A government doing its job would never have allowed these practices to occur.
Our housing system is being played to launder dirty foreign money and to satisfy reckless speculation.
1. Property laundering
someone elses text
Police research concludes a loophole is seeing lawyers, accountants and real estate agents being increasingly used to launder $1.6 billion in dirty money annually – including into New Zealand’s booming property markets.Lawyers, accountants and real estate agents being increasingly used to launder $1.6 billion in dirty money annually – including into New Zealand’s booming property markets.
“Recent police investigations have exposed the fact that professional services and the real estate sector are closely linked to organised crime and drug offending,” officials said.
That research, sampling freezing orders obtained to seize the proceeds of crime, found 26 per cent of cases involved unpicking the work of accountants and lawyers, and more than half (56 per cent of cases) involved property deals where “offenders were ultimately successful in integrating criminal proceeds by purchasing real estate”.
Reports released under the Official Information Act – and only provided to the Weekend Herald following a complaint to the Ombudsman – show Justice Minister Amy Adams was briefed last June about police concerns but substantive policy work to close the loophole was only begun a year later.
2. Auckland speculators flipping homes on same day of purchase.
With the average Auckland house price now tipping $1 million, frenzied property speculation is helping drive up prices and locking thousands of Auckland families out of home ownership.
But one investor who buys and sells Auckland properties – sometimes on the same day – has defended the practice, labelling it “easy money” in a rising market.
“If you can swing a property deal once a week and make 20 or 30 grand, why would you not do that?” said seasoned Tauranga-based investor Ian Stevenson.
“Big money is chasing good profit here but it’s the market’s rise that’s driving it because they’re not fixing the Auckland problem.”
“If you can swing a property deal once a week and make 20 or 30 grand, why would you not do that?” said seasoned Tauranga-based investor Ian Stevenson.
Because it’s detrimental to society which is why such speculators used to be hung. After all, they’re not actually doing anything for that money (as he said) which essentially makes it theft.
Personally, I’d got 110% tax on anything that’s turned over that fast, makes a profit that big and does nothing to develop the economy.
And it ignores resources and development which means to say that it’s not even remotely economic no matter what the economists and politicians say. Which, of course, means that it actually does need to be banned/regulated out of existence.
We get it we don’t need a to be reminded of your views day in day out, capitalism bad, Neo liberalism bad, fiat money bad it’s all going to end in tears, Revolution good, Stalinist reckoning good, we got it, ok
Leftie i got what i didnt want thanks to those selfish arses who voted for these morons ! three times in a row and will vote for them again in a years time.
Thats dictatorship with a smile and an easy going manner.
Then mosa I assume you are going to volunteer your time next year for which ever party you want to support, so to maximize that parties vote? its called democracy.
Win the hearts and minds of the voters, and you will have your wish…its that simple.
Forget trying to blame so called dirty politics…they all do it left or right.
Why do you think the attack line of Labour for so long has been to try and dig up dirt on John Key?
Hager timed his book for the last election, thinking it would cause a massive landslide against National. The public looked and then voted, giving Hager the middle finger.
Obviously not that simple at all Chuck. There is nothing “so called” about the dirty politics National rely on to stay in power. Maybe you should stop using the false meme of “they all do it too” since no party has used dirty Americanized politics like its puppet John key.
There is plenty of dirt on the compulsive liar & traitor John key, whose only interests are to abuse his prime ministerial position, build tax havens for the off shore elites, to launder dirty money by making our own people homeless, and to harass and abuse a young waitress at her place of employment. Key has been fortunate to have such a gutless, compliant and complicit msm on board.
History will not look kindly on John key, who will go down as the worst self serving PM this country has had the misfortune to have.
National et al has never proved Nicky Hager wrong, and I think the public are taking more notice now, it’s getting harder for the arrogant Nats to hide it’s obvious disdain for this country and its people.
Leftie properly the only thing we can agree on is that is disagree!
“There is plenty of dirt on the compulsive liar & traitor John key, whose only interests are to abuse his prime ministerial position, build tax havens for the off shore elites, to launder dirty money by making our own people homeless, and to harass and abuse a young waitress at her place of employment. Key has been fortunate to have such a gutless, compliant and complicit msm on board.”
How then can you explain the wall to wall coverage given by the MSM on “ponytail gate” or when they brought in the “big gun” Hager to lead a team of MSM journos on the Panama papers?…every voter in NZ was exposed to these stories…and still National is polling around the vote they received in the 2014 election.
Its easy to blame others…the left need to look in the mirror and realise they need to lift there game big time.
”and still National is polling around the vote they received in the 2014 election.”
that doesn’t actually prove that the nats aren’t scum , it just proves that people either don’t care , don’t believe it or think it’s ok to climb into the gutter to win,.
I just don’t get it, politics is all about selling concepts and ideas, yet the left makes no effort to actually sell or convince the voter that what they’re offering is good.
It’s all “This is what is good for you silly voter person, do what we say”, then look all confused when the voter tells them to fuck off.
None of which was in the headlines for long before National’s attack bloggers and msm kicked into gear with excuses and victim blaming. Since you obviously believe in opinion polling, I guess John key’s most preferred/popularity plummeting from the unrealistic heady heights of 63% down to 36.7% in such a very short space of time pretty much shows he’s on the way out.
@BM All John Key has sold NZ was lies and deceit. You have actually described John key and his supporters like yourself. Remember, John key said he was right and the Law Society, Privacy Commissioner and the Human Rights Commissioner were all wrong.
so when exactly were labour running a secret hit squad out of the leaders office?
getting sick of this repetitive deliberate ignorance that tries to pretend that openly digging for dirt like every party has done forever is the same as running a secret campaign, that sailed pretty close to illegality, out of the leaders office
“so when exactly were labour running a secret hit squad out of the leaders office?”
Since long ago…if they want to do a “hit” on say a Nat MP they can tap a journo on the shoulder and feed them the story.
“getting sick of this repetitive deliberate ignorance that tries to pretend that openly digging for dirt like every party has done forever is the same as running a secret campaign”
Not much will be done in the “open”. It defeats the purpose to a large extent.
“that sailed pretty close to illegality, out of the leaders office”
Nothing illegal was done end of story. However that’s not the case for whoever stole Slaters emails…
The voting public gave their verdict on the day of the election…end of story.
A government doing its job would never have allowed this to occur.
Kiwi mother of five shares struggle with homelessness after addressing MPs.
A Wellington mother of five spoke to MPs this week about her family’s years-long struggle to find a home. SAM SACHDEVA spoke to Sarah about going back and forward between cars, friends’ houses and “squished into one bed”.
The family’s unstable living conditions have taken a toll in many different ways.
Sarah’s family have all had pneumonia – one son nearly died and had to be hospitalised – along with constant colds and other illnesses.
They’ve suffered emotionally too: all but her youngest son have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders.
Yest, that too. But lots of cash from all over the place. Say “boo” to it in the form of actual policing of our markets (har, har with FJK in charge) and it’ll all scamper off to to other banana republics!
@Paul
In the first article I love Bill English’s “Oh well, it’s quite possible.”
Translation: we know dirty overseas money is being laundered through the NZ property market but we certainly won’t do anything about it (until we are caught out by a fine reporter like Matt Nippert) because my boss is a currency dealer/speculator.
BTW is anyone else out there getting fed up with Amy Adams’ weasel words?
National has allowed dirty money funneled through Jk’s shiny new tax avoidance and secrecy vehicles to prop up their speculators dream which citizens know as New Zealands housing crisis ………….
This laundry service for rich criminals is delevering record profits to National donars and property owning mp’s ……. while making New Zealand children and families homeless …. “contentious exemption of professional services firms – mostly lawyers, accountants and real estate agents – from being covered by anti-money laundering laws passed in 2009.” ….
“Police Association president Greg O’Connor yesterday said the exemption was unsatisfactory and the revelations in briefings to the Ministers should be no surprise………”O’Connor agreed opposition from the sector was the most likely cause: “Naturally enough, they’ll fight this tooth and nail.” http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11706741
Sky city with its strong national party ties is also getting its cut with hundreds of millions of dirty money being washed clean through its gambling services …. “A wealthy businessman caught up in a money-laundering investigation gambled nearly $300 million in the VIP lounge of SkyCity casino. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11592619
Andrew Geddis has done a fine job (OIA needed again) working out how the ridiculous Airport Authorities (Publicising Lost Property Sales) Amendment Bill. came to be in the members ballot.
It turns out Simon Bridges was behind it, and it is clear the bill was included in the ballot to help keep the opposition from getting a bill in the ballot that might actually do something.
Geddis notes the reaction of a Ministry of Transport Official:
“What the hell is going on here? This is a completely stupid thing to do! If we’re going to the trouble of having an entire review of the legislation with an Amendment Act to follow, why on earth wouldn’t we include this incredibly trivial, easily made change in it? Honest to God – sometimes I despair of the morons who run this place and the petty political games that they are always playing. If this ever comes out in public, they are going to look like a bunch of right royal nitwits who deserve all the ridicule that will follow.”
So Bridges is a moron who plays petty political games. But we knew that.
This while young New Zealanders struggle to get their drivers licenses ….the fees are exorbitant for a young person or a working class family….and the testing is very very rigorous
…three levels of competency for a NZ drivers license
( which many young New Zealanders can’t complete for lack of money or for failing the tests which are nit-picking in the extreme)
1) theoretical knowledge of driver safety and road rules
2) learner licence..practical skills 6 months only driving with a licensed adult
3.) restricted license…can only drive by oneself or with a passenger with a license
4.) final full license ( very hard for a young New Zealander to get and many don’t)
….and to be without a licence is often to be without work and education opportunities in many cases
….condemning young New Zealanders to desperation, alcohol and drugs …the scrap heap Jonkey kindly talks about
(Bus driving in New Zealand should only be by New Zealanders…We should not be exporting our tourism jobs to Chinese or other foreigners who are unqualified…especially when New Zealanders are unemployed)
If you bring in Third Worlders, they bring the Third World with them. That’s inevitable, because we’re all products of our cultures. Call these scams “deliberate government policy,” because that’s what it amounts to.
Just come into Auckland for a few days after another work trip into SE Asia. Absolutely true.
While Ak still retains a layer of pre-colonial European heritage, it’s rapidly being overlaid by the exactly the architectures and behaviours I recognise from before I got on the plane in Asia.
Especially those driving the top of the range Audis and Porsche Cayennes.
We are being colonised by an uber rich elite from China.
There are also big US and European tycoons buying up NZ at an alarming speed.
We are being colonised.
It is more likely you’ll hear the words neo-liberalism ( and its condemnation) from NZ First than the Greens or Labour.
Why?
60% Of Migrants Not On Skill-Shortages List – Why John Key REALLY Wants More Immigration
The twin obvious justifications for why National continues to allow in thousands of migrant labourers who aren’t on the long-term skill shortages list thus ought to be plainly obvious.
It’s because our Government are working hand-in-glove with their economically exploitative employment-offering mates to attempt to artificially depress both pay and conditions in the broader New Zealand labour market – for everyone, not just migrant workers.
Ever since the roll-out of the Rogernomics economic “reforms” in the 1980s, take-home pay in real terms has been declining for workers in New Zealand. We have also witnessed ongoing attempts by successive Governments to corral and constrain Union power. But while they have evidently accomplished oh so much economic devastation for the ordinary person through direct legislative instruments, since the halting of the ‘mainstream’ Neoliberal ‘revolution’ in the mid-late 1990s following the running out of steam of Ruthanasia etc, more insidious means to further the same broad objectives have had to be pursued.
Paul anyone who watched Nigel latta, the hard stuff from last tuesday
on immigration, will know that you are telling porkies, but you probably know that too.
I saw a lot of it and Nigel asking someone high up from Immigration New Zealand to see if we have got immigration policy settings right isn’t exactly investigative journalism.
And it will be just as bad as the last colonisation that occurred here. Need to stop it before it gets that far.
You’d think we, of all people, would be able to figure that out. But I guess that, as the beneficiaries of that last colonisation, many White NZers struggle with the concept that it was a bad thing. At least most Maori get it, for obvious reasons.
and the police don’t think it is an isolated incident
“Police prosecutor Sergeant Grant Neal said: “These residents of China have come over without driver’s licences.
“They are operating as tour operators, driving without New Zealand driver’s licences and producing other residents’ driver’s licences. There are several prosecutions in relation to the one company.”
Given global warming and traffic congestion isn’t it about time we as a nation reintroduced carless days? It would encourage more use of public transport and there would be fewer cars on the road.
Come on, comrades! We simply can’t rely on the general public to voluntarily give up their cars!
Diesel and petrol powered road transport volumes do need to be slashed. There are different ways of doing this.
I had the pleasure of commuting across Auckland by car in peak traffic recently. That hundreds of thousands of vehicles do this every day, over and over again, is mindboggling.
That hundreds of thousands of vehicles do this every day, over and over again, is mindboggling.?
Yep. Just walked through Henderson at a greater pace than the traffic going through it.
Really can’t understand why these people can’t see just how idiotic that they’re being. Public transport for going to work and getting stuff delivered instead of going shopping is a much better option.
Carless days (as it was done in the 70s) not the way to reduce fossil fuel use. People with more than 1 car were able to get round it. Also led to stupid things happening, like a friend in a V8 driving to collect my mum because she wasn’t allowed to use her little car 1100cc. There was no public transport alternative she could use.
Better public transport has to be in place to encourage people to use it.
That and a carbon tax and dividend scheme.
And maybe rationing fossil fuels.
And where ever there is a rail alternative already, get those huge trucks off the road and get their cargo onto electric trains.
Carless days are an extremely effective means of bashing the poor without really affecting the better off in any way at all.
If your family owns one car you are going to have to walk or take public transport on your carless day. If you own several cars it becomes only a very minor inconvenience. There is always another car you can use.
It also means that older cars are kept on the road. They are usually less safe and pollute more than modern vehicles. It would be nice if they could be scrapped but people will keep them around as a spare vehicle. Because they are there they will probably continue to be used by other people so that fuel consumption will rise.
I know several people who bought a second car when they introduced carless days in 1979. They could afford it and it was a real pain for some of them not to have a car available every day.
Trump campaign spokeswoman says that they thought Larry King interview was going to be on King's podcast — not RT.— Kevin Cirilli (@kevcirilli) September 9, 2016
Auckland speculators flipping homes on same day of purchase
“New data released exclusively to the Weekend Herald by free property valuation website homes.co.nz identifies about 30 properties that were re-sold on the same day of purchase in the last 17 months – often by ruthless investors chasing quick bucks.”
“However the Weekend Herald has identified other same-day transactions and the actual number is likely to be higher.”
[Quotation shortened and block quote added. Something being in the public domain doesn’t mean there is no copyright. The link clearly has the copyright established at the bottom of the page. Even for websites that given permission e.g. Creative Commons licences, on The Standard it is generally expected that people will quote a section rather than the whole thing, provide a link, and usually say why they are posting it. It is also better to use tags or other marks to show that the words are not yours – weka]
Being in the public domain doesn’t mean there is no copyright. Otherwise anyone who published a book would have no copyright rights. Please see my moderation note above.
The article, in a subtly recursive and mise-en-abîme fashion, suggests, I think, that not only the media but we all are complicit in this drivel being made in the first place and forced upon us, as if we are innocent bystanders or victims.
The same could be said about the NZ National Party and how’s this for a title: NZ National Party: We all share in the shame? It sounds pretty accurate, doesn’t it?
The question has to be asked as to why this is even happening and there are many possible answers that address the complexities of human behaviour. However, one answer might be that there seems to be no viable alternative, at least in the eyes of the people who make these decisions. Put differently, if there was a different ‘market’ out there it would lead to a different ‘product’ or vice versa the ‘market’ would respond and be attracted to a different ‘product’. [please note that “different” does not imply “better”]
So, why do so many (apparently) watch Real Housewives? Partly because there is nothing better to watch. I think this is also one of the reasons why politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn get as much ‘attention’ as they do; they do offer and represent something new and different to the people. Ironically, both men are not the youngest and the values and ideas they stand for and advocate are by no means ‘new’ either!
If we want a change of Government in New Zealand – and there’s no doubt that we need a change – then there has to be an alternative worth getting interested in and voting for. It is here where we individually and collectively have to speak up and take control of our own lives and destiny and become the people and nation we want to be and the society we want to live in and share with others. As van Beynen puts it:
None of us should pretend we are not complicit in preparing the ground for the invasion.
The logical consequence of this is:
We all have a role to play in preparing the ground for a change. [my words]
The problem with having a few rich people choose what’s available for the populace rather than having the populace decide what should be available.
The problem is far worse! In general, some sections of the populace are trying to compete with and even shut out other sections. In fact, I have a comment ready for submission that also touches on this but given the late time and the AB game I will try to post on OM tomorrow.
There are far better reasons why both Real Housewives of Auckland and the National Party are so attractive. And they aren’t for comfortable reading, because the left have no idea how to counter them so far.
– People like aspiring to be rich. Because it’s liberating. And more interesting than the quotidian life of the proletariat. There’s a certain thrill in thoughtless waste and vain squabbles.
– People like aspiring to be powerful, especially when it is made easy through being rich. Getting to power through the left is ugly and fraught with unnecessary and distasteful micro-coalitions.
– The self-reinforcement and replication of class is actually fun as well as fraught for the rich. The right schools, right partners from the right families, riding and fencing lessons, right holidays – it takes quite a bit of work to orchestrate and plan. Good drama.
– People like aspiring. Society is geared to wanting, and wanting so easily slides into aspiring for more and better.
– Desire itself is seductive. For glamour, for beauty, for the thrill of getting into the image economy where you might get close to a power-couple. The new and powerful cars, the clothes, the suits, the champaign. It’s just one Party fundraiser after another.
The two are popular because of the nature of modern desire itself. If the left want to try and get elected just through the negative campaigns of more crises, and more hopelessness, they are going to struggle to get there.
I didn’t go into the reasons why Real Housewives or the National Party are “so attractive”. Rather, I argued the opposite that they are unattractive and pondered one reason why they are (still) around like a bad smell that one doesn’t try to or cannot shake off.
You made very sensible points but I’d like to provide a counter-view nonetheless – I believe you and I are actually closely aligned but let’s just see.
People like aspiring to be rich. Because it’s liberating.
No, materialism and consumerism are not liberating; on the contrary, they are trappings.
People like aspiring to be powerful, especially when it is made easy through being rich.
Power comes from (internal & personal) strength; buying ‘power’ and (political) influence are neo-liberal and capitalist (proverbial?) wet dreams.
The self-reinforcement and replication of class is actually fun as well as fraught for the rich.
Myopic and incestuous vicious circle; runs counter to Natural Selection.
People like aspiring. Society is geared to wanting, and wanting so easily slides into aspiring for more and better.
I think you have this back-to-front. We all need to aspire to something, and that something needs to be ‘higher’ and always (!) just out of reach or else we become self-indulgent, lazy, and complacent. To “want” something is like handcuffing your ego to it; it seems that many are into this kind of S&M.
Desire itself is seductive.
Yes, external desire is seductive and leads to wanting and the associated pain and suffering. On the other hand, intrinsic desire or purposeful motivation leads to ‘enlightenment’ or Maslow’s self-actualisation and self-transcendence – take your pick.
If the left want to try and get elected just through the negative campaigns of more crises, and more hopelessness, they are going to struggle to get there.
I couldn’t agree more here! To campaign on a negative, on the absence of something, is not a viable strategy!
A brutal Russian verdict on Syrian army: unable to reform, gets others to win its battles, unworthy of further help https://t.co/IfTGhoCJ58— Mark Urban (@MarkUrban01) September 9, 2016
The Colonel may very well be right; having said that the Colonel has not stated what will happen to the security of Russia’s ‘soft southern underbelly’ when Islamist flags get run up over Damascus.
“Reports released under the Official Information Act – and only provided to the Weekend Herald following a complaint to the Ombudsman . . .”
EVERY government tries to conceal its misdeeds by blocking public access under the Official Information Act.
One of the essential demands of overseas anti-neoliberal movements is transparency: the government MUST NOT be allowed hide official information from its rightful owners . . . the people.
This putrid stream of parliamentary corruption will never end until we take away parliament’s power to conceal our information from us. Electing a different party will NOT solve the problem.
Transparency: the people’s right which parliament cannot block.
“We thought it might never happen. But in the last few days, leaders in France and Germany have said that TTIP — the European equivalent of TPP — is over.
The French trade minister said “France is demanding the pure, simple and definitive halt of these negotiations.” In Germany — the biggest backer of TTIP — the Vice-Chancellor said “TTIP has failed, but nobody wants to admit it.”
For three years now, SumOfUs members have been a part of a huge, worldwide push to keep dangerous trade deals like TTIP at bay.
It was a truly global effort — and it worked. We can be pretty confident TTIP won’t come back.
Together, the SumOfUs community all around the world bought ads in Brussels, signed petitions, lobbied the European Commission, and spoke up to our leaders. Members in the USA sent messages halfway around the world for members in Germany to carry at one of the biggest protests against TTIP ever.
It’s great to have a breakthrough on a campaign this important, and we should take a moment to celebrate.
Now, we’re riding off this amazing breakthrough and stepping up the fight to defeat TPP, as well the things that make global trade deals so dangerous.
Just last week, the media exposed the terrible consequences of secret courts that corporations use to sue governments for laws that protect people and the environment, but hurt profits. This is allowed under a clause in many trade deals called Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).
Check out our plans so far — we’re already working to:
Push big corporations to tell the truth about where they stand on trade negotiations, instead of hiding behind their lobbyists;
Support communities fighting the worst impacts of trade deals that have already been signed;
Back organisations in countries all over the world that challenge the trade agenda;
Make sure SumOfUs members know the facts about other dangerous trade deals, like TISA, CETA, and TPP, and find ways to stop those deals from happening where we can.”
TTIP has failed – but no one is admitting it, says German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel
The discourse must be guided now to make a critical distinction between agreement-facilitated international corporatisation, and international democratic strengthening of a rule-based order rather than a military-force based order.
We’ve got to stop mashing together all kinds of globalization as bad.
And I still think, as long as Corporations like Apple are made to feel at home in places like Ireland…who REFUSE to accept Tax money owed for goodness sakes….then ‘we’ the people are on the losing side as our services, housing and employment status slides into disarray.
“Donald Trump is one of the most unorthodox presidential nominees in American electoral history. He is unpolished and very brash. But some of his foreign policy ideas are intriguing, even common sense. This terrifies and enrages the establishment.
CrossTalking with Nomi Prins, Stephen Yates and Alex Newman.”
“The Hillary Doctrine: If elected, what kind of foreign policy agenda can we expect? Does Clinton hold an extreme view of American exceptionalism? And is she now a neoconservative?
CrossTalking with Harlan Hill, Michael Maloof, and Matt Mackowiak.”
I went to the big Art and Object art auction this week. That’s the one where the McCahon work went for $1.35m + GST + Buyers Premium i.e. about $1.6m or so.
If you ever want to get in a room with a very specific brand of white people and inhale a really rarefied vibe, check it out. They are in professional classes e.g. judges or accountancy partners, they think hard about national identity and have a few degrees between them, they have really well decorated houses with big walls, and they aren’t necessarily National supporters. There’s a core as far as I could tell that still go with Labour (or at least donate), but plenty that float around considering elsewhere beyond National.
There’s a few lowly lecturers and ratty-looking Masters students getting a freebie art history expose, and of course the vendors and their family and friends, and the auction-house staff. Quite some evening when the bidding goes into full frenzy.
The record price of this piece, reminded me of a story I read in the NY Times…
The $179 Million Picasso That Explains Global Inequality
…The astronomical rise in prices for the most-sought-after works of art over the last generation is in large part the story of rising global inequality. At its core, this is the simplest of economic math. The supply of Picasso paintings or Giacometti sculptures (one of which sold for $141 million in the same auction this week) is fixed. But the number of people with the will and the resources to buy top-end art is rising, thanks to the distribution of extreme wealth….
lol…that guy looks like a real pill !…a fat ginger with glasses…if he thinks he is attractive and has sex appeal to most women (feminist or not ) he is deluded …most women would prefer to stay home with their cats rather than date him! (he is about as attractive as a Slater or Farrer )
“Men’s Rights Activists have taken flight with a new philosophy called “RED PILL” which aims to point out how derogatory, hypocritical and vindictive third-wave feminists can be.”
I can’t decide whether that was hilariously funny or just gross. I love this bit:
Men’s Rights Activists have taken flight with a new philosophy called “RED PILL” which aims to point out how derogatory, hypocritical and vindictive third-wave feminists can be.
That’s what it aims to do, huh? I guess that aim must have been too subtly expressed for me when I went there and read “HumanSockPuppet’s Guide to Teasing Bitches,” and learned I should “Talk to women as though they were children, because emotionally they are.”
Tomorrow afternoon, if things go really really badly, I may find myself down to one eye. People who used to sneer at me on Twitter will no doubt say So what's changed? Nothing, that's what, you one-eyed lefty.I don’t mean to be dramatic, it’s just a routine bit of cataract ...
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
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After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Housing supply in Australia will be a key battleground in the election campaign. With home ownership more and more out of reach for young and not so young Australians, red tape and low productivity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Korolev, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UNSW Sydney The United States and Russia agreed to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine at high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Ukrainian and European representatives were pointedly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock Sleep is the holy grail for new parents. So no wonder many tired parents are looking for something to help their babies sleep. A TikTok trend claims ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjana Gupta, Senior Lecturer, Accounting Department, Auckland University of Technology Jirsak/Shutterstock The profit made on every breakfast bowl of weet-bix is tax exempt, giving Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an advantage over other breakfast food companies. ...
A closer look at some of the homegrown talent currently commanding television screens around the globe. The new season of The White Lotus hit our screens this week, and with it a familiar face in New Zealand actor Morgana O’Reilly. To secure a role in one of the world’s most ...
"This is a crisis of the Government’s own making and the unit is another sign of desperation," said PSA acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Perugia, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University Australia’s housing crisis has created a push for fast-tracked construction. Federal, state and territory governments have set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years. Increasing housing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ash Watson, Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock When we’re uncomfortable we say the “vibe is off”. When we’re having a good time we’re “vibing”. To assess the mood we do a “vibe check”. And when the atmosphere in ...
What’s up with the man from Epsom? The leader of the Act Party has been in plenty of headlines in the last two weeks, ranging from a controversial letter to police on behalf of constituent Philip Polkinghorne (written before David Seymour was a minister) to an attempt to drive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University Newly published research has found clear evidence that openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer+ (LGBTIQ+) Australian politicians were disproportionately targeted with personal abuse on social media at the ...
Gilmore Girls, Schitt’s Creek, even The Vampire Diaries – they’re all set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. So what is it like to actually know your neighbours? My favourite television shows are set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. Characters attend town meetings where they debate local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and ...
Wellington travellers say their buses are so hot they’re often forced to get off early and walk. Shanti Mathias explores the impact of non-functioning air conditioning on public transport. When Bella, a young professional living in Wellington, thinks about taking the bus, her first thought is “Ugh”. The bus might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Kroen, Research Fellow Planning and Transport, RMIT University The cleanup is underway in northern Queensland following the latest flooding catastrophe to hit the state. More than 7,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, most of them for inundated homes and other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subha Parida, Lecturer in Property, University of South Australia Carl Oberg/Shutterstock Houses and fire do not mix. The firestorm which hit Los Angeles in January destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate. The 2019–20 Australian megafires destroyed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Tasmania has been burning for more than two weeks, with no end in sight. Almost 100,000 hectares of bushland in the northwest has burned to date. This includes the Tarkine rainforest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Loosemore, Professor of Construction Management, University of Technology Sydney This week, the Productivity Commission released its much-awaited report into productivity growth in Australia’s housing construction sector. It wasn’t a glowing appraisal. The commission found physical productivity – the total number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa ...
Stats NZ’s head is stepping down over the agency’s failure to safeguard census data, and more officials may soon be in the firing line, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. An ‘absolutely unacceptable’ failure Stats NZ chief ...
Health NZ is under greater government scrutiny, with the new health minister setting up a unit he says will "drive greater accountability and performance". ...
Manurewa Marae acknowledges should have done better at handling completed census forms, following an inquiry into steps government agencies took to protect data. ...
Police failed to protect people from protesters at a high-profile rally and made unlawful arrests at another, the Independent Police Conduct Authority says. ...
Comment: Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are making it easier for people to invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum without having to handle digital wallets or private keys. These allow investors to buy and sell cryptocurrency through their regular brokerage accounts.This has opened the door for billions of dollars ...
Two long-awaited reports into alleged personal data misuse, centred on census collection and Covid-19 vaccination efforts at Manurewa Marae, were released yesterday. Here’s what you need to know.“Very sobering reading” was how public service commissioner Sir Brian Roche described his organisation’s long-awaited report into the alleged misuse of census ...
Backbench MPs reached new levels of patsy questions in an extraordinarily dull question time on Tuesday. Echo Chamber is The Spinoff’s dispatch from the press gallery, recapping sessions in the House. Columns are written by politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Wellington editor Joel MacManus. “MPs ask questions to explore key issues ...
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A government doing its job would never have allowed these practices to occur.
Our housing system is being played to launder dirty foreign money and to satisfy reckless speculation.
1. Property laundering
Police research concludes a loophole is seeing lawyers, accountants and real estate agents being increasingly used to launder $1.6 billion in dirty money annually – including into New Zealand’s booming property markets.Lawyers, accountants and real estate agents being increasingly used to launder $1.6 billion in dirty money annually – including into New Zealand’s booming property markets.
“Recent police investigations have exposed the fact that professional services and the real estate sector are closely linked to organised crime and drug offending,” officials said.
That research, sampling freezing orders obtained to seize the proceeds of crime, found 26 per cent of cases involved unpicking the work of accountants and lawyers, and more than half (56 per cent of cases) involved property deals where “offenders were ultimately successful in integrating criminal proceeds by purchasing real estate”.
Reports released under the Official Information Act – and only provided to the Weekend Herald following a complaint to the Ombudsman – show Justice Minister Amy Adams was briefed last June about police concerns but substantive policy work to close the loophole was only begun a year later.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11706741
2. Auckland speculators flipping homes on same day of purchase.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=11706163
Because it’s detrimental to society which is why such speculators used to be hung. After all, they’re not actually doing anything for that money (as he said) which essentially makes it theft.
Personally, I’d got 110% tax on anything that’s turned over that fast, makes a profit that big and does nothing to develop the economy.
Stevenson symptomatic of what is wrong with capitalism and its virulent strain neoliberalism.
The system is based on money, not people.
And it ignores resources and development which means to say that it’s not even remotely economic no matter what the economists and politicians say. Which, of course, means that it actually does need to be banned/regulated out of existence.
And the perpetrators and facilitators need to be tried.
We get it we don’t need a to be reminded of your views day in day out, capitalism bad, Neo liberalism bad, fiat money bad it’s all going to end in tears, Revolution good, Stalinist reckoning good, we got it, ok
I think the specific example was about damaging fraud and hyper-speculation in the Auckland property market.
Which I am sure you agree needs to be stamped out.
Unfortunately no political party is taking this issue seriously.
I sense you do need to be reminded.
If you elect a currency dealer (speculator) as PM what do you expect?
Exactly right Bearded Git. New Zealand most certainly got what it voted for, didn’t it?
Leftie i got what i didnt want thanks to those selfish arses who voted for these morons ! three times in a row and will vote for them again in a years time.
Thats dictatorship with a smile and an easy going manner.
Then mosa I assume you are going to volunteer your time next year for which ever party you want to support, so to maximize that parties vote? its called democracy.
Win the hearts and minds of the voters, and you will have your wish…its that simple.
yep Chuck i will give it my time and energy.
Is it that simple Chuck, when National use dirty politics and an equally dirty msm to cling to power?
Yes its that simple Leftie.
Forget trying to blame so called dirty politics…they all do it left or right.
Why do you think the attack line of Labour for so long has been to try and dig up dirt on John Key?
Hager timed his book for the last election, thinking it would cause a massive landslide against National. The public looked and then voted, giving Hager the middle finger.
Obviously not that simple at all Chuck. There is nothing “so called” about the dirty politics National rely on to stay in power. Maybe you should stop using the false meme of “they all do it too” since no party has used dirty Americanized politics like its puppet John key.
There is plenty of dirt on the compulsive liar & traitor John key, whose only interests are to abuse his prime ministerial position, build tax havens for the off shore elites, to launder dirty money by making our own people homeless, and to harass and abuse a young waitress at her place of employment. Key has been fortunate to have such a gutless, compliant and complicit msm on board.
History will not look kindly on John key, who will go down as the worst self serving PM this country has had the misfortune to have.
National et al has never proved Nicky Hager wrong, and I think the public are taking more notice now, it’s getting harder for the arrogant Nats to hide it’s obvious disdain for this country and its people.
Leftie properly the only thing we can agree on is that is disagree!
“There is plenty of dirt on the compulsive liar & traitor John key, whose only interests are to abuse his prime ministerial position, build tax havens for the off shore elites, to launder dirty money by making our own people homeless, and to harass and abuse a young waitress at her place of employment. Key has been fortunate to have such a gutless, compliant and complicit msm on board.”
How then can you explain the wall to wall coverage given by the MSM on “ponytail gate” or when they brought in the “big gun” Hager to lead a team of MSM journos on the Panama papers?…every voter in NZ was exposed to these stories…and still National is polling around the vote they received in the 2014 election.
Its easy to blame others…the left need to look in the mirror and realise they need to lift there game big time.
They can’t because they believe they’re right and every one else is wrong.
Not just that everyone is simply “wrong” but that they are ignorant, uneducated, greedy, self-centred, cruel, racist, woman hating, red necks, etc.
It’s a real effort to win friends and influence people.
”and still National is polling around the vote they received in the 2014 election.”
that doesn’t actually prove that the nats aren’t scum , it just proves that people either don’t care , don’t believe it or think it’s ok to climb into the gutter to win,.
@ CV
And that attitude sticks out like dog nuts.
I just don’t get it, politics is all about selling concepts and ideas, yet the left makes no effort to actually sell or convince the voter that what they’re offering is good.
It’s all “This is what is good for you silly voter person, do what we say”, then look all confused when the voter tells them to fuck off.
None of which was in the headlines for long before National’s attack bloggers and msm kicked into gear with excuses and victim blaming. Since you obviously believe in opinion polling, I guess John key’s most preferred/popularity plummeting from the unrealistic heady heights of 63% down to 36.7% in such a very short space of time pretty much shows he’s on the way out.
@BM All John Key has sold NZ was lies and deceit. You have actually described John key and his supporters like yourself. Remember, John key said he was right and the Law Society, Privacy Commissioner and the Human Rights Commissioner were all wrong.
“I just don’t get it, politics is all about selling concepts and ideas,”
then why did national feel the need to resort to running a secret hit squad?
i mean if their ideas are sooo amazing why did they need to engage in deceit of that level?
the fact is national arent really that honest about their ideas
so when exactly were labour running a secret hit squad out of the leaders office?
getting sick of this repetitive deliberate ignorance that tries to pretend that openly digging for dirt like every party has done forever is the same as running a secret campaign, that sailed pretty close to illegality, out of the leaders office
its bullshit chuck
+1’s on both of your comments Framu.
“the fact is national arent really that honest about their ideas”
That’s right, National are so dishonest and secretive, that they don’t tell the public what they really intend to do at all.
“so when exactly were labour running a secret hit squad out of the leaders office?”
Since long ago…if they want to do a “hit” on say a Nat MP they can tap a journo on the shoulder and feed them the story.
“getting sick of this repetitive deliberate ignorance that tries to pretend that openly digging for dirt like every party has done forever is the same as running a secret campaign”
Not much will be done in the “open”. It defeats the purpose to a large extent.
“that sailed pretty close to illegality, out of the leaders office”
Nothing illegal was done end of story. However that’s not the case for whoever stole Slaters emails…
The voting public gave their verdict on the day of the election…end of story.
A government doing its job would never have allowed this to occur.
Kiwi mother of five shares struggle with homelessness after addressing MPs.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/83941349/kiwi-mother-of-five-shares-struggle-with-homelessness-after-addressing-mps
More proof the Auckland market is a dumping ground for illicit cash.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11706741
The tiniest bit of enforcement will chase this source of buyers away in a second.
And then this tidbit about flipping properties in a day:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=11706163
When the bubble goes pop it’s going to be spectacular.
Illicit foreign Chinese money.
Let’s be plain about this.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/stolen-chinese-money-likely-spent-on-auckland-property-little-6198588
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11603201
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11586403
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/06/24/just-what-nz-needs-billions-more-in-chinese-property-speculation/
Yest, that too. But lots of cash from all over the place. Say “boo” to it in the form of actual policing of our markets (har, har with FJK in charge) and it’ll all scamper off to to other banana republics!
@Paul
In the first article I love Bill English’s “Oh well, it’s quite possible.”
Translation: we know dirty overseas money is being laundered through the NZ property market but we certainly won’t do anything about it (until we are caught out by a fine reporter like Matt Nippert) because my boss is a currency dealer/speculator.
BTW is anyone else out there getting fed up with Amy Adams’ weasel words?
National has allowed dirty money funneled through Jk’s shiny new tax avoidance and secrecy vehicles to prop up their speculators dream which citizens know as New Zealands housing crisis ………….
This laundry service for rich criminals is delevering record profits to National donars and property owning mp’s ……. while making New Zealand children and families homeless …. “contentious exemption of professional services firms – mostly lawyers, accountants and real estate agents – from being covered by anti-money laundering laws passed in 2009.” ….
“Police Association president Greg O’Connor yesterday said the exemption was unsatisfactory and the revelations in briefings to the Ministers should be no surprise………”O’Connor agreed opposition from the sector was the most likely cause: “Naturally enough, they’ll fight this tooth and nail.” http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11706741
Sky city with its strong national party ties is also getting its cut with hundreds of millions of dirty money being washed clean through its gambling services …. “A wealthy businessman caught up in a money-laundering investigation gambled nearly $300 million in the VIP lounge of SkyCity casino. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11592619
http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/money/83450345/Court-orders-forfeiture-of-42-85-million-in-alleged-money-laundering-case
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11405494 “the fundraiser was actually a private dinner at Mr Liu’s $4.75 million home in Remuera, where a smiling Mr Key and Jami-Lee Ross, the MP for Botany, were photographed alongside Mr Liu and his young family.”
+100
Andrew Geddis has done a fine job (OIA needed again) working out how the ridiculous Airport Authorities (Publicising Lost Property Sales) Amendment Bill. came to be in the members ballot.
It turns out Simon Bridges was behind it, and it is clear the bill was included in the ballot to help keep the opposition from getting a bill in the ballot that might actually do something.
Geddis notes the reaction of a Ministry of Transport Official:
“What the hell is going on here? This is a completely stupid thing to do! If we’re going to the trouble of having an entire review of the legislation with an Amendment Act to follow, why on earth wouldn’t we include this incredibly trivial, easily made change in it? Honest to God – sometimes I despair of the morons who run this place and the petty political games that they are always playing. If this ever comes out in public, they are going to look like a bunch of right royal nitwits who deserve all the ridicule that will follow.”
So Bridges is a moron who plays petty political games. But we knew that.
It’s all here:
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/worser-and-worser
Ha classic!
More corruption associated with this John Key Nactional Government
‘Chinese tour drivers had no licences, police allege’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/84044806/chinese-tour-drivers-had-no-licences-police-allege
‘A 50 tonne bomb on the road fully loaded’ – alleged licence scam extends to truck drivers’
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/50-tonne-bomb-road-fully-loaded-alleged-licence-scam-extends-truck-drivers
This while young New Zealanders struggle to get their drivers licenses ….the fees are exorbitant for a young person or a working class family….and the testing is very very rigorous
…three levels of competency for a NZ drivers license
( which many young New Zealanders can’t complete for lack of money or for failing the tests which are nit-picking in the extreme)
1) theoretical knowledge of driver safety and road rules
2) learner licence..practical skills 6 months only driving with a licensed adult
3.) restricted license…can only drive by oneself or with a passenger with a license
4.) final full license ( very hard for a young New Zealander to get and many don’t)
….and to be without a licence is often to be without work and education opportunities in many cases
….condemning young New Zealanders to desperation, alcohol and drugs …the scrap heap Jonkey kindly talks about
(Bus driving in New Zealand should only be by New Zealanders…We should not be exporting our tourism jobs to Chinese or other foreigners who are unqualified…especially when New Zealanders are unemployed)
+100
If you bring in Third Worlders, they bring the Third World with them. That’s inevitable, because we’re all products of our cultures. Call these scams “deliberate government policy,” because that’s what it amounts to.
@PM
Just come into Auckland for a few days after another work trip into SE Asia. Absolutely true.
While Ak still retains a layer of pre-colonial European heritage, it’s rapidly being overlaid by the exactly the architectures and behaviours I recognise from before I got on the plane in Asia.
Especially the driving.
Especially those driving the top of the range Audis and Porsche Cayennes.
We are being colonised by an uber rich elite from China.
There are also big US and European tycoons buying up NZ at an alarming speed.
We are being colonised.
+1
And it will be just as bad as the last colonisation that occurred here. Need to stop it before it gets that far.
One upside.
Pakeha may gain some empathy and start to understand Maori grievances.
Actually, I think this colonisation may be worse.
Maybe they should anyway Paul. There is no better or worse just devastation if colonisation is occurring which imo it’s not.
It is more likely you’ll hear the words neo-liberalism ( and its condemnation) from NZ First than the Greens or Labour.
Why?
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/09/09/60-of-migrants-not-on-skill-shortages-list-why-john-key-really-wants-more-immigration/
Paul anyone who watched Nigel latta, the hard stuff from last tuesday
on immigration, will know that you are telling porkies, but you probably know that too.
I didn’t watch it.
Well you should watch it, it was a surprise to me, we are being fed a lot of B/S about immigration and you are helping spread the B/S.
I saw a lot of it and Nigel asking someone high up from Immigration New Zealand to see if we have got immigration policy settings right isn’t exactly investigative journalism.
The only BS about immigration that we’re seeing is from the RWNJs.
he was actually making some pretty major errors. It wasnt all it was cracked up to be
(though that doesnt mean i disagree with SOME of what he had to say)
And it will be just as bad as the last colonisation that occurred here. Need to stop it before it gets that far.
You’d think we, of all people, would be able to figure that out. But I guess that, as the beneficiaries of that last colonisation, many White NZers struggle with the concept that it was a bad thing. At least most Maori get it, for obvious reasons.
where is the Maori Party in all this?
Good question Chooky.
+ 1 pm
No, it won’t be an isolated incident. There will be several such places around the country.
and the police don’t think it is an isolated incident
“Police prosecutor Sergeant Grant Neal said: “These residents of China have come over without driver’s licences.
“They are operating as tour operators, driving without New Zealand driver’s licences and producing other residents’ driver’s licences. There are several prosecutions in relation to the one company.”
Given global warming and traffic congestion isn’t it about time we as a nation reintroduced carless days? It would encourage more use of public transport and there would be fewer cars on the road.
Come on, comrades! We simply can’t rely on the general public to voluntarily give up their cars!
Diesel and petrol powered road transport volumes do need to be slashed. There are different ways of doing this.
I had the pleasure of commuting across Auckland by car in peak traffic recently. That hundreds of thousands of vehicles do this every day, over and over again, is mindboggling.
Hi CV.
I, too, have spent a bit of time in aucks traffic recently.
1 person per car seems to be the norm.
I agree with the carless day idea with a subtle difference; us choosing to have a carless day, or other such sacrifice.
Far more powerful and effective than any legislation.
Yep. Just walked through Henderson at a greater pace than the traffic going through it.
Really can’t understand why these people can’t see just how idiotic that they’re being. Public transport for going to work and getting stuff delivered instead of going shopping is a much better option.
Agreed.
We should make all public transport free, make bus lanes on all motorways and place a pollution and climate tax on fuel.
For certain folk on this site who may roll their eyes at that idea….It’s a thing already in these cities…https://farefreepublictransport.com/city/
“We should make all public transport free”
Ahh the sure sign of a hardcore left minded person!!
It’s not “free” someone has to pay for it!! I will give you a glue…anyone on PAYE or that pays tax foots the bill.
Nothing is FREE
Sure it is, you jump onboard and you get to use it without paying. That’s what “free” means.
Before Vino or OAB has a go at me…
I misspelled clue (used glue).
Chuck – you could have said,”Before Vino or OAB get stuck in to me…”
that will of gone so far of chucks head he won’t even be able to see the con trail
“will of” ??? Please – will’ve. No such thing as ‘will of’ !!
(Short for “will have”.)
Just cannot help myself…
I will have to work on it, and it will have ruined my point making such a grammatical error.
Not so sure about that – Chuck is the one with the terrible history… You generally shine forth like a beacon in the darkness for all to behold.
Wrong.
Or, to be more precise, it’s a question of available resources against the peoples priorities.
Public transport uses up less of those scarce resources, including personal time, than private transport does.
And yet the RWNJs still think that it’s possible to make a profit.
If we had an economic system connected to reality there’d be no profit and no private transport.
You should note that lots of successful cities have free public transport.
So we pay for free buses and trains by changing our whole financial system.
Carless days (as it was done in the 70s) not the way to reduce fossil fuel use. People with more than 1 car were able to get round it. Also led to stupid things happening, like a friend in a V8 driving to collect my mum because she wasn’t allowed to use her little car 1100cc. There was no public transport alternative she could use.
Better public transport has to be in place to encourage people to use it.
That and a carbon tax and dividend scheme.
And maybe rationing fossil fuels.
And where ever there is a rail alternative already, get those huge trucks off the road and get their cargo onto electric trains.
Carless days are an extremely effective means of bashing the poor without really affecting the better off in any way at all.
If your family owns one car you are going to have to walk or take public transport on your carless day. If you own several cars it becomes only a very minor inconvenience. There is always another car you can use.
It also means that older cars are kept on the road. They are usually less safe and pollute more than modern vehicles. It would be nice if they could be scrapped but people will keep them around as a spare vehicle. Because they are there they will probably continue to be used by other people so that fuel consumption will rise.
I know several people who bought a second car when they introduced carless days in 1979. They could afford it and it was a real pain for some of them not to have a car available every day.
wasnt carless days the catalyst for the two car family?
We wuz tricked!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11706831
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=11706163
[Quotation shortened and block quote added. Something being in the public domain doesn’t mean there is no copyright. The link clearly has the copyright established at the bottom of the page. Even for websites that given permission e.g. Creative Commons licences, on The Standard it is generally expected that people will quote a section rather than the whole thing, provide a link, and usually say why they are posting it. It is also better to use tags or other marks to show that the words are not yours – weka]
…and the rot is spreading to Christchurch
‘Ray White Real Estate’ has Chinese cold calling very elderly Christchurch residents asking if they want to sell their homes
New Zealanders should boycott Ray White Real Estate
Elderly New Zealanders need protection from them
We are being colonised.
+1’s Chooky and Paul.
please do not paste entire articles. it breaches copyright, for one thing.
It’s in the public domain and links have been provided.
Being in the public domain doesn’t mean there is no copyright. Otherwise anyone who published a book would have no copyright rights. Please see my moderation note above.
OK. Have already done what you have requested in another comment.
Cheers Leftie.
The NZ National Party and The Real Housewives of Auckland have something in common IMO.
No, it is not the money or the egocentric characters showing sociopathic and narcisitistic traits.
Martin van Beynen wrote a rather insightful piece on the TV show Real Housewives: We all share in the shame.
The article, in a subtly recursive and mise-en-abîme fashion, suggests, I think, that not only the media but we all are complicit in this drivel being made in the first place and forced upon us, as if we are innocent bystanders or victims.
The same could be said about the NZ National Party and how’s this for a title: NZ National Party: We all share in the shame? It sounds pretty accurate, doesn’t it?
The question has to be asked as to why this is even happening and there are many possible answers that address the complexities of human behaviour. However, one answer might be that there seems to be no viable alternative, at least in the eyes of the people who make these decisions. Put differently, if there was a different ‘market’ out there it would lead to a different ‘product’ or vice versa the ‘market’ would respond and be attracted to a different ‘product’. [please note that “different” does not imply “better”]
So, why do so many (apparently) watch Real Housewives? Partly because there is nothing better to watch. I think this is also one of the reasons why politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn get as much ‘attention’ as they do; they do offer and represent something new and different to the people. Ironically, both men are not the youngest and the values and ideas they stand for and advocate are by no means ‘new’ either!
If we want a change of Government in New Zealand – and there’s no doubt that we need a change – then there has to be an alternative worth getting interested in and voting for. It is here where we individually and collectively have to speak up and take control of our own lives and destiny and become the people and nation we want to be and the society we want to live in and share with others. As van Beynen puts it:
The logical consequence of this is:
It is quite simple really …
^^ Guest post
The problem with having a few rich people choose what’s available for the populace rather than having the populace decide what should be available.
Thanks and be my ‘guest’!
The problem is far worse! In general, some sections of the populace are trying to compete with and even shut out other sections. In fact, I have a comment ready for submission that also touches on this but given the late time and the AB game I will try to post on OM tomorrow.
There are far better reasons why both Real Housewives of Auckland and the National Party are so attractive. And they aren’t for comfortable reading, because the left have no idea how to counter them so far.
– People like aspiring to be rich. Because it’s liberating. And more interesting than the quotidian life of the proletariat. There’s a certain thrill in thoughtless waste and vain squabbles.
– People like aspiring to be powerful, especially when it is made easy through being rich. Getting to power through the left is ugly and fraught with unnecessary and distasteful micro-coalitions.
– The self-reinforcement and replication of class is actually fun as well as fraught for the rich. The right schools, right partners from the right families, riding and fencing lessons, right holidays – it takes quite a bit of work to orchestrate and plan. Good drama.
– People like aspiring. Society is geared to wanting, and wanting so easily slides into aspiring for more and better.
– Desire itself is seductive. For glamour, for beauty, for the thrill of getting into the image economy where you might get close to a power-couple. The new and powerful cars, the clothes, the suits, the champaign. It’s just one Party fundraiser after another.
The two are popular because of the nature of modern desire itself. If the left want to try and get elected just through the negative campaigns of more crises, and more hopelessness, they are going to struggle to get there.
Hi Ad,
I didn’t go into the reasons why Real Housewives or the National Party are “so attractive”. Rather, I argued the opposite that they are unattractive and pondered one reason why they are (still) around like a bad smell that one doesn’t try to or cannot shake off.
You made very sensible points but I’d like to provide a counter-view nonetheless – I believe you and I are actually closely aligned but let’s just see.
No, materialism and consumerism are not liberating; on the contrary, they are trappings.
Power comes from (internal & personal) strength; buying ‘power’ and (political) influence are neo-liberal and capitalist (proverbial?) wet dreams.
Myopic and incestuous vicious circle; runs counter to Natural Selection.
I think you have this back-to-front. We all need to aspire to something, and that something needs to be ‘higher’ and always (!) just out of reach or else we become self-indulgent, lazy, and complacent. To “want” something is like handcuffing your ego to it; it seems that many are into this kind of S&M.
Yes, external desire is seductive and leads to wanting and the associated pain and suffering. On the other hand, intrinsic desire or purposeful motivation leads to ‘enlightenment’ or Maslow’s self-actualisation and self-transcendence – take your pick.
I couldn’t agree more here! To campaign on a negative, on the absence of something, is not a viable strategy!
Interesting read.
https://citeam.org/here-s-why-assad-s-army-can-t-win-the-war-in-syria/
The Colonel may very well be right; having said that the Colonel has not stated what will happen to the security of Russia’s ‘soft southern underbelly’ when Islamist flags get run up over Damascus.
I rather think that the Russians fear their neighbours, and their neighbour’s neighbours, to the south.
Hence the desire to keep the action in Syria going for as long as possible. And to export it even further, to Libya, possibly Nigeria.
@ Paul
“Reports released under the Official Information Act – and only provided to the Weekend Herald following a complaint to the Ombudsman . . .”
EVERY government tries to conceal its misdeeds by blocking public access under the Official Information Act.
One of the essential demands of overseas anti-neoliberal movements is transparency: the government MUST NOT be allowed hide official information from its rightful owners . . . the people.
This putrid stream of parliamentary corruption will never end until we take away parliament’s power to conceal our information from us. Electing a different party will NOT solve the problem.
Transparency: the people’s right which parliament cannot block.
+1
TTIP: have we won?
“We thought it might never happen. But in the last few days, leaders in France and Germany have said that TTIP — the European equivalent of TPP — is over.
The French trade minister said “France is demanding the pure, simple and definitive halt of these negotiations.” In Germany — the biggest backer of TTIP — the Vice-Chancellor said “TTIP has failed, but nobody wants to admit it.”
For three years now, SumOfUs members have been a part of a huge, worldwide push to keep dangerous trade deals like TTIP at bay.
It was a truly global effort — and it worked. We can be pretty confident TTIP won’t come back.
Together, the SumOfUs community all around the world bought ads in Brussels, signed petitions, lobbied the European Commission, and spoke up to our leaders. Members in the USA sent messages halfway around the world for members in Germany to carry at one of the biggest protests against TTIP ever.
It’s great to have a breakthrough on a campaign this important, and we should take a moment to celebrate.
Now, we’re riding off this amazing breakthrough and stepping up the fight to defeat TPP, as well the things that make global trade deals so dangerous.
Just last week, the media exposed the terrible consequences of secret courts that corporations use to sue governments for laws that protect people and the environment, but hurt profits. This is allowed under a clause in many trade deals called Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).
Check out our plans so far — we’re already working to:
Push big corporations to tell the truth about where they stand on trade negotiations, instead of hiding behind their lobbyists;
Support communities fighting the worst impacts of trade deals that have already been signed;
Back organisations in countries all over the world that challenge the trade agenda;
Make sure SumOfUs members know the facts about other dangerous trade deals, like TISA, CETA, and TPP, and find ways to stop those deals from happening where we can.”
TTIP has failed – but no one is admitting it, says German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ttip-trade-deal-agreement-failed-brexit-latest-news-eu-us-germany-vice-chancellor-a7213876.html
France to call for an end to EU-US free trade talks
<a href="http://www.dw.com/en/france-to-call-for-an-end-to-eu-us-free-trade-talks/a-19512025
US to blame for trade talks failure: French minister
<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/29/us-to-blame-for-trade-talks-failure-french-minister.html
Yes I did a post on this a week back.
The discourse must be guided now to make a critical distinction between agreement-facilitated international corporatisation, and international democratic strengthening of a rule-based order rather than a military-force based order.
We’ve got to stop mashing together all kinds of globalization as bad.
Sorry Ad, I missed that. For some reason I can’t do a search.
Good work Leftie.
Thanks Mosa.
This was an interesting if somewhat depressing read in The Guardian, in regards to CETA
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/30/ttip-trade-deal-agreements-ceta-eu-canada
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/06/transatlantic-trade-partnership-ttip-canada-eu
And I still think, as long as Corporations like Apple are made to feel at home in places like Ireland…who REFUSE to accept Tax money owed for goodness sakes….then ‘we’ the people are on the losing side as our services, housing and employment status slides into disarray.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/84125721/judge-could-lose-job-for-berating-rape-victim-why-couldnt-you-just-keep-your-knees-together
Wow…just wow
heh
http://stupidpartymathvmyth.com/1/post/2016/08/yes-back-kansas-dorothy-can-kansas-lead-way-home.html
And coincidentally Trump has a massive lead in Kansas
I don’t envy the choice of voters in the good old USA…
“Hillary is either criminal, or criminally incompetent. Or maybe both.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/09/06/emails-fbi-hillary-crooked-blackberry-lost-phones-laptop-server-classified-glenn-reynolds/89881664/
re choice:
‘The Trump doctrine’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/358759-trump-most-unorthodox-nominee/
“Donald Trump is one of the most unorthodox presidential nominees in American electoral history. He is unpolished and very brash. But some of his foreign policy ideas are intriguing, even common sense. This terrifies and enrages the establishment.
CrossTalking with Nomi Prins, Stephen Yates and Alex Newman.”
…and
‘The Hillary doctrine’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/358498-clinton-foreign-policy-exeptionalism/
“The Hillary Doctrine: If elected, what kind of foreign policy agenda can we expect? Does Clinton hold an extreme view of American exceptionalism? And is she now a neoconservative?
CrossTalking with Harlan Hill, Michael Maloof, and Matt Mackowiak.”
I went to the big Art and Object art auction this week. That’s the one where the McCahon work went for $1.35m + GST + Buyers Premium i.e. about $1.6m or so.
If you ever want to get in a room with a very specific brand of white people and inhale a really rarefied vibe, check it out. They are in professional classes e.g. judges or accountancy partners, they think hard about national identity and have a few degrees between them, they have really well decorated houses with big walls, and they aren’t necessarily National supporters. There’s a core as far as I could tell that still go with Labour (or at least donate), but plenty that float around considering elsewhere beyond National.
There’s a few lowly lecturers and ratty-looking Masters students getting a freebie art history expose, and of course the vendors and their family and friends, and the auction-house staff. Quite some evening when the bidding goes into full frenzy.
…and Colin McCahon led the humble life of a New Zealand artist…never very rich
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_McCahon
Not well rewarded until he was well on the way to being a real alcoholic.
They are Global Women. National identity is a career-enhancing freebee.
Great word picture Ad.
The record price of this piece, reminded me of a story I read in the NY Times…
The $179 Million Picasso That Explains Global Inequality
…The astronomical rise in prices for the most-sought-after works of art over the last generation is in large part the story of rising global inequality. At its core, this is the simplest of economic math. The supply of Picasso paintings or Giacometti sculptures (one of which sold for $141 million in the same auction this week) is fixed. But the number of people with the will and the resources to buy top-end art is rising, thanks to the distribution of extreme wealth….
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/upshot/the-179-million-picasso-that-explains-global-inequality.html?_r=0
Knob end writes about why he’ll never date a feminist. Wonkette pulls his wings off.
http://wonkette.com/606394/women-abandoning-feminism-in-droves-in-hopes-of-winning-heart-of-this-guy
Seems like both parties are going to be perfectly happy staying the fuck away from each other. Win-win.
lol…that guy looks like a real pill !…a fat ginger with glasses…if he thinks he is attractive and has sex appeal to most women (feminist or not ) he is deluded …most women would prefer to stay home with their cats rather than date him! (he is about as attractive as a Slater or Farrer )
“Men’s Rights Activists have taken flight with a new philosophy called “RED PILL” which aims to point out how derogatory, hypocritical and vindictive third-wave feminists can be.”
oblivious and excellent snark, I reckon
I can’t decide whether that was hilariously funny or just gross. I love this bit:
Men’s Rights Activists have taken flight with a new philosophy called “RED PILL” which aims to point out how derogatory, hypocritical and vindictive third-wave feminists can be.
That’s what it aims to do, huh? I guess that aim must have been too subtly expressed for me when I went there and read “HumanSockPuppet’s Guide to Teasing Bitches,” and learned I should “Talk to women as though they were children, because emotionally they are.”
I wonder which pseudonym on there is Hon’s…
What’s the connection between Paul Foster-Bell and the Len Brown scandal?