything you will ever do. And you seem bitter about it.
What else has he done?
He is a long-time benefactor of charitable causes.
His financial help enabled Wellington helicopter pilot the late Peter Button to set up an air rescue service, now called the Life Flight Trust – a service that has been credited with saving 22,000 lives.
Bloody Tory bastard !!!!!
Again, something that should be done fully by government and not have to rely upon the charity of the rich.
There is no need to be nasty about it
I wonder how much he donates to the National Party so that his wonderful generosity can continue to impress the likes of you James.
Meanwhile the rest of society suffers from the excesses and greed of free market Capitalism…….
I dont know if he even donates to National.
But again if you cannot be impressed with a man who has donated a hospital for children – then that says more about you than anything else.
Well, there are two types of people in the world, I guess.
When presented with an amazing soup made from a pig’s ear, the first type marvel’s at the ability of the chef and eats the meal.
The second type of person appreciates the skill of the chef, but also wonders at the social and living conditions of a culture that had to invent such a dish. Who consistently got the rest of the pig?
“Who consistently got the rest of the pig?”
🙂
McFlock, why are you not writing for The Standard?
Short answer: because I plagiarise from Terry Pratchett too much and it would eat into TS trust’s legal fund 🙂
Longer answer: I’ve done a couple of posts, but it requires an attention span I don’t really have time for when my brain is awake. Writing to a word count is also a discipline I lost shortly after graduating.
Why should I be impressed by someone who’s actions to enrich himself are detrimental to our society?
Yeah, he should have spent his life’s energy being a bitter & twisted commentator at TS.
If you ever need someone to put you out of your misery DTB, I’m your gal.
^and then there are the type who are damned sure that the only reason they’re eating pig’s ear soup is because the chef had bacon for breakfast 🙂
Two points:
1. He shouldn’t have had that $50m – we cannot afford the rich
2. The children’s hospital should have been built by the government
It’s highly probable that him having that $50m was what prevented the children’s hospital from being built in the first place.
I/S sums the property developer’s donation thus:
“Which is great news for Wellington kids. But its also a sign of the failure of National as a government. Building hospitals is a core function of the state in New Zealand, so having to rely on charity to do it means the government is simply failing to do its job. Ultimately, this comes back to taxes: National’s obsession with cutting taxes for its rich mates starves the government of the revenue needed to perform core functions like schools, hospitals, and state housing.”
Still an ignorant idiot isnt IT
One of the biggest constraints on DHB’S is the return they pay the gvt for the use of assets,if the 50 million asset was provided by the gvt the 8% return would by transferred back to the gvt.
The quasi neoliberal raptors spent more time on these aspects then solving health needs.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/feature/district-health-board-investment-and-balance-sheet-management-further-work-34
by return do you mean rent? Or on top of rent?
The government takes a return of 8% on assets employed (this includes equipment).
So someone assesses the value of the assets and the DHBs pay 8% of that each year? Does that include rent?
Asset valuation of capital eg build MRI unit (which would include new building) of say 10m$ ROI 800k
A good example here.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/health/capital-charges-review-may-have-implications-hospital-rebuild
background info on calculations here
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/government_finance/district_health_boards/info-about-district-health-board.aspx
Draco,
I presume your solution is to tax the rich so highly so that they are, well not rich any more.
Has worked well in Cuba and Eastern Europe prior to 1990.
Cuban medical expertise is a high demand commodity,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billfrist/2015/06/08/cubas-most-valuable-export-its-healthcare-expertise/#6c6e8a8e195e
yeah bit of an own goal there by Wayne.
Cuba’s medical service is greatly overrated, just like China’s barefoot doctors of the 1970’s.
On just about every measure the Cuban people are probably the most deprived in the whole of Latin America, lowest GDP per capita, no elections, no freedom of expression, no freedom of travel.
By hey, if the hard left want to showcase Cuba as an exemplar of people’s freedom and prosperity, feel free to do so.
Not even remotely close on the deprivation and GDP per capita:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita
That despite decades of US sanctions…
Um no here is the perception paradox,whereas metrics (usually wielded by the mathematical ungainly are not comparative ,as the map is not the territory)
case study 1
http://fmrevolution.org/featured/my-experience-attending-medical-school-in-cuba/
case study 2
https://medium.com/incerto/surgeons-should-notlook-like-surgeons-23b0e2cf6d52
Impressive health, life expectancy, literacy stats.
https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cuba_statistics.html
Children in Auckland with absent, stressed out parents as both work for inferior wages to provide for them and to service a lifetime of debt for housing. What sort of “freedom and prosperity” does that exemplify ?
Legislate them out of existence assuredly but not necessarily tax them. After all, the richest people aren’t even in the top tax bracket.
Last time I looked Cuba has a functional health that’s better than the US’s, produces huge amounts of necessary drugs, and other essential services. That’s because it’s actually invested in developing its own economy. Something that NZ isn’t doing enough of as we try to stay as a commodity exporting country.
in fact, NZ is failing quite badly as the ever increasing poverty caused by capitalism shows.
After free training Cuban doctors are paid $70 per month. Cubans are all equally miserable. Modern documentaries feature the fledgling green shoots of capitalism. A rural woman that came to Havana to sell chickens and now selling apartments.
It was all one way traffic at the Berlin wall. Hey Draco, you could of made history as the only man trying to sneak into East Germany.
I didn’t say that they were perfect just that they’re getting similar or, in some cases, better results than we are.
I see Wayne Mapp as a dishonest helicopter trophy hunter ……
For years he was telling us he’d got the head of a Bull Thar ( taliban ) …. But in reality he’d killed a little kid nanny goat (an infant female … named Fatima )
Wayne is known for bending the truth and blaming victims ….
So for some context on Cuba ….. the side of the story that helicopter hunter wayne won’t mention ….
“After the Cuban Revolution in January 1959, we learned that there are also good and bad hijackings. On several occasions Cuban planes and boats were hijacked to the United States but they were not returned to Cuba, nor were the hijackers punished. Instead, some of the planes and boats were seized by US authorities for non-payment of debts claimed by American firms against the Cuban government. ”
“Bombing and strafing attacks of Cuba by planes based in the United States began in October 1959, if not before.6 In early 1960, there were several fire-bomb air raids on Cuban cane fields and sugar mills, in which American pilots also took part—at least three of whom died in crashes, while two others were captured. The State Department acknowledged that one plane which crashed, killing two Americans, had taken off from Florida, but insisted that it was against the wishes of the US government.”
” In March a French freighter unloading munitions from Belgium exploded in Havana taking 75 lives and injuring 200, some of whom subsequently died. The United States denied Cuba’s accusation of sabotage but admitted that it had sought to prevent the shipment…..
8 And so it went … reaching a high point in April of the following year in the infamous CIA-organized invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs…. ”
“The Bay of Pigs assault had relied heavily on the Cuban people rising up to join the invaders,10 but this was not to be the case……. As it was, the leadership and ranks of the exile forces were riddled with former supporters and henchmen of Fulgencio Batista, the dictator overthrown by Castro, and would not have been welcomed back by the Cuban people under any circumstances.”
” Despite the fact that the Kennedy administration was acutely embarrassed by the unmitigated defeat—indeed, because of it—a campaign of smaller-scale attacks upon Cuba was initiated almost immediately ”
” Throughout the 1960s, the Caribbean island was subjected to countless sea and air commando raids by exiles, at times accompanied by their CIA supervisors, inflicting damage upon oil refineries, chemical plants and railroad bridges, cane fields, sugar mills and sugar warehouses; infiltrating spies, saboteurs and assassins … anything to damage the Cuban economy, promote disaffection, or make the revolution look bad … taking the lives of Cuban militia members and others in the process” …”
pirate attacks on Cuban fishing boats and merchant ships, bombardments of Soviet vessels docked in Cuba, an assault upon a Soviet army camp with 12 Russian soldiers reported wounded ”
“The commando raids were combined with a total US trade and credit embargo, which continues to this day, and which genuinely hurt the Cuban economy and chipped away at the society’s standard of living. So unyielding has the embargo been that when Cuba was hard hit by a hurricane in October 1963, and Casa Cuba, a New York social club, raised a large quantity of clothing for relief, the United States refused to grant it an export license on the grounds that such shipment was “contrary to the national interest”
.14 Moreover, pressure was brought to bear upon other countries to conform to the embargo, and goods destined for Cuba were sabotaged: machinery damaged, chemicals added to lubricating fluids to cause rapid wear on diesel engines, a manufacturer in West Germany paid to produce ball-bearings off-center, another to do the same with balanced wheel gears…
—”You’re talking about big money,” said a CIA officer involved in the sabotage efforts, “when you ask a manufacturer to go along with you on that kind of project because he has to reset his whole mold. And he is probably going to worry about the effect on future business. You might have to pay him several hundred thousand dollars or more.”15
quoted from killing hope by William Blum …
Not killing three year olds by wayne mqpp.
+1 Draco.
Wealth is mobile. When the tax hooks get too sharp, Mr Dunajtschik need not sell up his NZ assets, merely move head office offshore. In France hefting up taxes on the wealthy saw the actual tax take go down.
Most of those in Mr Dunajtscik’s club are picking out rosewood veneers for the grand saloon ceilings in their 200 footers. As with the retired judge that recently made a substantial donation to the Labour party campaign, I’m grateful they have chosen to spend their money in this way, thanks guys.
A reasonable change of law would prevent his profits following him without them being taxed. Which is, of course, what a lot of political parties have been promising for awhile now because the international corporations are ripping us off.
Of course, I tend to think that offshore ownership should be banned anyway and that businesses should be self owned and run by the workers. This way he wouldn’t have any NZ assets when he left and would thus end his exploitation of NZ.
According to the OECD stats tables, the personal tax revenues rose. It was the corporate taxes that decreased post-2012.
Interesting argument that increases in personal taxes result in decreased corporate tax revenues. Probably some tax dodge that’s as trivial to close as the secret trust loopholes.
The real issue, if they can do charity, then they can do more taxes.
That is awesome !!!!!
It’s really not. Why are children’s hospitals having to rely on charitable handouts from rich people? All this says to me is that there isn’t enough tax being paid, and people like this guy have a lot of spare cash lying about. Vote for a government that can/will join those two dots.
Agreed.
The issue isn’t that there was a donation. The problem is that the donation was needed in the first place.
Strongly agree with you both
Jesh Psycho Milt, keep up that line of thinking and you might just end up a social democratic.
I remember when he used to be called right wing 🙂
So what conditions has he placed on this.
Any evidence he has asked for any at all?
Luke 21: 1 – 4.
Elegant, Macro.
Careful or you will get called a god freak by someone on here.
Yet no one has…
Macro’s comment and quote is apt, James, isn’t it?
Vulgar and a tad desperate there james.
Adam – I was referring to other standard commenter using the term god freak in another thread – where no others called them up on it (I’m assuming because they don’t like the target of the abuse)
It seems that abuse like god freak and tub o lard is allowed to be used against people that some in this blog disagree with.
Of course should it be used back at them then people start calling it vile.
Seems to me that insults around here are usually earned by the insultee, and you are a worthy recipient James
I wasnt on the end of either – Do you think its appropriate to call Plunket a tub o lard?
Are you happy for us to call other overweight people this?
Simply question
You’re saying, James, that Sean Plunket is “overweight”.
That’s very judgmental and hardly kindly of you to make such a comment in public. What’s next from you: a comment about John Key’s nose?
Honestly – your fetish for following me around is at an all time low on this one.
So – do you think that the term is OK to use?
You offer such great material to work with, James – one of the best in the business, you. I don’t think you should be commenting about the physique of other people, except perhaps if you are complimenting them, but of course, it’s up to you what you do here.
Tend to agree on the tub o’ lard line, but “god freak”? The use a couple of days ago that you took exception to was related to people who felt that teaching sex ed and evolution was so bad they had to have their own schools that didn’t deal with such trash.
Slightly different to merely mentioning an appropriate tract from a particular magic book.
I took the meaning of God-freak in that context to be an attack on fundamentalists. Fundamentalism or Christian Fascism is a real worry, and we must be all vigilante to stop it from stealing the reigns of power.
I would have thought the Daesh would have opened people eyes, both left and right to the horrors of fundamentalism, plus the pitfall and failures of any theocracy.
The thing is using a term like that without any context other than christian charter schools leave it wide open.
Not really, given that a “Christian Charter School” would be for sects that find the already existing school types insufficient to teach what they believe should be taught (or not).
What advantages does a charter school have over the mixed model, for the educators? Other than disproportionately large per-student funding, of course?
Standard practice is to put a link to it james, as you know.
And yes I have been abused for being a Christian on this site, but turning the other cheek is how it works. Not some fundamentalist clap trap of living in the past, and attempting to pull down a point, because it does not fit with your greed theology.
Now back to the point, your comment was desperate and vulgar because no one accused Macro of anything. All I saw was Robert Guyton agree with it, plus I found it very good as well, but then I have a lot of time for the Gospel of Luke.
Adam,
OK – I will withdraw and apologize to all (esp Marco) – who took offence to my comment – I can see how offence was taken to that particular post.
But – my point about abuse using terms – and for this example ‘tub ‘o lard’ are leveled at people generally that people on this blog do not agree with.
They are terms that would (I assume) never be tolerated in other forums.
If (and Im not – this is just an example) someone called Metiria Turei a tub ‘o lard – do you think people would simply let it pass?
Is tolerating this kind of language supportive of it?
Name calling? James said, ad nauseum ,
Angry Andy, Angry Andy, Angry Andy.
Hypocrite.
Or are you a “born again” champion of those who get called names, James?
Have you had a “Road to Damascus” experience?
Tell us about it, friend!
Dear Stalker,
You may have noted that since that was pointed out (which I acknowledged) – I have not used it again.
Ever done a count up of how many times you did use it?
Guess you’re all clear now and can chastise others for their sins.
That said, you did own your behaviour straight off and I admire you for that; you made Key and English look like crooks. I may tease you a bit, James, but I respect the way you sometimes front-up.
The Mighty All Blacks are winners!!!
National are the only game in town!!!
Team NZ – Oarsome!!!
Mark Dunajtschik – Top Bloke !!!!!
Anyone see a pattern here?
Obviously a MacGuffin tartan.
🙂
Yep. You are bitter on all of them.
You don’t like it when people call you for what you are.
I don’t think Blinglish is smart enough to engineer this level of good news. Not election season yet, we’re still waiting for the dirty politics machine to crank up. I gotta give kudos to the Herald for maintaining its anti suicide campaign. It’s not all just fluff in the news
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/michael-joseph-savage-biography
The parable of the Widow’s Mite is great as a symbol, but it’s not going to build a whole hospital.
Jesus never had to deal with philapthropy, and could be argued that he made a pretty clear distinction between tax contributions and the stuff you could do for the service of God:
“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s”
It’s very rare in this country to see philanthropy in action at that kind of scale in New Zealand, and we need more of it.
We would have more philanthropy in action if the people earning those huge amounts paid a fair amount of tax in the first place. Conscience-salving charity afterwards reeks of egotistic smugness. That rat-bag Carnegie was a classic case.
In Vino
“Conscience-salving charity”. I think not. Just like sirjohn few of these people have a conscience, it is purely driven by bang for your buck, another tax dodge. Better return for his $$ than just paying straight taxes.
Stupid idiot, church’s have been taking from the poor for a long time and it’s never enough.
““Mr Dunajtschik has said his philosophy is that people blessed with a sound mind and body can look after themselves, but those born with or suffering illness and disability need our support.” – Jonathan Coleman – media release.
It is good that there is funding for a hospital, (as long as it is spent efficiently and on target to reduce waiting times and improve health care – Good luck with that).
Myself, I would prefer that sufficient funding for health care – in all sectors, including mental health and ACC – was adequately funded by the state. (Let’s give up a frigate or two to get it done.)
The emphasis above, highlights the problem with relying or utilising private donations (and charities) to meet the responsibilities of state and society. It always – always – comes with some form of judgement and prejudice.
Despite the admirable human intention of doing good, this donation does come with stings.
Different resources so that makes no sense especially when you consider that we do need to be able to defend ourselves. We could, and should, have both.
“Different resources so that makes no sense especially when you consider that we do need to be able to defend ourselves. We could, and should, have both.”
Yes, you are right. But we don’t have the same public discussion about defence spending that we do on issues such as health, education, welfare, environment etc. That leaves us vulnerable to overspending on defence for little or no benefit to NZ.
There was a good post on TDB, from Keith Locke regarding the defence capabilities of NZ, and how they are adequate for defence and civil emergencies excluding the frigates.
Te Kaha and Te Mana are used for foreign engagement – mostly for the benefit of the US – and cost many millions to maintain and upgrade. I would agree with him on this.
I seriously disagree with Keith Locke. We could not defend NZ from an invader. If the US or China decided to invade NZ we couldn’t stop them and the world is moving into a position that we need to consider that.
That doesn’t mean that we should have them but that we should consider and discuss their use more openly.
And, again, money isn’t the issue. It’s more a question of resources and we have those resources. Even a 100,000 strong well equipped defence force wouldn’t stop us being able to have a fully equipped and staffed health care system.
New Zealand will never have the resources to stop a superpower invasion.
We’d have to rely on kiwis doing some number 8 wire guerrilla warfare.
We could stop an invasion fleet, sink it before it came even close. We probably couldn’t stop them if they decided to continue sending them. Eventually their ability to manufacture weapons and send personnel would overwhelm us. But we need to be able to stop that first one so that they decide not to send it.
Yeah we could make shields and really polish them and then aim them so the sun is reflected into 1 point and use that to annihilate the enemy. Plus that big hollow horse thing.
I’m guessing you saw Mythbusters a couple of nights ago?…
No i didn’t – isnt it true?
Don’t know… didn’t watch it through to the end. Just saw it as my son was flicking through the channels.
Here we go – looks like it was busted – twice.
Three times, they also looked at it in the president’s episode.
Thing is, they couldn’t do it but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be done or was otherwise ineffective. It’s been reproduced with very mixed results over the years, mythbusters was just televised.
Sink it? With what?
Helicopters and 45 year old missile types? Two frigates?
The British invaded the Falklands with 127 ships. Even twenty, and flying the rest in, would be too much for us.
However many missiles with satellite guidance it takes.
Which satellite guided missiles do we currently have in inventory? Even if we had them, GPS is easily countered. Even satellites are becoming vulnerable. Star map navigation isn’t precise enough to target vessels. And besides, anyone with the logistics to invade us will have actual jets that could easily wipe our choppers (oh, and whatever the poseidon can drop) off the board well before our lot get into firing range.
We could probably repel an invasion by Tonga. Anything more than that, we’re fucked.
That would be why we need to develop the ability to produce them.
GPS isn’t the only option and I’d probably develop our own one of those as well.
That would only work if those aircraft could get into range which they shouldn’t be able to due to decent missile defence systems.
Well, gee, what was this conversation about?
Oh, that’s right – the fact that our defence force can’t actually defend us.
That’s not a dig at the personnel either but the ridiculous decisions by our governments since WWI.
Even if we mobilised the entire population to developing and operating a defence system, we’d not match the capabilities of a global power with less than 1% of the impulse to attack us as we have to defend ourselves.
We could stop an invasion fleet, sink it before it came even close.
From his involvement in the attempt to defend Sicily against Allied invasion in 1943, Von Senger und Etterlin took the valuable lesson that it’s impossible to prevent a seaborne invasion by a force that has naval and air superiority. That was reinforced by subsequent invasions at Anzio and Normandy. If more senior German commanders had figured that lesson out the war might have finished sooner.
Bottom line: the defenders don’t get to sink any of the invasion fleet without a sizable fleet of their own and the ability to protect it from air attack, and they don’t even get to put up much of a fight against the landing forces if they’re busy getting turned into mince by sustained air and naval bombardment. New Zealand lacks both the means to prevent a seaborne invasion and the ability to get and sustain the means.
That may have been true in WWII when they couldn’t see or fire beyond the horizon. Not true any more.
We presently lack the means but we have the ability to produce and sustain those means. Rocketlab is proof of that.
“That may have been true in WWII when they couldn’t see or fire beyond the horizon”.
That was no longer true in WWII by about midway through 1942.
In the battle of Midway the fleets were never within sight or gun range of each other. They were always at least 200 km apart and all the attacks were being carried out by aircraft.
That wasn’t that different from today, in my opinion.
The principle still applies. Modern navies have anti-missile defences, so there’s nothing decisive about being able to fire missiles at an invasion fleet. Apart from which, without an air force to protect them your shore-based defences have too much on their plate to be targeting ships off-shore.
there is if you fire enough missiles.
Who said I’d be missing out an air-force or ground based air defence?
And then there’s the fact that I’d go for a 2000km curtain. Nothing above the surface of the water to be able to exist within that radius without our express permission.
oh, ok.
Yes, if NZ had a substantial air wing, massive amounts of surface to surface and air to surface missiles, an integrated air defence system running surveillance out to 2000km with a parallel satellite surveillance system, a standing patrol of picket ships and sonar bouys, and about 50,000 people in uniform to operate it all, then we could probably repel almost any invading force.
Although I’d be wanting some Romulan disruptor beams and a photon torpedo bank, too, just to be safe. /sarc
McFlock – You forgot the force field. That would really help, until we were forced to divert energy to the phasers.. Oh dear…
If we faced a conventional invasion we wouldn’t be able to stop it. But we could and would make it expensive – we could give the invaders our supermarket chains intact and watch their ground forces go broke and morale plummet before our IED campaign really got underway. If we really hated them we’d gift them Treasury.
Or we could have strategic alliances with friendly countries that guarantee our borders.
Oh, hang on.
Or we could use trade to gain defensive weaponry.
Oh, hang on.
You embarrass yourself sometimes.
Only if you’re happy to find that we can’t defend ourselves because those ‘friendly’ nations are the ones invading.
And trading for defensive weaponry won’t be possible once the trade routes have been cut.
And I’ll note that Britain’s guarantee of Belgium’s neutrality didn’t work too well when Nzai Germany decided to invade France.
So we sit in the middle between two major powers and juggle it so that an invasion is more trouble than what they’ll get from trade.
As soon as the decision is made to invade, they’re basically on our shores. We just need to make it more attractive for them to decide to do something else.
I think you may be way out of your depth here, Crunchy. Do you know any history?
We did once the ACF A-4’s specializing in Martime Strike with the P3’s and Frigates providing the C3 ( Command, Control and Commutations). If the Argies went for the RN Landing Ships and Support Ships instead of the Combat Ships the Falkland’s war would’ve ended before it started. BTW the Land forces almost ran out of ammo, if the Argies had put a fight the Pom’s would have been in a rather tight spot at the ass end of the world in the middle of the winter and the 83 election could’ve a British Labour party victory.
Logistics win wars.
“We could not defend NZ from an invader”.
I agree, which is why the justification for the purchase and continued use of these frigates is nonsensical.
“And, again, money isn’t the issue. It’s more a question of resources and we have those resources. Even a 100,000 strong well equipped defence force wouldn’t stop us being able to have a fully equipped and staffed health care system.”
A few years ago – our defence force sent a team to assess damage in Samoa after Cyclone Evan. Usually as a precursor to rebuilding efforts. After a couple of weeks of assessment and partaking of hosting from already devastated communities, or Defence Force had to tell Samoa that NZ did not have the budget to assist. That year, they undertook a series of exercises alongside the US – which continues.
It depends on values and ideas of security. I believe a greater value in gained in helping local nations in our region repair and rebuild, than in playing war games with others with big toys and budgets.
Especially, when we are actively inviting economic “invasion” and ownership of land and resources with government policy.
And the lack of public discussion about resources and priorities is a problem.
No, it means that we need to build up our defensive capability to be able to do so.
Which is a load of bollocks caused by our capitalist system.
I think we should be doing both and that we have the resources to do both.
And that needs to be stopped ASAP.
And that particular discussion has been diverted through the discussion of money. As a nation we don’t really know what we can do because we don’t know the resources we have available.
You forgot about East Timor during INTERFET Molly, The Frigates, Canterbury F421 a Type 12 class and Te kaha ANZAC class provided over watch (Air Defence, Naval Gun Fire Support, Anti Surface and Anti Sub Surface warfare and C3 support) to the Peacekeeping Forces. Both NZ Frigates did contact a TNI Sub operating inside East Timor waters and on both occasions they tracked the Sub to a point where they hit the Sub with active sonar and pinged it to death until it left East Timor’s waters.
We never head from the TNI Sub’s again after what RNZN did to them. Also the mock air attacks conduct by TNI Airforce ended the same time against INTERFET sea lane’s of commutations as every Combat Naval Ship hit their aircraft with radar they had.
As my grandmother once said, the Locke family do love the sound of their own voice when their head up own asses.
What little I know of East Timor – I have from reading John Pilger’s reporting.. Australia does not come out of that area with much honour from that perspective.
I didn’t know we were part of the peacekeeping force there. I’m not sure if peacekeeping is the right word, if the intention was to secure access to natural resources.
I’d have to look into the political aspects before commenting further. If you have any links to direct me to, that would be great.
I have family in active duty, and take care to differentiate the difference between criticism of decisions at higher levels, rather than those who perform their duty with capability, integrity and service. Particularly, decisions made from behind nice safe desks that send our troops in to unsafe areas to support “allies” for trade benefits, or create situations where they and/or our nation becomes more unsafe.
“As my grandmother once said, the Locke family do love the sound of their own voice when their head up own asses.”
Interesting sounding lady, your grandmother. Don’t know if I agree, but she sounds like a character.
Reading further, I do remember our involvement in the deployment, with the loss of Private Leonard Manning, being the reminder.
I have a good story a about my mate Lenny and the cover up after wards. I’ll tell it tomorrow. We were Both Tankies, did crewman’s case together before he transfer to 2/1 Battlion, B Coy and I was in 2Troop NZ Scots,1 Recon SQN Burnham as of part 3 Land Force Group in the 90’s and this will tell you why I the Tories and pro defence in what happen to Lenny.
Just been reading your link. John seems to skip over the INTERFET bit, but I can you from most the of us INTERFET vets now felt we were righting a wrong since the 75 invasion by the TNI. I was back there again in 06 to stop the civil war from breaking out, but that tour did leave me along with a couple of INTERFET vets in our SQN few unanswered questions. What other INTERFET vet’s piss us of the most is the way the Australian government still treats the Timor Leste atm, but that’s not only thing that us going!! It’s what happening in West Papua ATM that gets us going off like a belt mortar because the bloody TNI are doing the same thing over there as what they did to East Timor and that was not pretty to see or witness.
Then you get dickheads like Locke saying we don’t need frigates, a Air Combat jets and Christ know’s what else he and his muppets friends want to rid of within the NZDF? When we came so god damm close to have an all out shoot war with those TNI bastards during INTERFET and We know if do end up freeing the people of West Papua from TNI rule in the future, we are going to need every tool in our tool box because the TNI may not make the same mistake again.
It’s a shame I can’t find diary from INTERFET and my orders notes, to share with everyone on the Standard. But only i’ve my memory to relie on, but the other to that is my emotions and PTSD goes into overdrive.
Hence I’m Pro Defence and can’t stand 2 face peaceniks idiots like the Locke family who campaign for the Dutch to give up West Papua only to handed over the Left wing Indonesia government at the time and want us to go into West Papua to sort this bloody mess with no tools in the tool
box?
My grandmother said be always watch your back with the Locke family as they make other people to do their dirty work for them or fell you under the bus if you tell the truth just like you great grandparents did back in Blackball in the 30’s. In other words they are parasites my grandmother said.
Thanks exkiwiforces. Sorry to hear that you lost a friend, there. Pvte Manning is only a name to me, but you have a loss of a person with whom you shared memories and experiences.
My family is involved in the forces – my parents met there in fact, many, many years ago.
I’ve never joined (too much of a pacifist) – only been on a couple of weekends in my long ago youth. But had friends and family that were (and still are) long time TF, or RF. From my personal experience, the defence forces attract people with a clear idea of service, and train them well. The camaraderie of the armed forces seems to stay with them in their civilian and family life.
The issue of deployment and changes are ones I watch from the sidelines. I don’t want our troops deployed for trade reasons, or access to resources disguised as human rights. It is the responsibility of those who do not serve – to ensure that those who put themselves at risk – do not do so unnecessarily. (Of course, that might be in conflict with troops themselves who may look forward to deployment in order to put their training into use).
The failed civilianisation project, seemed to me to be less to do with the unachieved savings but more to do with changing the culture within the defence forces. Which to my mind were markedly different (and superior) to the US, UK and Australia. 🙂 And from what I hear, there have been noticeable changes.
Will read with interest your posts on the situation – when you have time. (I usually take care to do so, just because it is good to hear that experience. I don’t know if you realise, but conversations like that usually happen within the forces – not out of them so much.)
(Note: That is just the one article, Pilger has written a few. He has also done a film regarding the backstory of East Timor – The Death of a Nation – before the INTERFET and an hour long review of the original documentary in 1999.)
Actually NZ spends very little compared to other countries on Defence.
$2.2B out of total Govt Expenditure of $74.4B is around 3% of total Govt Expenditure, or in terms of GDP it is just under 1% of GDP. (The Chump has been admonishing European countries at the NATO conference for not spending 2% of their GDP on defence.)
The frigates are an integral part of NZ defence policy, which until 1985, was based upon the ANZUS alliance. As NZ depends upon shipping for its economic survival, frigates such as Te Kaha and Te Mana are essential elements in protection of shipping should there ever be a threat in the South Pacific. They are specialised vessels with emphasis upon Anti Submarine warfare. Obviously such a limited force is unlikely to be sufficient for the protection of all shipping visiting these shores, and alliances with Australia, and in the past the US, were the basis for the need for interoperability. It still is, perhaps to a lesser extent.
As to which Service gets the most – it may come as a surprise to Keith but the Navy receives the smallest share of Defence funding:
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/international/asia-pacific/2016/06/03/new-zealand-defense-budget/85286358/
I fully concur with your comments Macro. New Zealand is a sea based nation that’s relies on it ability to trade in order to generate wealth for the nation and if those sea lanes of communication are cut in some ways then NZ’s economy head south and some sectors of the economy will go down faster than a sinking ship. And thanks to theses Neo Lib Muppets, NZ has very little slack now weather it the NZDF, its Manufacture sector, it reliance on Petrol, Oils and Lubricate products (POL) and many other sectors that have hit by these Muppets with their stupid economic polices.
In other words: if you can’t import, you can’t export and if you can’t export then your economy tanks. We all know what happens the economy goes tits up.
I leave you with this quote from Sir Walter Raleigh:
” Whoever’s commands the sea, commands the trade, whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.”
Nice quote.
400 years later it succinctly explains why the US are driving ships within 12km of artificial islands in the South China Sea, and why the islands were built.
I’ll drag up the figures on how much trade goes via the Singapore hub to the north east Asia nations and it will you an idea on the effects if war broke out on the New Zealand economy. There is nice article about South China Sea and its northern neighbors in the Australian Navy League magazine. It’s worth a read.
I agree with those comments, but you forgot to add the “one road- one belt” as over the over arching strategy that the Chinese are pushing ATM. This strategy that the Chinese are pushing will enable them to isolate the 3 major economies in North East Asia which in turn will effect just about every economy within the Asia/ Pacific region if the not world if war broke out.
Anyway, as promise from last night here are the maritime trade figures via the Singapore Hub.
Two- thirds of the worlds oil shipments transits the Indian Ocean, with more than 15million barrels of oil transiting the Malacca Strait daily in 2014.
30% of the global maritime trade transits through the South China Sea annually, including $1.2trillion in ship- borne trade bound for the USA ports.
Developing East Asian economies- responsible for about one-third of the world’s GDP growth – the prosperity of the world hinges, in large part, on freedom of navigation through the Asia- Pacific region.
Source:
“The Navy” The magazine of the Navy League of Australia, Jul- Sep edition.
Page 11, Dealing with Two Superpowers: Australia must understand what China and the United States want.
By George Galdorisi
thanks for that, ekf. Very interesting.
Yes, someone is playing a very long game and it’s not us, as they playing us for mugs ATM and when we realised that we have been con into playing their game it will be too late. To understand their thinking you just to read Sun Tuz the update version, with sprinkle of Mahan, Clausewitz, Bismarck and someone’s little red book.
Somewhere I’ve got a nice copy of Sun Tzu with annotations by a PLA general who illustrated each of Sun Tzu’s points with anecdotes from throughout the PLA’s history, from before the Long March through to at least the contretemps with India in the late 60s. Complete with judgemental corrections to Sun Tzu’s feudalist pre-revolutionary thinking.
Certainly an interesting perspective when compared with someone like Liddell Hart.
This was on the ABC last Friday night on the link. I don’t normally watch link.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-14/sleepwalking-to-world-war-three-stan-grant/8710390
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-24/fuel-imports-a-risk-amid-south-china-sea-tensions-nrma-advisor/7149648
Forgot I still had this one on file
http://mapsontheweb.zoom-maps.com/image/158014343884
The link above is NZ’s SAR coverage
Wow.
A successful elderly guy gives away most of his money to build a childrens’ hospital, no doubt as a final thank-you to his adopted country for offering him a chance at a good life.
And the standard hates him for being successful and making money.
This is one of the least impressive things I’ve ever read on here. I’m embarrassed to call you lot my fellow New Zealanders.
He could have done absolutely anything he wanted with his money, he chose to donate a new childrens’ hospital to the people of New Zealand. The only thing we need to say is thank you. I certainly will be.
Before that he spent years trying to demolish a listed building so he could build his own pet project. That alone should tell you he doesn’t give a shit about the public good.
There should not BE any listed buildings in NZ.
We can’t even afford to build new stuff we need, there is no way we should be squandering money on embalming old, unsafe, dysfunctional relics of the past that no longer serve a purpose.
We can’t even afford to build new stuff
Nonsense.
False premise, false conclusion.
I repeat what I wrote above:
“We would have more philanthropy in action if the people earning those huge amounts paid a fair amount of tax in the first place. Conscience-salving charity afterwards reeks of egotistic smugness. That rat-bag Carnegie was a classic case.”
Study the tactics Carnegie used to become an oligarch in the USA, then rate all the ‘charitable’ things he did.
When a broken society starts to rely on rich people’s charity we know that the society is broken. The charity should never have been needed in the first place.
But you are so overwhelmed with gratitude, aren’t you RRM?
Shit yes I am!
If I had 50 million I wouldn’t give it away to ungrateful envious people like you just want to assassinate my character. I’d be driving a 1960s Ferrari around Europe eating and sleeping at 5-star and up places every night!
That is a dumb reply, RRM. The money is not being given to people like me – I am too old to get into a children’s hospital. And I am not envious. I have had a good life, and spent 5 years working and living in Europe, but no Ferrari, and a 5-star meal on one occasion only. I doubt that you have any idea of what living in Europe means, and your character remains as poor as you have already displayed it.
Labour should definitely campaign on this in 2017 using the arguments you have just put forward.
FILTHY RICH PRICK GIVES THE COUNTRY A $50M NEW CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL.
THIS WOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN UNDER A LABOUR GOVERNMENT.
VOTE POSITIVE!
Truly moronic.
I know you are, you said you are, so what am I?
Someone who needs to lower their caffeine intake?
But revealing. RRM typifies a ‘sort’ or thinker that is genuinely moved by something and can’t or won’t tolerate discussion outside of the simplest description of what he or she supports. Here, commenters think, yes, but what about…and are, in the minds of RRM, James et al, “haters”. You mustn’t question these things; they’re obviously beyond criticism, ’cause. Those who do want to tease apart the fabric can be, and often are, careless in their choice of rejoinders, forgetting how reactionary the JamesRRM-crowd is. It’s a tribal split that never seems to mend.
Labour would have already built the hospital, so the rich dude wouldn’t have even thought of it as a potential charity project.
Really? Labour were in government only 9 years ago. They didn’t do it.
Apologies if posted beforehand but a good (short) interview with Naomi Klein and Owen Jones that articulates how I respond to a lot of the coverage of Donald Trump.
How when all the focus on on his not-unexpected, or not-out-of-character behaviours – issues of real importance and concern for Americans – and the wider global community – are being pushed through by the Republican party.
Good sum up near the end.
More Fake News and Dirty Politics coming from Kiwiblog today
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/07/66_more_jobs_an_hour.html
Can you supply any evidence that it’s fake news?
David Farrer, dirty politics, galactic numbers.
An interesting snippet from Russell Brown today :
“..Shortly after the recording, Sean Plunket, the new comms chief for The Opportunities Party,…”
Ah yes, the chain smoking, hard right, tub ‘o lard himself.
Do you need any more proof TOP is just another eccentric old white millionaires “neo-liberalism needs to be done properly” vanity project?
Spot on Sanctuary.
It would be pretty obvious in political performance if any of the current opposition had been able to attract top communicative talent.
Tub o lard ?
Is it acceptable to abuse people based on their weight now ?
Is it ok we we do that to female politicians as well ?
Have you seen his antics on twitter? What a disgrace. Brings himself into disrepute mare than any random insults in a blog comment
Poor diddums James. It hurts me so to see the anguish you are suffering today. Normally your glass is always half-full, and the world is a beautiful place to live in. But you waste your time trying to troll this website with deliberate provocation, and the replies have finally got under your precious skin. How sad. You could always solve the problem by just buggering off, you stupid egg.
agreed sanctuary …great descrption of TOP
WHAT HAS NATIONAL DONE?
In 10 full years?
Fucked over the poor so as to enrich the already rich.
That sums it up rather well.
Draco
please be verbose.
Poor means desperate. They have made the desperate die.
Thats what they have done.
Watched on while near on 1,000 teenagers (that we know of) have taken their own lives
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-social-indicators/Home/Health/suicide.aspx
To me doesn’t look like much has changed from the previous government.
Which is even sadder because it should have.
Here are the NAtiona Mps and the money we ghacver given them or cost use since thet giot into office. bILLIONS
Did we get a good result for our money.
Did they make our country better ?
I think they make have acted to make it worse, selling those state assets at that time seemed economny a bad decsion for us.
They tax system has ment housing is the only way for people to get rich. they do wierd things like tax tobbacsoo so much there are deaths , tax aclohold so low there are deaths dont tax sugars at all so there are deaths diotn tax natural resources like water so there could be deaths
They spent billions on a motorway to taurnag ?
OI mean if they had styayed hoime for last 190 years we could al be fincvally better off?
Money huh… So lets buy more houses and more houses and build more houses and more houses and make money out of renting houses and selling houses and making painting houses, lets all do houses make houses sell houses look at houses. Lets increase prices of houses lets let over seas people come and pay more than the locals can afford for houses. lets do this lets do it again and again and again and lets the media talk about cricket and cooking shows and then talk about suicide as some weird thing once and a while and lets back to making houses again lets sell houses lets pay the council money to let use build the houses lets build houses lets make more more and more houses and lets rent the houses to make money to build another house or paint our existing house lets make a new roof colour for our house lets put a fence in front of our garden lets make another house lets build houses, lets get money from a bank on a loan $600,000 dollars in dollars to buy a painted house a white one. Lets make and sell houses lets put them fro rent to sell to others to make more hoses and then lets paint them again and again and again lets paint our house blue this time and sell it again and lets rent it and sell it an mow the lawns and then lets talk about it and publish a magazine on houses lets make a coffee table for our house lets do this make a house make a house make a house make a house make a house. rent a house rent a house,. rent a house, paint a house, rent a house, money lets put a pink kitchen in the house to rent the house for more it now has a pink kitchen lets rent rent rent rent rent the houses and now lets buy the house an lets loan some money to purchase a house and then rent the house and loan money for the house and loan money and loan money and rent a house and pain the house again. So this is New Zealand.
Idolatry, Avarice, Envy, Theft… collectively Kiwis are committing some deadly sins against the (working) poor
Sorta lost the will to follow that Ants. You got something against houses?
Rugby is a national obsession but Houses are our true religion, the objective of our lives, the subject of our conversations and TV programmes and the substance of news and advertising and the basis of our bubble economy. A false religion of greed that is causing massive inequality and misery.
In a healthy society housing is a human right and available to all citizens at a reasonable cost. In NZ the housing market is a plaything of the rich putting the entire economy at risk
Nicely said, you wonder why each say 1-5% price increase in housing and all those rent hikes aren’t reported like a financial earthquake that reverberates right through our towns and cities.
brilliant..just brilliant stream of conciousness stuff but so true
This morning on Rnz about retirement. Only about 3 mins and full of very problematic figures. With low wages all your life, not owning a home with the mortgage paid off, very gloomy. Looks like many of us won’t be able to work and earn enough to live on, and won’t be able to live in any sort of comfort with visits to family or treats or little pleasures. But what expectation of retirement are these assessors working on, there isn’t a scale as there was when I heard the Otago University measures of cost of a food basket, I think they had three levels?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201850483/retirement-to-cost-a-lot-more-than-a-half-million-in-future
life and society
8:48 am today
Retirement to cost a lot more than a half million in future
From Morning Report, 8:48 am today
Listen duration 3′ :24″
At the moment, retirement is estimated to cost the over-65s a half a million dollars each, but experts are warning that figure could rise drastically as fewer people own homes and more rent.
On looking for work. From Bay of Plenty Times.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11508459
New service – some practical help.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1702/S00885/wise-ones-launches-to-connect-older-workers-to-jobs.htm
I can’t see why the attitude to retirement payments can’t change at political and advisor level. Volunteer work as return for the old age benefit should be de rigueur, so helping the country tick on, and doing all sorts of things including mentoring the young and making up for the lousy education many children are receiving under the cookie cutter model. Further education so that older people are in a place where they understand politics and economics and not be the retired children that seems the meme for so many smarmy young and middle aged people. Money created by government is already being talked about by deeper thinkers than those we usually hear from. The inflationary and unbalancing effect can be limited in various ways according to the economic innovators.
And last not least an extension of hospice so people can be cared for as they totter off to the great beyond when their bodies break down and they can’t have extensions of life every year, they may be in the care home for a year or so, able to walk and take an interest and enjoy end of life in comfort. And legally devised, carefully considered and consulted with people who care about euthanasia, so after the decision and legal steps taken, people can be free to relax and life to the full for as long as they can and wish.
Careful this is is a longer read from Richard Rorty, with useful historical back-and-forth that you may recognise from debates here:
“Advice for the Left on Achieving A More Perfect Union”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/advice-for-the-left-on-achieving-a-more-perfect-union/531054/
Keep forgetting to revisit ICIJ, but did this morning and it always worth the time.
Good article(?) on a couple of incidents involving Australian mining companies in Africa.
i have gotten an e-mail purportedly from inland revenue saying i had a refund and to use a link to claim.
the address that pops up at the top of the page is luckycatmob.com/ird….
all looks legit, however that address is concerning.
is this a scam?
The URL would indicate yes. You can go directly to IRD and see for yourself. Quick / easy and free.
chees james,
what has gotten me engaging with ird is setting up a ‘myIR’ account to enable a few refunds over the last few financial years.
i assume this is the quick/easy/free you are referring to.
gsays – IRD announce on their website (somewhere) that they NEVER send out emails such as you got. Any such email is definitely a scam.
As someone who used to work at IRD, myIR is great for working out if you are owed a refund.
Just reflecting on the change to decimal thirty years ago in 1967, before I was born.
In the early 80’s Muldoon was in power, I’m still at primary and ended up writing a letter to Merv Wellington, the then minister of education complaining that our maths text books were still in imperial measurements. We eventually received decimal math’s text books.
Around 15/16 years after the decimal system was introduced, kids didn’t have up to date text books (schools must have been underfunded, because that should not have been happening) and there were around 40 kids in a classroom.
Lolz flashbacks
The infamous Minister Merv Wellington tried to get every school to salute the flag and pledge allegiance every morning. He also started a project to remove any books that showed any form of nudity such as in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Some schools started going though such library books using a black felt-tip pen or ripping out such awful pages. Weird times.
Wow no shit? Weird times indeed, thanks that was interesting IanMac.
Pedo takedown…Elysium website. Of course the 87000 “busted” aren’t actually arrested necessarily. Justice is iffy.
https://youtu.be/Bu5-tge2EiM?t=1m30s
A generous donation of $50 million and many on here rush to declare the donor an asshat…good grief..
Many here rush to point out that the state should already have provided that hospital anyway, but our current govt. is too busy talking about tax cuts while underfunding state services in order to create a false budget surplus.
I suggest (as above) that you read some history and find out how Carnegie became an oligarch in the USA, then used his millions for ‘charitable’ purposes. An egotistic, smug hypocrite. Don’t rush to fall to your knees and cross yourself, Stunned mullet. That man has probably ‘avoided’ paying more than $50 million.
Good grief..
+111
The gist of the ‘donation’ seemed to be that he expected to build said hospital too.
Less an asshat (cool term, very south park) more of a me, me, me.