Open mike 10/12/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:35 am, December 10th, 2013 - 138 comments
Categories: uncategorized - Tags:

openmike

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step right up to the mike …

138 comments on “Open mike 10/12/2013 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. amirite 1
    10 December 2013 at 6:48 am

    Nellie Hunt’s family is not the only case of homelessness in Christchurch, there are many, many more. Where is the Government’s help for people in need? Where is the emergency housing?
    Shame on you, New Zealand government!

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9496170/Hunt-family-fights-on-in-Waltham-Park/

    • scotty 1.1
      10 December 2013 at 7:13 am

      Come on,
      Have you no faith in the market.?
      Any day now .
      You’ll see

    • bad12 1.2
      10 December 2013 at 7:48 am

      And so the tip of the ‘housing’ ice-berg becomes public, i commented a week or so ago after watching the shameful Paula Bennett at a ‘public meeting’ decrying the owner of a rack-renting Auckland ‘holiday park’ which houses 300 beneficiaries,(including children),in less than ideal conditions for amounts of rent that should provide luxury apartments,

      Bennett’s problem with the owner, He was creaming it to the tune of 30 grand a week all provided via His beneficiary tenants by the State,

      Meanwhile in other parts of Auckland un-Housing Minister Nick Smith is busily ripping apart the States Housing estate and flicking it off as fast as He can to private interests,

      i pointed out in that comment that Slippery’s National Government will not be happy until they see whole families sleeping rough in the doorways of our major cities,(while pointing out that in Hamilton there was at the time 120 State Houses triumphantly announced as for sale by Smith when the number of those on the ‘urgent’ waiting list of HousingNZ was 120 odd families),

      Understand tho, that the homeless family in Christchurch will not provoke this National Government into urgent action, far from it, everything they do surrounding the State provision of homes for poor families has as it’s final outcome the very situation that has occurred in Christchurch and if a ‘tent town’ begins to emerge in that City watch as National send in the cops to bust it up…

      • bad12 1.2.1
        10 December 2013 at 8:38 am

        A ‘hat-tip’ to the Maori Wardens of Christchurch for providing ‘security’ to the whanau in ‘tent-town’ Christchurch,

        Nellie and Her kids are the living face of the contempt in which i hold the Maori Party for sitting at the table from which Slippery’s National Government refuse to even brush the merest of crumbs in the direction of the poor,

        Where i must ask are the ‘gains’ for Maori from such a coalition arrangement, the Hunt family just the tip of the ice-berg of poverty and homelessness helped along by this National Governments trashing of the States Housing stock across the whole country while the Maori Party sits idly by in mute silence…

        • Rogue Trooper 1.2.1.1
          10 December 2013 at 10:04 am

          From what I’ve read, a HNZ subsidiary company is to buy Hobsonville Pt land from the defence force, to allow the PPP development of housing to proceed immediately. However, as Key campaigned that peppering this development with social or state housing was “economic vandalism”, only 20% of the houses built will even be under $485,000 to purchase.

          • Molly 1.2.1.1.1
            10 December 2013 at 10:13 am

            20% was intended to be “affordable/social housing” in the first stage of the Hobsonville development.

            This did not end up being the case, as you mention – a good review can be found in the Salvation Army publication Adding It All Up.

            Opportunities for local/national government to provide low cost housing with well-positioned land they already own continue to be ardently avoided by the use of PPP’s.

        • Will@Welly 1.2.1.2
          10 December 2013 at 10:28 am

          I can remember when the “accommodation benefit/supplement” came in years ago to “top up” beneficiaries incomes. Immediately landlords put up the cost of accommodation. In those days it was only $10-20 a week, so, yes I am going back in time, but even then I queried how sensible it was to be passing over this money to private landlords. Within a few years, it grew to such an extent that people were virtually guaranteed an income by the state, and I’m not talking about beneficiaries, but private landlords.
          National were warned time and again after the February earthquakes that Christchurch faced a housing crisis, and what did Gerry do? Nothing, but blow alot of hot air around and deny everything.

  2. phillip ure 2
    10 December 2013 at 7:10 am

    tony ryall on breakfast television..

    ..ryall seems to have reached a stage of advanced-smarm:

    – where he is/seems unable to turn his (usual) semi-permanent smirk off..

    ..it’s not a good look..

    ..ryall..the unctuous one..

    (synonyms for ‘unctuous’..:..)

    “..sycophantic – ingratiating – obsequious – fawning – servile – self-abasing – grovelling – subservient – wheedling – cajoling – crawling – cringing – Uriah Heepish – humble – toadying – hypocritical – insincere – flattering – adulatory – honey-tongued – silver-tongued – gushing – effusive – suave – urbane – glib – smooth – smooth-tongued – smooth-spoken smooth-talking – slick – slippery – saccharine – oily – oleaginous – greasy – cloying – nauseating – sickening –
    – smarmy – slimy – bootlicking – forelock-tugging – phoney – sucky – soapy –
    – brown-nosing – apple-polishing – arse-licking – bum-sucking- kiss-ass – saponaceous – pinguid..”

    (ed:..i particularly like ‘saponaceous’..and ‘pinguid’…eh..?..)

    phillip ure..

    • Tim 2.1
      10 December 2013 at 9:47 am

      yea ‘pinuid’ is pretty good! – evocative of lime green and purple gingham table cloths – run up on the elna, as someone on here once suggested.
      He’s the 21st Century safari suit!

  3. swordfish 3
    10 December 2013 at 7:30 am

    Oddly enough (if the ‘latest comments’ box is anything to go by), it seems the Open Mike of 28 Nov (ie almost a fortnight ago ! ) is currently at least as popular as todays. Go figure.

  4. Molly 4
    10 December 2013 at 7:43 am

    Southland Times came up with a different editorial than the Herald, on the delegation to Nelson Mandela’s funeral. (Although I notice it couldn’t quite resist the small boot into Cunliffe at the end. The strain not to was obviously too much).

    • Tracey 4.1
      10 December 2013 at 8:01 am

      Haven’t read the southland one yet, so thanks for the link.

      Who does one OIA to find out if the PM ever actually considered taking John Minot, or said he did after seeing a few days of people saying he should go?

  5. Philj 5
    10 December 2013 at 7:45 am

    Xox
    Walking through the tunnel to Wellington railway station, the first time in a while, I was shocked, saddened and angry to see homeless people and Beggars sitting on the tiled floor, head bowed down. Is this the ‘Brighter Future’ we were hoping for JK? I am ashamed by our current government. It’s not working John, and you know it. Time for a holiday John? Merry Christmas.

    • BM 5.1
      10 December 2013 at 8:51 am

      Did you invite them back to stay at your house?
      Offer them a meal and a bed?

      • bad12 5.1.1
        10 December 2013 at 8:58 am

        That’s a pathetic comment on too many levels to list BM and you f**king know it, simply trite bullshit attempting to deflect attention away from this National Governments total abdication of providing the monies and services which would keep those who are least able to help themselves from being forced into such a situation…

        • BM 5.1.1.1
          10 December 2013 at 9:09 am

          I disagree, great opportunity here to contribute to the “village”

          Don’t wait for the government to solve the issue, extend your hand and offer those poor homeless a place to stay.

          With Wellington being such a thriving hub of leftism, I’m actually quite shocked to learn that there are actually people living on the streets, this is indeed shameful stuff.

          I think the left really need to take a good hard look at themselves, disgraceful.

          • bad12 5.1.1.1.1
            10 December 2013 at 9:24 am

            You get more pathetic by the comment BM, i doubt YOU if confronted by a homeless person would offer anything except your contempt so you really should shut the fuck up about things you obviously know little about and care even less for…

            • miravox 5.1.1.1.1.1
              10 December 2013 at 9:37 am

              Yes, BM would only offer contempt – typical of people who expect those with the least to give up the most for their fellow humans.

              …People are saying I don’t need anything but my own ability to earn a profit. I’m not connected to society. I don’t care how the road got built, I don’t care where the firefighter comes from, I don’t care who educates the kids other than my kids. I am me. It’s the triumph of the self. I am me, hear me roar.

              That we’ve gotten to this point is astonishing to me because basically in winning its victory, in seeing that Wall come down and seeing the former Stalinist state’s journey towards our way of thinking in terms of markets or being vulnerable, you would have thought that we would have learned what works. Instead we’ve descended into what can only be described as greed. This is just greed. This is an inability to see that we’re all connected…

              I hear that was a good show, The Wire

          • BM 5.1.1.1.2
            10 December 2013 at 9:32 am

            Just had a thought.

            What I think the government should do, is go through all the state house rentals and find all the ones that are under utilized
            eg: one person living in a two-three bedroom house, etc.

            The current homeless person can then be offered the free spare bedroom in the state house.
            A real win win situation, the current tenant gets a new flat mate to help share the chores while the homeless person gets a roof over their head and a dry bed.

            I might shoot an email off to Paula, I’m sure she’d think this is a fantastic idea.

            • miravox 5.1.1.1.2.1
              10 December 2013 at 9:42 am

              Maybe if it gets really bad, they’ll be after your spare bedroom, BM. I trust that fence is high…

              • Ennui …
                10 December 2013 at 10:20 am

                BM, you are one of a whole nation and society, one of us, yet you stand yourself aside. Does it get lonely being a miserable miserly spirit? Maybe you need to read Dickens tale of Scrooge. There is so much more joy out there you appear to be missing. Rich in pocket, poor in spirit.

                Still its coming up to Christmas, so I will offer St Francis prayer to you as a present that may help your state of mind.

                Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
                Where there is injury, pardon;
                Where there is doubt, faith;
                Where there is despair, hope;
                Where there is darkness, light;
                Where there is sadness, joy.

                Perhaps donate something of yourself or your money to the “beggars”…..

            • Molly 5.1.1.1.2.2
              10 December 2013 at 10:17 am

              Yeah… it’s a wonder nobody has thought of this before… surely there are no downsides…

            • Will@Welly 5.1.1.1.2.3
              10 December 2013 at 10:42 am

              B.M.. – The S.P.C.A. have new premises here in Wellington. It’s bright and airy, comes with its own room, a free dog roll, and for you critters needing it, a rabies shot is on the house. I’m sure a room could be found for someone as extraordinary as you, B.M. Who knows, Paula might visit.

          • Puddleglum 5.1.1.1.3
            10 December 2013 at 10:58 am

            The inference from your comment, BM, is that individuals who are part of ‘the right’ are less likely than those who identify as being on ‘the left’ to take in homeless people as an act of charity?

            This, despite the fact – as your comment illustrates – that ‘the right”s solution to homelessness is personal charity.

            Given adherence to that solution, shouldn’t it be members of ‘the right’ who take in the homeless? Obviously, they aren’t, which would usually be called ‘hypocrisy’.

            Those on ‘the left’ – irrespective of their individual commitments to charitable efforts – are very often distinguished in their beliefs by the view that solutions to widespread social problems involve structural changes and collective efforts rather than through individual charitable effort (though these are of course commendable where possible).

          • framu 5.1.1.1.4
            10 December 2013 at 1:01 pm

            nah mate – this is pure deflection from you – and you, and we, know it

          • greywarbler 5.1.1.1.5
            10 December 2013 at 1:41 pm

            BM
            You are so cynical and mendacious. Even the Good Samaritan didn’t take the needy one home. He saw that there was attention to his needs and left money to pay for it. Helping someone who is in need is a good deed. It doesn’t require you to take them home and do the fairy godmother bit. Jesus approach was do what you can, it seems.

            But a certain Samaritan, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

            On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan

      • Tim 5.1.2
        10 December 2013 at 9:59 am

        Well actually BM, my student neighbours have done just that on occasion, and some of us assist them with transport occasionally.
        It’s not just the tunnel either. One only has to walk from one side of the city to the other, and around the inner suburbs to see people (particularly youth) begging, and signs of their living rough.
        1st world country? My arse!
        Have you ever stopped to talk to any of them BM? – i.e. to find out their circumstances, or do you prefer to just make assumptions?

  6. Colonial Viper 6
    10 December 2013 at 7:57 am

    NSA analysts play online gaming for spy work

    Clever NSA geeks, paid to play world of warcraft and second life…but this is what happens to a mass surveillance state which has to justify its own existence.

    This is the USA equivalent of the East German Stasi who infiltrated pensioner stamp collecting clubs.

    The NSA document, written in 2008 and titled Exploiting Terrorist Use of Games & Virtual Environments, stressed the risk of leaving games communities under-monitored, describing them as a “target-rich communications network” where intelligence targets could “hide in plain sight”.

    Games, the analyst wrote “are an opportunity!”. According to the briefing notes, so many different US intelligence agents were conducting operations inside games that a “deconfliction” group was required to ensure they weren’t spying on, or interfering with, each other.

    If properly exploited, games could produce vast amounts of intelligence, according to the the NSA document. They could be used as a window for hacking attacks, to build pictures of people’s social networks through “buddylists and interaction”, to make approaches by undercover agents, and to obtain target identifiers (such as profile photos), geolocation, and collection of communications.

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/09/nsa-spies-online-games-world-warcraft-second-life?CMP=twt_gu

  7. Colonial Viper 7
    10 December 2013 at 8:10 am

    Maybe Mandela is liked by the Right Wing because the Elite are still in charge of S.A.

    And lessons for NZ…

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/if-nelson-mandela-really-had-won

    South Africa in this respect is just one version of the recurrent story of the contemporary left. A leader or party is elected with universal enthusiasm, promising a “new world” – but, then, sooner or later, they stumble upon the key dilemma: does one dare to touch the capitalist mechanisms, or does one decide to “play the game”? If one disturbs these mechanisms, one is very swiftly “punished” by market perturbations, economic chaos and the rest. This is why it is all too simple to criticise Mandela for abandoning the socialist perspective after the end of apartheid: did he really have a choice? Was the move towards socialism a real option?

    • swordfish 7.1
      10 December 2013 at 9:03 am

      Tiny black political elite as fig-leaf, otherwise little has changed.

      Interesting post from Chris Trotter on Bowalley Road today. He’s pretty much spot-on as far as I’m concerned. Good to see analysis of Mandela that moves beyond the mawkish and saccharine.

    • Draco T Bastard 7.2
      10 December 2013 at 11:19 am

      did he really have a choice? Was the move towards socialism a real option?

      Two pertinent questions and they lead to an interesting question: If a country can’t do what it’s population wants then who the hell is actually in control?

      • Colonial Viper 7.2.1
        10 December 2013 at 12:19 pm

        That’s been long answered – worldwide there has been a corporate coup d’etat, led by the banking fraternity. The TPPA is another example of this – the US gov is not negotiating on behalf of their people, but on behalf of their corporates.

      • Bill 7.2.2
        10 December 2013 at 12:37 pm

        Given that the ANC gained political power but ceded financial power to the ‘outgoing’ white elites who had ties and well established relationships with international financial institutions….

      • greywarbler 7.2.3
        10 December 2013 at 1:51 pm

        DTB
        You always put the easy questions first.

  8. marty mars 8
    10 December 2013 at 8:57 am

    Good on you Hone – leadership in action

    Mana Party leader Hone Harawira says he will go to South Africa this week to represent the anti-apartheid movement at the funeral of former president Nelson Mandela.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9497375/Hone-Harawira-heading-to-Mandela-funeral

    • Ennui 8.1
      10 December 2013 at 10:11 am

      Yeah well done Hone, but for me you can only represent me as a rank and file member of the protest movement. In any other capacity forget it. And on Hones example any other 1981 veteran who can get there should take equal standing next to Hone on my behalf. Just to make sure Hone remembers, it is not about him, its about “us”, that huge chunk of NZers who stood up together and said enough was enough. I don’t see a lot of them grandstanding or sliding in on the official events with the Nact photo op posers.

      • marty mars 8.1.1
        10 December 2013 at 10:25 am

        you could go if you want – it would be great you could travel around with Hone I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.

        ” He would not be involved in any of the official proceedings but said this would allow him to do and say what he pleased.

        “Honestly I’m just going to pay my respects on behalf of the anti-tour movement of 1981 in particular, and all those others who marched against apartheid over the years and have supported Nelson Mandela in his drive for freedom,” he said. ”

        Hone imo isn’t grandstanding or sliding in – he believes and then takes actions in alignment with his beliefs – I personally like that.

        • Ennui 8.1.1.1
          10 December 2013 at 11:10 am

          Lets hope Hone is “for real”. I recall “Hone Activist Events” such as assaulting engineering students with baseball bats. I recall him making racist statements, saying that pakeha boyfriends would not be welcome for his daughters. I for one have little faith in Hone. So Mars if that is the type gent you wish to represent “us”, count me out, I would rather be one of “them”.

          • marty mars 8.1.1.1.1
            10 December 2013 at 11:23 am

            Those examples all have a context that you seemed to have missed – bought the hook, line and sinker there I think bored – just like they wanted you to. Noted that you would rather be one of them – you’ve been going down that line for a while and fair enough, good for you. As for Hone representing me and those anti-tour protestors that stood side by side with him – yep I’m proud that he is doing so and he is exactly the type of gent that I align with.

            • Tigger 8.1.1.1.1.1
              10 December 2013 at 11:49 am

              My mother once told me that funerals are ultimately about the living, not the dead. She was certainly right in Mandela’s case. It’s all me me me from everybody.

              Here’s the real truth. Mandela doesn’t give a fuck who is there. And neither do I.

            • Ennui 8.1.1.1.1.2
              10 December 2013 at 11:54 am

              Good stuff Mars, we align differently. That is somehow very reassuring.

          • framu 8.1.1.1.2
            10 December 2013 at 1:03 pm

            “I recall “Hone Activist Events” such as assaulting engineering students with baseball bats”

            yet you dont recall how this happened or why? – therein lies the answer

            • Ennui 8.1.1.1.2.1
              10 December 2013 at 4:20 pm

              Hmm, the ends justify the means….so violence against the individual is politically correct if you have a really good reason? So what say I dont agree with you about frogs rights, my position is in my mind water tight, so to move it ahead I bash you. All good.

          • Murray Olsen 8.1.1.1.3
            10 December 2013 at 10:56 pm

            Why does what sort of boyfriend Hone would feel comfortable with for his daughter have anything to do with you? Were you stalking her, Ennui?
            As for the racist dickheads of the haka party, pakeha should have been there with baseball bats stopping it long before He Taua stepped in.

            I’m happy for Hone to represent me.

  9. miravox 9
    10 December 2013 at 9:50 am

    Meanwhile in the land of the guest worker, that certain people hold up as everything great and good about (neo-liberal) capitalist, dem-fac-ocracy… (especially since the celtic tiger fell over and is now limping)…

    Singapore’s prime minister has urged citizens not to show animosity towards migrant workers following the first rioting in 40 years in the wealthy state, which prides itself on being an island of calm in an often chaotic region.

    The disorder involved mostly Indian guest workers and broke out in the Little India district on Sunday night after an Indian worker was hit and killed by a bus driven by a Singaporean. Cars were set alight and 18 people injured as crowds hurled stones at authorities.

    It followed recent signs of tensions between citizens and the growing numbers of migrant workers, who have provided the bulk of the workforce constructing the country’s impressive skyline, transport and other infrastructure. About a quarter of Singapore’s 5.4 million residents are transient workers, compared with a tenth in 1990, according to government statistics.

  10. Rogue Trooper 10
    10 December 2013 at 10:18 am

    meanwhile Back at the Funny Farm, windows reflect the Shine
    Being the 10th, “you pulled the Deuce this time”. 😎

  11. s y d 11
    10 December 2013 at 11:09 am

    One unhappy guy in a hoodies can ruin a nice picture. No wonder he wants a personal photographer. Shoulda cropped.

  12. s y d 12
    10 December 2013 at 11:43 am

    im having troubles with TS today…on a go slow…dropping out…was this photo.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11169619

    if looks could kill…

    • lprent 12.1
      10 December 2013 at 11:56 am

      Database is running high on CPU and open handles and has been all morning. I can’t see any particular reason why but I suspect that we’re getting a good read of the whole system from someone. I’ll have a peek and maybe curtail their scans.

      • lprent 12.1.1
        10 December 2013 at 12:07 pm

        I’ve put a more severe policy on for bots, and switched from throttling to blocking. Doesn’t affect google because they do every properly. But it looks like we’re getting scanned by a fast msnbots and fast bingbots. I should see the open database handles drop from ~40 to something more acceptable.

        • lprent 12.1.1.1
          10 December 2013 at 12:59 pm

          Actually dropping an extra server in seems to have helped.

          • Arfamo 12.1.1.1.1
            10 December 2013 at 1:07 pm

            Dunno what’s going on then. It’s even slower for me than yesterday. No such probs with the usual newsotainment sites or Bomber’s Daily Rants.

            • lprent 12.1.1.1.1.1
              10 December 2013 at 4:02 pm

              I think I figured it out. There is something wrong on the VPN at the host site. The servers when talking to each other were having problems with routings (as far as I could see they talked via the US?). Shifting it to talk on non vpn IP’s appears to have largely fixed it.

              I have no idea if that is my configuration of theirs…. Job for later.

  13. Rogue Trooper 13
    10 December 2013 at 11:44 am

    Key’s Apartheid Amnesia Makes The Huffington Post
    http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/yasmine-ryan/apartheid-new-zealand_b_4411734.html
    Top Man! he he

    • ianmac 13.1
      10 December 2013 at 2:31 pm

      Well spotted Rogue. Does not exactly make us proud our New Zealand Prime Minister. Queasy me.

      • Arfamo 13.1.1
        10 December 2013 at 2:34 pm

        John Key is the best prime minister of this country the United States has ever had. Or had over, perhaps might be more accurate.

      • greywarbler 13.1.2
        10 December 2013 at 8:06 pm

        I liked this verbiage from Cameron. Every word reverberating with deep emotion and sincerity.

        continually bears humanity ever upwards away from brutality and darkness and towards something better.
        ‘But is not so. Progress is not just handed down as a gift, it is won through struggle: …the struggle of men and women who believe things can be better, who refuse to accept the world as it is, but dream of what it can be.
        ‘Nelson Mandela was the embodiment of that struggle. He did not see himself as a helpless victim of history, he wrote it.’
        http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2520808/Cameron-hails-Mandela-towering-figure-tweets-picture-reindeer-Little-Ant-Dec-Commons-tributes.html

        plus item –
        Shopkeeper was quizzed for eight HOURS by police – and had his computer seized and his DNA swabbed – after cracking ‘bad taste’ Nelson Mandela jokes on the internet.

    • greywarbler 13.2
      10 December 2013 at 3:28 pm

      RT
      That was a terrific piece on Key and Mandela. the Mighty and Mini-me of politics and leadership.
      Yasmine in Tunis wrote a tremendous piece for Huffington.

    • Daveosaurus 13.3
      10 December 2013 at 6:42 pm

      At least this oxygen thief remembers where they stood in 1981. There are none so bitter as Tories who find themselves on the wrong side of history.

      • greywarbler 13.3.1
        10 December 2013 at 8:00 pm

        Politicians that don’t command respect like Judith Collins demean themselves by throw-away remarks going on twitter such as the one about ‘Cunners’ – a weak sounding term coming from a loose thinking mind.

        • Arfamo 13.3.1.1
          10 December 2013 at 8:06 pm

          I notice the hairdo contributing his “catty schoolgirl” snide jibe as well. Christ, how the hell do these kindy-level thinkers ever get freakin elected.

  14. marty mars 14
    10 December 2013 at 11:58 am

    John Minto tells it like it is and thank goodness he does.

    Mandela brought South Africa out of the apartheid era of racial oppression.

    We should celebrate the life of this leader of the anti-apartheid struggle but we should never be blinded to his failings. He never claimed to walk on water and no one should pretend he did.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11169600

    Mandela was a great man in so many ways and as a paragon of forgiveness it is hard to think of someone who displays that attribute more – but he was a man and he had his mistakes and failings and it honours him to accept that rather than pretend he was a saint.

  15. aerobubble 15
    10 December 2013 at 12:32 pm

    National gives loan sharks free license for some to pray on the poor, well it would not do the same for the rich right? well, maybe that explains SCF, and the miriad of other finance companies gone bust. You see National don’t believe in protection, so what does it believe in? Well seizing assets gained from crime. Nice, since eventually we will start to revisit wealth accumulated via crimes against the environment, unless National’s detractors are right, that they are a rich prick party.

  16. Rosie 16
    10 December 2013 at 12:38 pm

    Superficial fluff for the day.

    Yesterday on Open Mike there was some discussion around the spelling of Russel Norman’s name. I go a step beyond that and have a pet name for him, which is taken from Russell Crow’s stage name when he was a “musician”. Rus le Roq was his name(not a fan of Russell Crow incidentally)

    Here’s Rus le Roq in action on Shazam in 1985

    http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/shazam-feat-russell-crowe-1985

    I like Russel Norman. I’ve heard him speak publicly and the way he spoke cemented my appreciation of him, where as I had previously been a bit uncertain. He’ll always be Rus le Roq to me.

    On the topic of spelling: Thank you phillip ure for spelling “eh” correctly. Not many folks know how to spell this often used word. For instance, last night on 3 News they had subtitled the speech of person featured in an article about a loan shark’s office in South Auckland and gasp! They spelt “eh” as “ay”. (not the first time they have misspelt eh either!) Even worse, the L&P advertising campaign is “It’s a bit different aye”. Aye is Scots for yes and is pronounced eye, as far as I am aware. Could be wrong. Don’t know what the world is coming to eh.

    *With apologies for my frequent spelling and grammatical errors.

  17. Travellerev 17
    10 December 2013 at 1:15 pm

    Ubuntu versus Wetiko or why it makes perfect sense for John Key to go to Mandela’s funeral without John Minto

  18. Rogue Trooper 18
    10 December 2013 at 1:46 pm

    Reserve Bank Folds
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11170067
    on LVR ‘speed-limits’ for new residential construction. (a little Ke a whispered in their ear)

  19. greywarbler 19
    10 December 2013 at 2:01 pm

    Rosie you’re always interesting. RT if they shoot messengers with bad news, what do they do for those with good? Think about it. A quaff of good ale sir, to your health or something.

    This is a nice bit of news, the most encouraging thing from a judge I’ve read for yonks.

    Oldfield successfully appealed against Home Secretary Theresa May’s decision to kick him out of the country on the grounds that his presence was “not conducive to the public good”.
    Immigration tribunal Judge Kevin Moore, in overturning the deportation order, said Oldfield was an asset to Britain.
    “There is no doubt in my view to your character and commitment and the value you are to UK society generally,” the judge said.

    Oldfield, originally from Sydney, has a British wife, Deepa Naik, 36, and a five-month-old baby daughter. He’s lived in the UK for more than a decade.

    The Australian swam into the path of the Oxford and Cambridge rowing crews as they raced down the Thames in April 2012 to protest against elitism.
    He was subsequently jailed for seven weeks.
    Here’s a different link to the same story. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10506059/Boat-race-protester-Trenton-Oldfield-wins-bid-to-stay-in-UK.html

    • Rogue Trooper 19.1
      10 December 2013 at 3:05 pm

      as long as it’s not too hot, maybe somewhere Asian 😉
      comment #77, ‘think about it’.

  20. Pete 20
    10 December 2013 at 2:32 pm

    Interesting results from the census (excel document). For the first time, Catholicism is now the country’s largest religious denomination with 491,421 adherents. Anglicanism stands at 459,771. Both stood at over 500,000 each in the 2006 census and the country continues a secular trend – the largest group of all, those with no religion, stands at 1.6 million. So having a monarch at the head of an established church is going to grow as an issue over time, I think.

    Underemployment seems to be a trend too. 42,267 report their main job at 10 hours per week. 84,528 at 20 hours and 89,997 at 30 hours.

    There were 153,210 unemployed people seeking work, which rouhly matches the 150,000 people reported unemployed in the September Household Labour Force Survey.

  23. Pascal's bookie 23
    10 December 2013 at 4:16 pm

    Am I in moderation for a reason? Not disputing it at all, just wondering what it was.

    [Bunji: not that I can find…]

  24. Morrissey 24
    10 December 2013 at 4:49 pm

    LIARS OF OUR TIME

    No. 38: Jeremy Hansen

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    “I read a great column by Paul Thomas in the Herald….”

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    —Jeremy Hansen, The Panel, Tuesday 10 December 2013

    More liars….
    No. 37 Alan Seay: “You know, we respect the rights of people to protest….”
    No. 36 Paul Dykzeul: “No we won’t be changing the Listener; it’s got a terrific editor….”
    No. 35 Mark Jennings: “I think Paul’s a bright guy and he will be able to bring a discipline to his performance….”
    No. 34 Willie Jackson: “I thought we’d been sensitive with her yesterday….”
    No. 33 Supt. Bill Searle: “I think what’s happened here is the police officers have done their very best….”
    No. 32 Sonny-Bill Williams: “It’s good to get the win over Papua-New Guinea, a strong Papua-New Guinea side, aahhhh….”
    No. 31 John Palino: “Suggestions that I am somehow orchestrating some grand right-wing conspiracy to unseat Len after the election are so wrong…”
    No. 30 Alan Dershowitz: “I will give $10,000 to the PLO if you can find a historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false.”
    No. 29 John Banks: “I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. And never, ever would I ever knowingly sign a false electoral return. Never ever would I ever.”

    No. 28 John Kerry: “…we are especially sensitive, Chuck and I, to never again asking any member of Congress to take a vote on faulty intelligence.”
    
No. 27 Lyse Doucet: “I am there for those without a voice.”
    
No. 26 Sam Wallace: “So here we are—Otahuhu. It’s just a great place to be, really.”


    No. 25 Margaret Thatcher: “…no British government involvement of any kind…with Khmer Rouge…”


    No. 24 John Key: “…at the end of the day I, like most New Zealanders, value the role of the fourth estate…”
    


No. 23 Jay Carney: “…expel Mr Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice…”
    


No. 22 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton had integrity beyond reproach.”
    


No. 21 Tim Groser: “I think the relationship is genuinely in outstanding form.”
    


No. 20 John Key: “But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no.”
    


No. 19 Matthew Hooton: “It is ridiculous to say that unions deliver higher wages! They DON’T!”


    No. 18 Ant Strachan: “The All Blacks won the RWC 2011 because of outstanding defence!”



    No. 17 Stephen Franks: “Peter has been such a level-headed, safe pair of hands.”



    No. 16 Phil Kafcaloudes: “Tony Abbott…hasn’t made any mistakes over the past eighteen months.”



    No. 15 Donald Rumsfeld: “I did not lie… Colin Powell did not lie.”
    


No. 14 Colin Powell: “a post-9/11 nexus between Iraq and terrorist organizations…connections are now emerging…”
    
No. 13 Barack Obama: “Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.”
    




No. 12 U.K. Ministry of Defence: “Protecting the Afghan civilian population is one of ISAF and the UK’s top priorities.”
    


No. 11 Brendan O’Connor: “Australia’s approach to refugees is compassionate and generous.”



    No. 10 Boris Johnson: “Londoners have… the best police in the world to look after us and keep us safe.”
    


No. 9 NewstalkZB PR dept: “News you NEED! Fast, fair, accurate!”
    


No. 8 Simon Bridges: “I don’t mean to duck the question….”



    No. 7 Nigel Morrison: “Quite frankly, they’ve been VERY tough.”




    No. 6 Herald PR dept: “Congratulations—you’re reading New Zealand’s best newspaper.”




    No. 5 Rawdon Christie: “…a FORMIDABLE replacement, it seems, is Claudette Hauiti.”
    




No. 4 Willie and J.T.: “The X-Factor. Nah, nah, there’s some GREAT talent there!”
    



No. 3 John Key: “Yeah we hold MPs to a higher standard.”
    



No. 2 Colin Craig: “Oh, I have a GREAT sense of humour.”




    No. 1 Barack Obama: “Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”

    • gobsmacked 24.1
      10 December 2013 at 6:41 pm

      Have you even read the column? It was indeed very good.

      Calling him a “liar” and lumping him in with Thatcher and Banks and all is stupid.

      • Morrissey 24.1.1
        11 December 2013 at 5:08 pm

        Have you even read the column?
        No, I haven’t, because although Paul Thomas has written a couple of good football books, and some entertaining thrillers, he lacks the knowledge and the seriousness to write about political or philosophical matters. His column is normally about as interesting and authoritative as the garbage churned out by Kerre McIvor (née ohoWmad) or Murray Deaker or Tony “Bootboy” Veitch.

        It was indeed very good.
        I’ll take your word for it. I’m glad to hear he’s finally written something worth reading.

        Calling him a “liar” and lumping him in with Thatcher and Banks and all is stupid.
        Oh come on, gobsmacked! Lighten up a little! “Liars of Our Time” is a wide-ranging series, taking in the psychopathic/fanatic (No. 25, 30), the moronic (No. 2, 4, 10, 18, 29), the professionally dishonest (No. 1, 3, 8, 20, 22, 31, 37) and the hapless (No. 26). There are several other categories I haven’t mentioned here, but you get the drift, I hope: some of the liars here are serious, professional liars, while others are harmless. Jeremy Hansen’s foolish laudatory comment about an undistinguished column-filler fall into the latter category.

  25. Penny Bright 25
    10 December 2013 at 5:57 pm

    In solidarity with the millions of black South Africans who are now worse off under the ANC’s neo-liberal ‘economic apartheid’ reforms – why I would NOT attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral.

    ANTI-APARTHEID BACKGROUND:

    In 1972, I joined the Halt All Racist Tours movement, in my 7th form year as an 18 year old.

    In 1981, I was one of twelve anti-apartheid activists elected to the ‘demonstration committee’ of the MOST (Mobilisation to Stop the Tour) – tasked with organising protests in Auckland against the Springbok Tour.

    The purpose of the protests, was to ‘stretch the thin blue line’ and through non-violent civil disobedience, make the 1981 Springbok Tour ‘un-policeable’, so it would be called off.

    This was in solidarity with millions of black South Africans, who not only did not have the same civil and political human rights as the white minority, but were also being denied basic economic, social and cultural rights.

    (The effectiveness of the sports boycott in putting pressure on the apartheid regime, is explained here:
    Desmond Tutu: Sports boycott crucial to ending apartheid

    http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=3093 )

    However, the purpose of these anti-Springbok Tour protests, in calling for an end to apartheid, was not for the black South African majority to end up being worse off.

    But that is exactly what has happened in ‘post-apartheid’ South Africa.

    Why?

    Because the ANC government, elected in 1994, broke their promises, effectively did a 180 degree ‘U turn’ and introduced the same neo-liberal ‘Rogernomics’ reforms, without consultation or mandate as did the 1984 – 1987 Labour Government here in New Zealand.

    Sorry to be the one to ‘blow the whistle’ and ‘pop the hot air balloon’, but this wave of neo-liberal reforms started on Nelson Mandela’s watch, when he was President of South Africa from 1994 – 1999.

    Nelson Mandela supported privatisation, and it started on ‘his watch’.

    http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10394/6332/No_42(1997)_Meyer_MJ.pdf?sequence=1

    PRIVATISING SOUTH AFRICA BY DICTUM: A REVIEW
    Michael J. Meyer
    (Department of Development Studies, University of North West)

    1. Introduction

    Mindful of the experience in the Third World in general, and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)in particular, where in some instances the privatisation of state assets was turned into a farce because of corruption, nepotism patronage and insider dealing, in South Africa (SA) the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) insisted from the outset that the privatisation process is shrouded in secrecy and should be made transparent.

    As a consequence COSATU objected to the African National Congress’s (ANC) adoption of a privatisation policy at its December 1994 Conference, which was endorsed without any form of consultation with the labour movement -the ANC’s strongest social partner.’ In order to forestall any unilateral action on the part of the ANC the labour movement insisted on participation and transparency, calling on the ANC to be accountable, not only to its allies but also the masses on any decision taken
    on the issue of privatisation.

    1 COSATU 6th National Congress: 16-19 September 1997, Book 4, Resolutions, Discussion
    Documents (1997), p. 33.

    Over and above the intense hostility and pressure, particularly from COSATU, which government faces on restructuring and privatisation, President Mandela intractably remarked, that:

    “Privatisation is the fundamental policy of the ANC, and is going to be implemented …Just because we [government and COSATU] have a working relationship, and they [COSATU] helped put us in power, does not mean that we are happy with everything they say.’ 49

    49 Sunday Times, 26 May 1996.

    COSATU-aligned unions reciprocated this statement calling for full participation and state transparency, failing which further mass action will go ahead if the sale of state assets were implemented unilaterally. 5O

    [50 Labour consultants Andrew Levy and Associates claim in their second quarter Strike Report, that the “Stage is set for a showdown between government and trade unions on the issue of restructuring…” They further claim that there is a strong likelihood of a sharp rise in strikes related to restructuring of SOE’s (The Star, 28 June 1996). ]

    This endorsed the threatening deadlock between govemment and organised labour.

    Referring to privatisation, President Mandela reiterated Mboweni’s threat, declaring that govemment will “go it alone” if labour, business and government could not form a successful partnership.51

    [51 Sunday Times, 26 May 1996.]
    _____________________________________________________________________________

    CENTRE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY RASSP RESEARCH REPORTS 2005, VOL.1

    Saranel Benjamin, Durban, September 2005

    “Introduction

    The ANC’s 1994 national election campaign was not only premised on delivering democracy and freedom to the citizens of South Africa but was also strongly rooted in the memory of apartheid’s denial of basic resources to black people.

    Riding on the crest of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (the ANC’s proposed economic plan for the post-liberation era based on redistribution of the country’s wealth to the poor), the ANC promised to right the wrongs of the past and to give the people what had long been denied them.

    Election posters blazing with the black green and gold party colours screamed out to the poor:

    “A better life for all!”, “Free basic services!”. “Jobs for all!”,

    with a promise to redistribute the wealth accumulated by the apartheid government, white business and the white population.

    The poor, trusting the rhetoric, voted in their millions to put the ANC into power as the first democratic government.

    When the ANC capitulated to the charms of a market-driven economy, the party ditched clauses from the Freedom Charter and the RDP and emerged with a macro-economic policy that was a ‘fairly standard neoliberal one”. 1

    [1 Adam Habib and Vishnu Padaychee (2000), “Economic Policy and Power Relations in South Africa’s Transition to Democracy” in World Development, (vol.28, no.2)3. ]

    The choice of a market-driven policy that would ensure maximum profit accumulation by the already rich was made in full knowledge of South Africa’s stratified economy.

    South Africa, writes John Saul, is a country where the “the poorest 60% of household’s share of total expenditure is a mere 14%, while the the richest quintile’s share is 69% and where, across the decade of the nineties, a certain narrowing of the income gap between black and white (as a growing number of blacks have edged themselves into elite circles) has been paralleled by an even greater widening gap between rich and poor”. 2

    [2 John Saul, (2002), “Cry for the Beloved Country: the Post-Apartheid Denouement” (RAU Sociology), http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs 8. ]

    The Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) policy drew from the main tenets of neoliberalism as installed globally with the main objective of creating an environment which enables maximum private investment.

    Hence GEAR proposed cuts in government spending to reduce the deficit, the introduction of tax concessions for big business, a reduction of tariff barriers (in the clothing, textile,leather and car manufacturing industries), the privatization of government assets (which included the provision of basic services), a reduction in state welfare programmes and a more flexible labour market.
    Adelzadeh 3

    [3 In Hein Marais (2001), South Africa: Limits to Change, (Cape Toen: University of Cape Town Press) 163] and Saul both agree that the ANC had “come full circle, back to the late apartheid government’s Normative Economic Model.

    For the central premise of South Africa’s economic policy now could clearly be clearer: ask not what capital can do for South Africa, but what South Africa can do for capital…”4

    [4 Saul 12]

    The ANC pushed for GEAR, arguing that the policy framework could help achieve economic growth, attract foreign investment , boost employment and increase socio-economic equality. the verdict so far has been resoundingly negative:

    “GEAR has been associated with massive deindustrialization and job-shedding through reduced tariffs on imports, capital flight as as controls over investments are relaxed, attempts to downsize the costs and size of the public sector, and real cuts in education, health and social welfare spending”. 5
    [5 Saul 13 ]

    This neo-liberal economic framework precludes the the development of any form of social security system for the growing band of unemployed, informal sector workers and the poor. GEAR argues for a decline in state expenditure and, in keeping with global trends, this translates into cutting back on state welfare programmes.

    The harsh effects of the GEAR policy have been felt most by those who came into the era of democracy poor. These were black, working class people.

    Most were black, women, urban and rural. GEAR has left the poor more vulnerable to increasing poverty and has debilitated most workers by decimating the industries they work in. …”
    ____________________________________________________________________________

    Through my involvement with the Auckland Water Pressure Group, I, (and others) made contact with some directly involved in the ‘social movements’, who were fighting back against these ANC-led neoliberal reforms, particularly the fight against water privatisation and the introduction of pre-paid water meters by groups such as the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF).

    More information about the fightback by the ‘social movements’ in South Africa, is available here: http://www.ukzn.za/ccs

    “SEEK TRUTH FROM FACTS”!

    Penny Bright
    1981 Springbok Tour protestor
    ‘Anti-corruption/anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’

  26. idlegus 26
    10 December 2013 at 5:58 pm

    bryce edwards in the odt ‘i’m bored with child poverty’…well fuck you bryce edwards!

    • Arfamo 26.1
      10 December 2013 at 6:03 pm

      Is this the article you’re referring to?
      http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/284747/poverty-issues-boring-public-academic

      Doesn’t read like he’s bored with it, he’s saying the public is getting bored with it.

    • BM 26.2
      10 December 2013 at 6:19 pm

      He speaks the truth.

      Also people have become very cynical surrounding the media and the way they pimp out the “poor”.

      It seems just about every “oh woe is me story” they put out there is rather short on facts and long on bullshit.
      With message boards, blogs, twitter etc, it never takes too long before the real facts come out and surprise, it’s never anything like what the media say it is.

      No one believes anything they read in the MSM now, most people are like “yeah, yeah what a load of shit, fuck they must think we’re idiots”.

  28. gobsmacked 28
    10 December 2013 at 6:37 pm

    So it seems only 2 people from NZ can go to Mandela’s funeral …

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11170259

    Cunliffe should let Sharples go in his place. Good principle – and good politics too!

    • Arfamo 29.1
      10 December 2013 at 6:46 pm

      When the funeral is over perhaps everyone can get past their nostalgia and back to firing insults at each other about all the other shit someone else is always to blame for.

    • Anne 29.2
      10 December 2013 at 7:17 pm

      How did that happen? Positive gobsmacked wasn’t there with the same link. Unless he’s been a naughty boy and is in moderation. 😛

  30. Brett Dale 30
    10 December 2013 at 6:56 pm

    Nelson Mandela’s service is going to be stream lived on tvnz, Im guessing it will also be on BCC, CNN on sky.

    No matter who attends and who speaks, it’s history and people should watch.

    • Arfamo 30.1
      10 December 2013 at 7:05 pm

      It’s history all right, but after all the grand speeches extolling him and what he stood for, they’ll all go back to advancing the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of the poor and their speech notes will just blow away with the wind.

      For what it’s worth, I reckon Key made the right call to include Cunliffe. No one will ever agree on who else would’ve been better. If there can only be two at the funeral the PM and the Leader of the Opposition is a good representation for this country.

      • Anne 30.1.1
        10 December 2013 at 7:11 pm

        I reckon Key made the right call to include Cunliffe.

        Yes he did. I guess he couldn’t do anything else.

        Hey Brett… what time does it start on TV1?

      • gobsmacked 30.1.2
        10 December 2013 at 7:38 pm

        I agree, Key was right to invite Cunliffe to be the 2nd. In fact it was his only option, politically.

        But Cunliffe could earn a heap of mana by giving up his seat to Sharples. Symbolism matters, and if another rich white guy steps aside for the Maori protestor and leader from 1981, that’s strong symbolism – and, more cynically, bloody good headlines in the clear contrast between generous Cunliffe and Key vs Minto.

        I wouldn’t blame Cunliffe for keeping his seat, it’s an occasion you wouldn’t want to miss. But there’s bonus points if he doesn’t.

        • Arfamo 30.1.2.1
          10 December 2013 at 7:45 pm

          Good point, well made. But on the other hand the reality now is that Sharples is part of Key’s government. It is better the Opposition is represented.

        • Anne 30.1.2.2
          10 December 2013 at 8:25 pm

          Looks like Cunliffe IS going to offer his seat to Sharples.

          However, Mr Cunliffe said he is considering giving up his place to Pita Sharples. “I think it’s important that a New Zealand Maori is represented and I think that he did a lot of work in the anti-apartheid movement.”

          http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/230389/pm-forced-to-cut-back-mandela-delegation

          • Arfamo 30.1.2.2.1
            10 December 2013 at 8:29 pm

            Far out. Cunners should just make the call and do it then, not talk about “considering it”. Gobsmacked’s “bonus points” is valid – Cunners would gain a lot of respect & support for this.

            • gobsmacked 30.1.2.2.1.1
              10 December 2013 at 8:34 pm

              Damn, I’ve just outed myself!

              Good broadband here in South Africa …

              • Anne …
                10 December 2013 at 8:50 pm

                The Radio NZ story has now changed to:

                However, Mr Cunliffe offered to give up his place to Dr Sharples. “I think it’s important that a New Zealand Maori is represented and I think that he did a lot of work in the anti-apartheid movement.”

                But no word whether Sharples has accepted…

  31. Arfamo 31
    10 December 2013 at 7:25 pm

    New Privacy Commissioner: John Edwards
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11170243

    End of an era I reckon. Marie Shroff has done an excellent job in the face of obfuscation and obduracy from bureaucrats and politicians.

  32. Pascal's bookie 32
    10 December 2013 at 7:38 pm

    “It was certainly a period of time where politics were prominent and I was fascinated by it.” lol

    • felix 32.1
      10 December 2013 at 8:01 pm

      Farkin lol alright.

      It was a remark who are from a man I found is bullshitting and I was be disgusted by them.

  33. Colonial Viper 33
    10 December 2013 at 9:49 pm

    Texas fracking quakes stirring residents and home owners fear

  34. Brett Dale 34
    10 December 2013 at 10:12 pm

    Dr Sharples and mckinnion are there?

  36. joe90 36
    10 December 2013 at 11:00 pm

    A couple of live streams from SA.

    SABC TV

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WBoWoRZ20w#t=353149

    eNCA

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Stories of varying weight

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 hours ago
  • Balancing External Security and the Economy

    New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    17 hours ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: The unravelling of the offsets

    The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago
  • What makes us tick

    This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    23 hours ago
  • Foreshore and seabed 2.0

    In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission report into abuse in care

    Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 26-July-2024

    Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago
  • God what a relief

    1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

    The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway

    The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Update on global IT outage

    Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

    New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 'Pacific Futures'

    President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests.    Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone.    Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-07-26T23:43:16+00:00