"Sent to Beehive staff from the Prime Ministers Office, it told ministers not to give interviews about the thousands of pages of official papers, minutes and advice proactively released Friday afternoon. The documents dealt with the government’s response to the virus and the email basically told the government team they’ve been managing so well and have so much pubic support, they didn’t need to answer questions about what was in the papers."
"There's no real need to defend. Because the public have confidence in what has been achieved and what the Govt is doing," the email said. "Instead we can dismiss”.
"Now it’s run of the mill to suggest certain lines for ministers to run, as the email did. But to simply shut down all the cabinet ministers who are meant to be part of the team running the country during a crisis suggests people around the prime minister who are getting a little too comfortable with the extraordinary – but temporary – power currently invested in them."
"It’s dumb on a range of levels. Morally – or perhaps constitutionally – the New Zealand public has allowed this government at this time extraordinary powers and deserves at the very least in return full and frank information from cabinet. They deserve respect for the sacrifices made, not dismissal. To tell political staff to “dismiss” the questions of journalists working to keep that public informed is deeply cynical and defensive. It’s bad enough in the normal sweep of events; in these troubled times it’s shameful."
Well-reasoned, and I found nothing to dispute. But here's the thing: look at how he is directing readers (implicitly) to blame the PM's advisers. Guess who made the actual decision to issue the gag! I get that Tim is motivated to defend Labour's brand. Fair enough – but ain't it just a tad disingenuous to tiptoe around the PM like that?
Health Minister David Clark has rejected claims he and other Government ministers have been “gagged”, as he fronted today to announce a $160 million boost to Pharmac health spending.
“Clark rejected today an assertion he had been gagged – or that the memo was a sign of arrogance, as several political commentators have written. “Obviously I am here.”
He said he had not personally received the memo, but saw it after it became a story. He did not believe the Government was arrogant.
““I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have. This is the advice we have received. We have looked at that advice and then made decisions.”
Seems he heard about the gag the same way every one else did , suggest its was advice passed around the media advisors not a PM 'directive'
So the the Great Gag beatup falls flat on its face at the first hurdle . The health minister is happy to ask questions.Clearly its the pre budget talk fest so many Ministers will be available to the journos, pushing their portfolios but happy to talk . https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12330811
I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have
....dont you understand . It was advice. And it didnt tell ministers anything , it was for media personal.
Your tone suggests you are doing a beatup of your own
"The email from Rob Carr, a senior ministerial adviser to the prime minister, was sent to the staff of Government ministers and to staff at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) who had worked on making public the documents. " Stuff
So you're suggesting that Tim Watkin & Duncan Garner, etc, got it wrong? The PM's senior adviser does not actually speak for the PM? Still looks like wrong planet.
"The prime minister's office now says the email — which was provided to press gallery journalists hours after the Government publicly released hundreds of Cabinet papers — was a "clumsy instruction"."
I wonder if that opinion comes from a different staffer (anonymous). Obfuscation must be an exciting game for them. 🙄
Now I know you will want to argue that his hubris invites nemesis thesis is so hi-falutin' that it'll sail clean over the heads of folks here, and perhaps even that words ending in is ought to be illegal…
Yeah I know that. But the final paragraph of the primary comment seems to suggest the PM herself is somehow responsible. Rather than a clumsy staffer in the PMO.
There was a discussion on that just now on the AM Show. Garner thought it had come from the PM & Trotter not. Starting to look like a staffer may have lost the plot & issued instructions without the PM's authorisation. If a Trump staffer did that, they'd get fired. Gone by lunchtime. Will be interesting to see how Ardern handles the insubordination.
If that's what it actually was. We await the facts still. The duke thinks the health minister is telling us the facts. Probably the only person in the entire country who would trust the health minister to do that…
Probably the only person in the entire country who would trust the health minister to do that…
Tinfoil hat. Take it off your head. Not everything is a government conspiracy orchestrated by that machiavellian schemer, Jacinda Ardern. I know the right are desperately flailing about trying to find a club to bludgeon her with because Bridges couldn't score a hit if you gave him a cannon and a satellite targeting system, but let's not go overboard.
Conspiracy? I didn't suggest any such thing! Nor am I a rightist. Try to get your head around what actually happened, huh? Did she instruct her ministers not to comment or not? The impression created by the email from her senior advisor makes us wonder if he does actually speak for her or not. We await clarification as to the source of the instruction.
We don't know. I don't know. You don't know. But your insinuation couldn't be any clearer. "Jacinda's gagging people! Police State! The fascists are on the march!" Let's all sit down, have a nice cup of tea, breathe, and wait. Getting all bent out of shape over things that likely aren't even true is a sure-fire road to a stomach ulcer. I wouldn't want you to get a stomach ulcer, Dennis.
You're overdramatising. My concern is around damage-mitigation. I'd rather she didn't get a reputation for hypocrisy. That does not concern you? Open, transparent governance, remember! That difference between preaching & practise easily becomes fatal. Voters get shifted by perceptions as much as reality!
Not a lot concerns me. I find being perpetually unconcerned about things is the best way to manage my mental health. (And puts me at low risk of developing a stomach ulcer.) But I understand where you're coming from in terms of not wanting JA to end up looking like a hypocrite. I guess we'll have to wait to discover the truth of the matter. I hope it wasn't an emotional junior staffer.
I'm suggesting that the email would have been authorised by the PM – before it was issued. Anyone who believes the contrary is naive. Does the duke really think Ardern would allow staffers to issue directives to ministers?? If so, wrong planet dude!
If the directive was to comms staff in Minister's offices then yes it would make sense to have come from comms staff in the PM's office (not the DPMC).
This is like one of those media stories that starts out like the worst thing has happened in the history of the world and further down the page it's more than slightly different. By your 3rd post it could be that a staffer in despatching the message has added the offending bit. Rather than the PM be hung drawn and quartered for the message that should happen to the staffer. And I sense, in the event of not despatching the despatcher, to Ardern herself.
True, but the gagging order framing came from Tim Watkin, remember (and others), so I was merely commenting on it as an emerging feature of our co-created reality.
If the PM did not issue or authorise it, the issue will likely become one of employment for the staffer. Remember that damage done to the govt's reputation in the eyes of voters is crucial in an election year. Minimisation is therefore crucial to the PM to increase the likelihood of re-election.
I bet she knows that, so will clarify who was responsible for creating the misapprehension (if she confirms it was that) or inform us that she was actually the source. If she fails to do so, it will be a sign that she is so confident of re-election that the damage done is no problem…
Releasing documents on a Friday and managing your media message is hardly new, if not perfect democracy. This whole media outrage thing is a nonsense, a manufactured media hissy fit from a sidelined MSM that is resenting seeing a popular PM usurp their power.
The difference is when it happened under Key the MSM fell over itself to kiss the governments arse and hold the opposition to account in the hope some well paid sinecures and baubles would fall their way in PR and as advisors.
With a Labour government they have no such hopes so they cling to what privileges they can retain like shit to a blanket.
Give us a break Dennis. there is no "gagging order" simply a normal and pragmatic approach in the face of increasing media misconduct. We are very fortunate that Jacinda has the ability and daring to go over the heads of our dysfunctional media. They are not happy about it but they have brought it upon themselves. What is upsetting the media about this the most is the amount of pushback from general public over their conduct. When they are through the denial/anger phase we just might start to see some improvement.
I get that Tim is motivated to defend Labour's brand.
You get wrong Dennis. I've been reading his pieces for years and he is not a natural Labour man. But I give him credit for trying to be balanced in his views. But he is- along with all the others – wrong in their assumptions over that email.
It was never a blanket ban, and I'm suspicious of all the palaver it is creating. It has the feeling of engineered hysteria encouraged by a band of C/T type operators who are getting concerned by the national and international following Jacinda is receiving.
After years of subterfuge and the manipulation of populations into thinking their ideological opponents are the cause of all society's ills, along comes this bloody woman called Jacinda Ardern who is turning their hard fought battles for personal gain and supremacy upside down.
Agree. Watkin is a centrist, but certainly no partisan. Could be considered liberal or broadly socially democratic, but many of his stances are pragmatic. He is certainly a neutral journo and not enamoured of Labour. He usually follows the hot story in the news.
I’m not sure who the RNZ reporter that did the piece with National Finance Spokesperson Goldsmith on Morning Report just now is, but it was a really odd line of questioning.
Given that National would have had us in Level 2 at least a couple of weeks ago and given that almost everywhere else that has scaled back lockdown measures has had increased rates of infection, you would think that someone in the 4th estate would have the chops to ask the opposition how big an outbreak they’d be prepared to accept to get us to a lower level?
Sweden apparently now will not admit to ICU anyone over 50 with co-morbidities, or just anyone over 80. This is not just aggressive triaging it is venturing into eugenics, of which Sweden has a dark history – https://www.pop.org/sweden-eugenics-world-war-ii/
I think this helps explain Swedish exceptionalism in the face of COVID-19. As a culture, they apparently have a long tradition of deliberately maltreating the weak.
I heard some where that just admitting a patient to ICU pushes the staff needed to care for them 5 fold from their previous ward. They are close to losing control.
However if I was over 80 I wouldnt want be sedated to go on a ventilator either. The death rate is extremely high for the elderly and you may be bed ridden anyway if you survive. Even people in their 30s cant walk across the room unaided until their lungs have fully recovered many weeks later. There is strong evidence that early on people were put on ventilators too soon as the first option.
The decision isn't because of eugenics, it's because the machine that has a 3% chance of saving a life will probably be needed for someone who would have a 10% chance of surviving.
Racism works differently institutionally than outright white supremacists. I don't see why the concept of eugenics can't be understood likewise. It's not that the Swedish govt are Nazis, it's that the political and social decisions being made may be de facto eugenics.
If a society sees disabled (or weak) people as lesser at a cultural level, how would this not affect decisions being made with the various parts of the system about health resource allocation.
Until I see reliable reporting on this issue in Sweden (triaging and the basis of that), I'm theorising. It may be that the people not being admitted to the ICU are still being prioritised with good medical care (i.e. it's an issue of appropriate care). Or it might be that the decision is these people are less likely to survive and we're running out of gear, so we won't treat them (the Italian situation). How society values disabled people generally affects all of that.
I mean NZ doesn't practice eugenics, yet we have entrenched institutional abuse and neglect of disabled people. It's not hard to see how that might play out if we have a major epidemic and the health system wasn't coping.
I suppose the tell would be in the comorbidities they exclude from the triage list. EG they include CF but exclude heart disease as deprioritisation criteria, even though patients at different stages of their condition might have equally poor prognoses. If we could argue one condition is viewed more commonly as a "disability" than the other.
But that's just the analyst in me speculating. If they're just using a standard vulnerable people list, I dunno how one would distinguish an institutional bias from a basic triage guideline.
Fair call, it was a clumsy description poorly aimed at the idea that they were trying to create a society filled with what they saw as "better" people, be it based upon ethnicity or an undesirable tendency to "choose" poverty (or both, or whatever their boggle was).
They weren't about education and learning to play musical instruments, no.
The study or practice of attempting to improve the human gene pool by encouraging the reproduction of people considered to have desirable traits and discouraging or preventing the reproduction of people considered to have undesirable traits.
This sounds like what the Nazis Aryan Race program was based on.
I suppose they were 'improving people too'!Unbelievable.
And another country with a past love of eugenics is.. New Zealand. You can see why disability advocates are keeping a very close eye on where the ideas of the right are veering.
" Interesting motivations to untangle but I'm not hearing that about either abortion or euthanasia, are you? "
While conserving the purity of the population doesn't come up in discussions, especially in mixed company, reforms of either make picking and choosing easier.
Although the point of my reply was the 'left' seem keener than the 'right' for these things.
Abortion reform is just allowing women to access abortions without having to go through hoops. In any case, the amount of abortions in NZ is trending downward long term, thanks to the avalibility of birth control measures.
Ironically it is easier for men to get a vasectomy, which can be done in the primary health sector for under $400 and takes 15min. I dont see anyone calling that 'eugenics'.
Yeah. nah Sacha, the left are as bad as the right in embracing eugenics in this country. For starters a wee look at first labour government and the support for programs like the plunket and the treatment of mental health. Or the earlier Liberal government treatment of returning war veterans. Nor the tacit agreement of both main parties throughout the twentieth century to sterilize disabled women.
And I dear say you'd struggle to find any historian back you up. Google is not going to be your friend either – except for a few loony marxist sites.
I’m clearly not following this. Your link directs to an article on sterilisation written 23 years ago. How is this relevant to admitting sick & elderly to ICU or not due to the COVID-19 pandemic [and where is your link for that?]?
When John Campbell on breakfast news is criticising the government for the email directive to ministers not to talk to the press, then its time for the government to take note. Labour have done a great job of managing the shutdown, but that goodwill can quickly disappear if they take the NZ public for granted.
They may be no different to other parties that have been in charge of the country, but Jacinda did say they would govern differently & be open & transparent. So Labour will be scrambling to play down the email directive. It must have been directed by Jacinda.
Any governments way of talking about what they have released (and sometimes releasing it piecemeal to setup a specific narrative) is also known as spin. In this case they seem to be relying on the outcome for New Zealand speaking for itself. There can't have been much of substance to talk about in this release.
Also the media will quickly tire of the positive narrative. That one doesn't sell the news.
There isnt any gagging according to David Clark, you know the Heath Minister
He said he had not personally received the memo, but saw it after it became a story.
““I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have. "
Apparently the traditional Friday hide&seek doesn't come organised by subject and with a table of contents for each. So a definite increase in openness and honesty in that regard.
The American system of governance is totally different to NZ, to compare is like comparing touch rugby to all black test matches.
If you argue they are the same, you simply are an ideologue, who cares what the USA does, our response is ours to measure and to compare it to others is simply spin.
Own what you do and say, don't look to justify by comparison.
It's easier to judge a yacht crew against another yacht crew than just by themselves – you see their decisions, and the different decisions made by other crews at the same time, and what the results were. That helps establish how fair criticism is.
Same with judging the covid response against other countries.
Sure, a perfect result would have no community cases and probably zero deaths. There are things to improve – e.g. testing and contact tracing. But to get an idea of the govt's overall performance, we need to judge them against how other governments reacted, and what their results were.
Yes, we were lucky in many ways. But it's not all luck (otherwise there would be no point in criticising the government at all, as no action wouild change anything).
The govt went into lockdown as soon as it was being transmitted in the community. Comms have been excellent, and the leadership is evident by the nation largely pulling in the same direction.
Many other nations have failed dismally, in a variety of ways, and their mortality rate is evident.
Sorry, but 21 people died because of inaction, other countries sorted it, look at the debacle of the measle epidemic and they now say trust us, no way.
Even assuming every single one of those people caught it in NZ rather than overseas and that the comment is fair by every other impartial measure (rather than expecting perfect judgement during a rapidly evolving situation), that's well near the far end of the queue to hell for pollies whose decisions killed their citizens.
Not just for covid, or internationally – I suspect Roger Douglas would be on the hook for more than 21 dead, for example.
Good find. The conclusion aligns with my broad thesis that in general we should assume that both the conservative and progressive sectors of society want similar outcomes, but weight differing priorities on how to get there. Understanding your 'opponents' value drivers is key to negotiating strategies you can both agree on:
Recent research has shown that both Democrats and Republicans strongly support renewable energy development, but do so for different reasons. Democrats prioritize curbing climate change, while Republicans are more motivated by reducing energy costs. We see these motivations playing out in the real world, where conservative oil-producing states like Texas are experiencing huge booms in renewable energy generation, driven primarily by the improving economics of renewable energy.
Realizing the shared vision of an energy system dominated by renewable energy will mean reconciling partisan differences over how to achieve that future. While there is no single rationale that will convince all Americans to support a transition to low-carbon energy sources, our results are encouraging because we find consensus on the U.S. energy future — everyone agrees that it should be green.
"Plain as day"? What's your evidence? In fact what is your evidence for any of your three assertions? They are just your prejudices.
To me it is "plain as day" that National will not be offering a generalised tax cut. I also presume you specifically mean the 33% rate, which I imagine you think is the only rate of concern to your "certain personalities."
Wayne, it’s as ‘plain as day’ that the Natz cure for the pandemic is – tax cuts, more roads and getting tough on gangs, while their cure for the economic woes is – wash your hands and keep your distance.
On the recovery plan, I have no doubt that National would do a better job than Labour. My evidence is the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake, though I don't imagine you would agree on that.
The PM has shown herself to be brilliant during the covid emergency, just as she has done in the other emergencies faced by this government. However, the overall management of the economy has been nothing to write home about, with a few well publicised failures, including Kiwibuild, and the transport programmes.
The government will need to show a new found ability to deal with the recovery to change that. Maybe they will. The budget being the first test.
labour in Australia did a better job…national prolonged it until 2015 and were relying on the migration surge
Christchurch Earthquakes ? They made sure on both CERR and CERA acts that judicial reviews or appeals were severely limited . Not to save lives as that was long after the events and plenty of time to carefully consider the legislation wording.
It took an earthquake stimulus, a 20% increase in population, a lot of short term overly extractive industry, and a lot of book cooking, to give the illusion of economic competency.
By the right wings favourite measure, economic growth, the effect of National was otherwise negative.
Even after only two years this Government was doing better, by almost all measures than National did, in nine years.
There was a degree of competence in some previous National Governments, though mostly manifested in making asset strippers, financiers and speculators richer. Admittedly also a feature of at least one, Labour Government.
Don’t see any in the current crop. Their main capability seems to be in barking at passing cars.
National did such a sterling job with the Christchurch earthquakes, Gerry Brownlee has a park bench dedicated to him. The plaque on it is somewhat unflattering, but not everyone has their own park bench. I'm sure Gerry's chuffed.
I'm trying to get my head around your rationale of National doing a better job in post Covid times than Labour on the evidence of the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake situations.
Did National do better than Labour in getting things going after GFC and the earthquakes? They should have, since they were in government.
Were they experienced in 'post catastrophe' mode or did they just learn on the job? And do it totally brilliantly? And because of how they did (the they from back then) no-one else would be as good as them in 2020, 2021 no-one else can do it as well?
There are some who think that the National Government of the day deserve a rating of 12 out of 10 for the way they handled the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake situations. They think the chance of the coalition Government deserving as high as 2 out of 10 for handling post Covid things is impossible.
Just how many of the GFC and Christchurch earthquake Ministers from National do you expect to be in Parliament after September this year?
Oh come on. You and I both know that National will impost a raft of huge austerity measures along with a bonfire of regulations if/when they get in. There will be a huge wall of red in to deal with, and as always, your party will send the bill to the poor, sick and retirees, just like Ruth Richardson did back in 1991.
National have in 30 short years, gone from (at best) acceptance that the state (even if has been devolved to community level) needs to do thing, to a whole generation of National MP's and members dedicated to Somalian levels of state sector involvement and regulatory oversight.
Bill English who people have forgotten could and would have easily have been PM during this time, makes his hatred of anything government run well known, even at community level. He even said that water shouldnt be run by councils.
If National were in power we will be at the mercy of the profit run private sector, the middle class prejudices of the church and charity sector and the nepotism of the iwi sector when it comes to accessing social services.
Lol this guy's a bit like our Bob Jones, but a reasonable and contributing member of society:
"If politicians aren't following the evidence, we [scientists] think they are just shitheads, basically," Doherty says, before turning his attention to economists. "Some of them are data-driven but some of them live in a data-free ideological universe."
Aussie Nobel laureate immunologist Peter Doherty. He also thinks a vaccine might be mass-distributed in September, giving a rundown of where a number of projects are at. Which would make the herd immunity crowd close to looking like a bunch of Kodos-es.
Well, I thought a bit of relative optimism from someone at the top of the specific field was interesting and something other than chronically depressing.
And the rest of the interview has some good bits. Such a shame I just reached the paywall read limit.
Paywall ? ..just turn off javascript mostly works for lots of sites, except NZH here
"
But back to the vaccine which could be ready by September: "[The British vaccine] is based on a platform which actually uses a chimp virus, an adenovirus. What you do is you slot a bit of the COVID virus into the adenovirus. They are called virus vectored vaccines.
"It's a genetically engineered virus basically. But essentially, it's the virus itself."
Now for some more bad news. For those over 60, the vaccine may not be a complete fix.
There is also the prophylactic way ,where you can pop a pill ( which is the cheapest option, no need for injections). That is what they did for HIV as they have no vaccine, but isnt spread by sneezes either.
The thing that really gets me about the "elimination if futile" crowd is that buying time is better than just outright surrender. The longer we keep it out, if we can, gives us time to do things better. Things that will save lives when we finally feel the full force of covid.
At worst, delaying it also means that the people whose lives are eventually taken still had weeks or months or years alive that they wouldn't have had if we'd followed the "herd immunity" plan.
Herd immunity is a myth for lots of reasons, I see that some people think it gives them personal immunity, when its a population thats protected from widespread infections. Local clusters will still occur, started in places like schools, workplaces, extended family, social gatherings , funerals etc.
In other words still leaves those 65% who dont have anti bodies ( suggested for Sars-CoV-2, maybe different) still as exposed.
New York may be at 12-15% level of population with anti bodies ( who really knows) , do they want to wait till 35% , does any country ?
New York doesnt really have any good choices left , neither does Sweden, while Greece with a similar population and the opposite Covid response does.
It's just that getting it without a vaccine means a large number of dead people, regardless of the low percentage of deaths. Percentages always sound lower than the number of coffins they represent.
Sharon Zoellner the ANZ chief economist is currently on Nine to Noon. Any guesses how long it takes her to bring up her pet subject of increasing the super age?
I am sick of the bleating from the opposition. Unfortunately there is going to be a lot more bleating after 4 pm today.
From day one the dilemma Covid -19 posed was saving lives or saving the economy. This is so hard to do as social distancing is what saves lives and many businesses cannot social distance.
There is no more normal, people will need to adapt and tough decisions will need to be made.
The economy was going to be in recession, regardless. Despite some delusional claims.
In fact, evidence from past pandemics, and from elsewhere in this one, shows that dealing quickly and effectively with the disease, has better economic outcomes also.
The USA, s tardiness and lack of co-ordination is costing them dearly in lives and the coming recession.
NZ Herald owner NZME has today sought urgent Government help to allow it to buy rival publisher Stuff within three weeks, saying it is the best owner to save newspapers and jobs.
It has filed an urgent Commerce Commission application today for the purchase – for $1 – and wants to have the transaction complete by May 31.
In my view , let Stuff sink . The whole model of a major media octopus is so far out of date …support the smaller operators who are more agile and connected to their readers …ODT, Spinoff, Newsroom etc.
Why pay NZH for things they just syndicate from RNZ, Newsroom, Ny Times , The Conversation when I can go to those places and many others instead of wading through the total dross of NZH, the worst paper in Australasia
Classic ambush tactics. The longer term media industry package being discussed looks like it may not be to their liking. So when we have a really busy government they go "me me me now now now". Funny how the RW seems to have given up funding this media.
Has anyone provided evidence that the memo went to Ministers directly rather than their offices, especially their comms managers? That's who controls messaging, not the Minister.
Seems like a convenient blurring for an opposition to make and media to uncritically regurgitate.
From memory over many years Friday “dumps of information” have been common. Gives the media something to do over the weekend seeing they are so concerned about their employment prospects these days. The general public don’t care which day information is released.
National must take first prize for hypocrisy complaining about this practice.
They are so in a frenzy at the appreciation and respect so many have for Jacinda they are beside themselves like toddlers having a tantrum.
They used to happen on the Friday before a holiday or at the beginning of a recess period. Parliament is sitting tomorrow so apart from this occurring on a Friday it does not apply.
Apart from this one memo , which stuff doesn't even seem to reproduce in full just "interpreted", was there nothing else of interest in those documents? That's it? Just that? Nothing else of substance the media needed to bring to our attention?
If so then it looks like the govt has been pretty transparent on the way through if we are only getting this bit of "gotcha". And then the media wonders why we are not impressed with them or their sense of proportion.
BTW I don't remember similar data dumps about the Canty earthquake response.
Wonderful moving tributes to our PM on Facebook. It was heartening to see not everyone is bitter and twisted as the opposition and many media types.
I have been impressed with the two women journalists who front the 1pm press conference. They are not like the shrieking ones in the theatrette. The PM also is very much in charge, which is how it should be. If she wasn’t for sure they would be then saying she wasn’t up to the job.
I'm not sure if this is what either Johnson or Ardern intended by the metaphor, but any climber will tell you getting down off the damned mountain is by far the riskiest part.
Those right wingers have no ability to innovate do they? Nice to see that you recognise they live in an arid desert where they have no new ideas so they are forced to grab for the communal ideas originated by others? Boris trying to get some reflected glow off Jacinda is he? Going for the "halo" effect?
Not only the mountain analogy but the Covid-19 Levels (5 not 4) appear to have been hijacked as well. Perhaps Boris would like to borrow our PM as well.
He already borrowed "stay faithful to your bubble" (without irony I may add) & the 5 levels reminds me of Spinal Tap ("normal levels go to 4, but ours go to 5!, one extra, coz we better.". Johnson is getting so much shit because no one quite understands wtf he's on about, "stay alert!" instead of "stay at home".
'When Hitler came to power, Germany was hopelessly broke. The Treaty of Versailles had imposed crushing reparations on the German people, demanding that Germans repay every nation’s costs of the war. These costs totaled three times the value of all the property in Germany.
Private currency speculators caused the German mark to plummet, precipitating one of the worst runaway inflations in modern times. A wheelbarrow full of 100 billion-mark banknotes could not buy a loaf of bread. The national treasury was empty. Countless homes and farms were lost to speculators and to private (Jewish controlled) banks. Germans lived in hovels. They were starving.
Nothing like this had ever happened before — the total destruction of the national currency, plus the wiping out of people’s savings and businesses. On top of this came a global depression. Germany had no choice but to succumb to debt slavery under international (mainly Jewish) bankers until 1933, when the National Socialists came to power. At that point the German government thwarted the international banking cartels by issuing its own money. World Jewry responded by declaring a global boycott against Germany.
Hitler began a national credit program by devising a plan of public works that included flood control, repair of public buildings and private residences, and construction of new roads, bridges, canals, and port facilities. All these were paid for with money that no longer came from the private international bankers.
The projected cost of these various programs was fixed at one billion units of the national currency. To pay for this, the German government (not the international bankers) issued bills of exchange, called Labor Treasury Certificates. In this way the National Socialists put millions of people to work, and paid them with Treasury Certificates.
Under the National Socialists, Germany’s money wasn’t backed by gold (which was owned by the international bankers). It was essentially a receipt for labor and materials delivered to the government. Hitler said, “For every mark issued, we required the equivalent of a mark’s worth of work done, or goods produced.” The government paid workers in Certificates. Workers spent those Certificates on other goods and services, thus creating more jobs for more people. In this way the German people climbed out of the crushing debt imposed on them by the international bankers.
Within two years, the unemployment problem had been solved, and Germany was back on its feet. It had a solid, stable currency, with no debt, and no inflation, at a time when millions of people in the United States and other Western countries (controlled by international bankers) were still out of work. Within five years, Germany went from the poorest nation in Europe to the richest.-R.W.Pennington
If you consider it inaccurate ,you should say why as Duker does regarding reparations.
Hard to dispute the facts of depression,inflation and unemployment at that time and the reality that the Germany economy became the strongest in Europe within a few years.
There is nothing anti-Semitic about reality.
[See. I asked you a pretty straightforward question and you dodged because (it seems) you’re happy to promote anti semitic tosh. The historical take on the German economy may be right enough, but to use that as leverage to promote bile is fucked in the head. And since you wanted to keep the identity of the person you quoted shrouded, and are wholly backing what they wrote, I can only assume you’re an anti-semitic fuck head too. I hope you enjoyed your time having access to this site….bye bye.]
There's a lot of antisemitism in that "nationalvanguard" article written by Rosemary Pennington 19 Aug 2015 though. So much that I won't even link to it – people can google that shit. But you'll hopefully end up on a watch list that gets cross-referenced with firearms license holders.
It even appears to be largely plagiarised, such as the final paragraph. Although the "(controlled by international bankers)" was inserted, it comes from a book published five years previously. Many other parts of the quoted work stipulate just who the author thinks owned the banks, of course.
Now I have to delete my browser history for today.
The conditions of depression at the time are relevant to todays situation.
Whether you are a fan of the present financial system or not,no one can deny the reality of money expansion,interest bearing debt and its implications on society.
Your reply is not even related to what was posted.You will always find what you are looking for if you approach a topic with extreme prejudice.
You will end up on the watchlist now too,given you visited the site.
Yeah I will. But I don't think I'll raise too many other flags.
relevance? I was replying to your last line.
You will always find what you are looking for if you approach a topic with extreme prejudice.
QFT.
But also, your source is a plagiarist. The economic bullshit you copypasted I addressed elsewhere. Comment 17.3.1.1 was about the WS~adjacent plagiarist you used as an unlinked source.
In case you are not aware, there was instability in Europe after and even prior to the Wall St Crash and the onset of the Great Depression.
France had occupied parts of Germany to enforce compensation and unemployment was rising.
The geo politics of post war Europe were extremely volatile with the new Communist Russia looking to consolidate its power as well as ongoing Franco/German tensions.
Hitlers rise to power was a direct result of the German ECONOMY being in ruins.
He may or may not have lost the plot, but he's gone McFlock. I was away for most of today and have only just come back to this sub-thread. Seems you had a joyous afternoon reading up on scum.
Well, it's light on antisemitism and actually attributes other people's work, so yes it is "more palatable".
It's still complete bollocks. Without occupying it's neighbours, the Reich's balance of payments and currency issues would have taken it back to depression. It's like saying they maxed out their credit card but it was a brilliant plan because they robbed a bank to make the payments just before the bailiffs came around.
As an establishment droogue who believes in the American Dream, you equate any mention of Hitler with anti Semitism.
The certificates as fiat currency that the Nazis issued are a relevant comparison with what sovereign govts do when they create 'money and spend it back into the local economy.
The only one who has 'lost the plot' is you, because you seem to consider any constructive critique of German economic policy in the 30's as deserving one being put on a fucking …watchlist!
The primary public works revolved around preparing for war, and the stolen resources kept the economy from going full Weimar.
Every time Germany took over a country, that area's gold reserves in international holdings were transferred to the Nazi economy, and whatever they could physically get their hands on, they stole. Starting with Austria. Continued with the assistance of the Bank of international settlement.
problems when the very first part is incorrect…I always assume the rests of it mostly nonsense
" Treaty of Versailles had imposed crushing reparations on the German people, demanding that Germans repay every nation’s costs of the war."
They werent crushing, they were made to look that way for political reasons, and the end result was very little . The context for France was the 1871 war when Prussian troops remained in occupation till the reparations were paid in full.
Every nationals costs of the war, just isnt true Britain got nothing. And for France and Belgium the costs were for their own reconstruction as the war in that front was mostly fought on their territory, Germany had barely a scratch. The costs in lives and munitions wasnt factored in nor was destruction in eastern, Italian front etc.
As Germany paid very little , as designed, the reconstruction costs were carried by France and Belgium anyway, who also had to maintain a large standing army and construct major defensive fortifications ( Maginot line).
The continuing story of poor old Germany and the nasty Versailles treaty is just the standard german revisionism that they werent responsible for the war.
Since Germany didnt pay a high price they were at it again 20 yrs later, and real answer to divide the country was taken. After the Armistice in 1918 Germany should have been divided North from South. The Southern Bavarian-Austrian state along with the neighbouring german kingdoms would have catholic, linguistic conservative traditions. While the Northern state would have been protestant, liberal/socialist traditions. A NSDP run Greater Bavaria would have been no threat to France or Poland
'In short, during the 1920s a financial merry-go-round was in operation. US bankers lent money to Germany. The German government used that money to pay reparations to Britain and France. The British and French used that money to repay their war loans to the US bankers. The US banks made huge profits, and lent even more money to Germany. Everything was going well, until the bubble burst.
Hitler didn't only cancel reparations payments. He also defaulted on Germany's debts to US (and, to a lesser extent, British) banks. After the Second World War, the new democratic German government accepted responsibility for the roughly 16 billion marks of debt still owed to foreign banks (plus additional debts incurred after 1945) – although in 1953 it was agreed by Germany's creditors to halve the total amount to be repaid, and furthermore the full sum would not become due until after German reunification.
When Germany did reunify in 1990, the German government thus recommenced making payments. The last one, €70 million, was paid in 2010 and thus cleared Germany's outstanding debt from the war.
However, these payments were not reparations; they didn't go to the victims of the war. They went to the banks which had lent money to Weimar Germany in the 1920s. Newspaper reports which refer to the payments made since 1931 as 'reparations' are using the term inaccurately.'-Quora…
Mark Richardson and Duncan Garner admit they don't have much purpose.
"I drove back thinking 'thank god you did that'," he said. "I have spent seven to eight weeks worrying. Worrying about my family, worrying about my job – worrying about my mates.
"I've questioned, over the last seven weeks, someone can only take so much of this degree of low-level anxiety and constant worry for so long."
Seven to eight weeks worrying? Tens of thousands of NZ families and hundreds of thousands of people live this reality every single day of every single week of every single year. Permanently, in fact.
How nice of Mark Richardson to finally recognise how detrimental to life low-level anxiety can be for the vulnerable and under-privileged.
What we really need in these trying times of crisis, especially if you've just been made redundant, is to hear windbag television personalities crapping on about their anxiety. Those poor dabs. I don't know how they cope.
Can someone please explain what this is about? A short version of the history and state of play would be good.
Stuff's Australian owner says it terminated talks with New Zealand media company NZME last week.
NZME, owner of the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB, said in a statement to the NZX on Monday morning that it was seeking urgent legislation to allow it to buy rival publisher Stuff "for $1"by the end of May.
But Stuff owner Nine said in a release to the ASX that while Nine had had discussions with NZME regarding the acquisition of Stuff, "Nine has notified NZME that it has terminated further engagement with NZME".
"NZME shares rose 17 per cent to 25 cents on the NZX in the wake of NZME's announcement, [but later] despite Nine's statement that talks had been terminated."
Interesting – hope the stock exchange is watching the trades.
BTW do you know if the stock exchange has required companies to file notifications of the wage subsidies they have applied for/received plus (if I had my say) an updated table of wage & salary distribution with $ values so we can see how much to trim those top wages.
There appear to be several lines of thinking nationally on when to move from level 3. The majority of comments from readers on Stuff relating to epidemiologist Michael Baker are rather vitriolic and dismissive, and suggest conspiracies of various degrees. I wonder if those correspondents were offered the option to sign a waiver whereby they would not request any intervention/treatment in the event of their catching the virus, they would still be so strident in their views.
No. No, they wouldn't. But life is hard when you can't get your tips frosted, get rolling drunk with your homies, or go to the mall with Stephanie and Monique.
Great interview, but sad to think that the centrists in the UK Labour party ( like in all "left" parties in the western world) would rather live under a right wing party than give a real progressive like Corbyn a chance…disgusting really, although I guess it has exposed how devoid of a moral or ethical centre the Liberal so called 'left' are.
Jeremy Corbyn in conversation with Dr Bob Gill about NHS privatisation and COVID-19 pandemic
Do you believe that most voters were aware of and understood all of the skullduggery and undermining that went on from within Corbyn's party? And that if they did the result would've been the same?
"Peters’ support for Morrison’s call has bewildered Beijing. Canberra’s shadowing of Washington’s diplomatic sallies is expected by the Chinese. They don’t like it (and have made their displeasure very plain) but they are not surprised by it. Peters’ behaviour, on the other hand, has left them perplexed. Is he acting with the full knowledge and blessing of his Prime Minister? If so, then Jacinda Ardern is deliberating putting at risk the mutually respectful and highly beneficial relationship that has evolved between Beijing and Wellington over the course of nearly half a century. If not, then what the hell is going on inside the New Zealand Government?"
It's just occurred to me with all these White House aides getting the 'rona – we might see an Acting President Pelosi after all!
There's no mechanism for temporary fill-ins for prez and veep to be chosen on the fly, it's specified by statute. So if the Kumquat Pol Pot catches it and becomes incapacitated, and passes the preznitsy on to the over-boiled cauliflower Pence by the 25th Amendment, then Pence is in turn incapacitated, it has to go to the Speaker of the House Pelosi.
Forty years ago, the world celebrated the vanquishing of a formidable foe, smallpox, which had maimed and killed millions for centuries. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been eradicated.
That milestone, reached while the Cold War still raged, is an example of what the public health world can achieve when it works together — and is particularly resonant in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The campaign against smallpox took 21 years and required not just vaccinations but tracking and isolating new cases.
“We learned a lot of lessons in smallpox, but one of them is the absolute necessity of coalitions,” William “Bill” Foege, one of the architects of the smallpox eradication program, told STAT.
[…]
Though there is currently no vaccine to prevent Covid-19 infection, the surveillance and containment approach, as it is called, forms the basis of the recommended strategy to contain the new disease. Test to find cases. Identify everyone they’ve been in contact with. Isolate the sick and quarantine the contacts while they might be incubating the disease.
“You hear with coronavirus about contact tracing and how difficult that is. That’s what we were doing with smallpox,” Foege said, noting back then the work was done without computers or cellphones.
In May of 1974, in a single state in India, 1,500 smallpox cases were being identified every day. “And every one of those cases involved a new investigation. So 1,500 investigations a day,” Foege said. “I’m surprised now, with all of our communications and things, that people think tracing Covid-19 is too difficult.”
Within a year of using this containment approach, transmission in the state, Bihar, stopped, Foege said.
Foege, who is a legend in global health circles, called the idea of defunding the WHO “illogical.” He warned the United States risks isolation on the global health stage if it pursues this approach.
Listening to the PM's press conference, hearing her repeating "kiwis will be spaced out" and "we will all be spaced out" in the plan for level two social situations, took me way back. Half a century ago, I was frequently in social gatherings where all were spaced out. I bet plenty of other listeners went into the same time warp! Disappointing to hear nothing about retaining mask-wearing as precaution though. 😷
So far so good. If another decade comes my way, I may even start to suspect that my time of testing may produce a verdict of success. I appreciate your verdict for now!
Mr Trump's style of leadership is reaping as it sows.
I guess when you're on the big money it's best to just trot along behind the blustering buffoon and bite your "You're making a capital dick of yourself right now Don" tongue.
Our supermarket duopoly have paid for their kids' Harvard educations over the last month. Bribes inclusive. Every food $ we used to spend elsewhere has pretty much gone to one of two companies.
They should be telling every staff member "You have all worked harder than you're paid for. Under conditions you aren't paid for. Your pay under Alert level 4 and 3 will be doubled."
I think it's the least they could do, those guys have made millions on millions in the last month. Oh how I longed for KFC we all chucked those $ down Countdown's throat.
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Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
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Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
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Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
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I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
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David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
In 2021 the Public Interest Journalism Fund launched the Te Rito Journalism project, a $2.4 million initiative to boost diversity in New Zealand’s newsrooms. The initiative was in response to the decades-long shortage of Māori and Pacific journalists in the media industry. It was billed as New Zealand’s ...
The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
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Successive governments have tried, and failed, to count Māori. But with the return of social investment, it’s more important than ever to get good data. The post Government looks for a better way to count Māori appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Experts in financing social investment initiatives say New Zealand is in a prime position to tackle social issues via a social investment approach The post What will Willis’ social investment fund look like? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist A former Tuvalu prime minister says while the New Zealand government’s oil and gas plans show it is concerned about its economy, he is more concerned about the livelihoods and survival of the Tuvalu people. Enele Sopoaga — who still serves as an MP ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Many people who follow federal budgets know about the magnificent “budget tree” in a parliamentary courtyard, which turns a glorious red in time for the May event. This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers posed by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Bennett, Professor of Music, Australian National University Richard P J Lambert/flickr, CC BY The future belongs to the analogue loyalists. Fuck digital. As a tsunami of CDs, DAT tapes and samplers swept the recording industry in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate professor, Music Industry, RMIT University This week American rapper Macklemore released a new track, Hind’s Hall, which has gained a lot of attention because of its explicitly political nature. The track is unapologetically pro-Palestine. It declares the artist’s ...
Explainer - The government from 2025 is mandating how state schools teach children to read. But what is structured literacy and how does it compare to other teaching methods? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danica Jenkins, Lecturer in European Studies, University of Sydney On a freezing spring night in March, Georgia’s national soccer team beat Greece in a nail-biter penalty shootout to qualify for the Euro 2024 championships. The atmosphere on the streets of the capital ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam G. Arian, Lecturer (Accounting & Finance), Australian Catholic University Loic Manegarium/Pexels Imagine every ton of carbon dioxide a company emits is slowly inflating its costs — not just in terms of potential fines or fees but in the capital it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Somwrita Sarkar, Senior Lecturer in Design and Computation, University of Sydney The “latte line” is the infamous, invisible boundary that divides Sydney between the more affluent north-east and the south-west. Historically, people north of the line enjoy better access to jobs and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dowdy, Principal Research Scientist in Extreme Weather, The University of Melbourne Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock In media articles about unprecedented flooding, you’ll often come across the statement that for every 1°C of warming, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This ...
RNZ Pacific Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison, Fiji media are reporting. Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared in the High Court in Suva today for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police ...
Acting Chief Human Rights Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo says, “Addressing violence and abuse remains New Zealand’s most significant human rights issue affecting women. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Symons, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, Macquarie University Michael Schiffer / Unsplash Life has transformed our world over billions of years, turning a dead rock into the lush, fertile planet we know today. But human activity is currently transforming Earth ...
One woman’s quest to watch Challengers without ruining her body clock. Every Saturday morning, I wake up with a screaming demon inside my head urging me to “Do. Something. This. Weekend.” I run through the possibilities in my head in a defensive mental crouch, reminiscent of that one time I ...
Tim Watkin has always seemed a staunch Labour supporter. He's taken a strong moral stand against the gagging order here: https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/gagging-order-is-double-dumb-disrespecting-public-sacrifice-amp-damaging-brand-ardern
"Sent to Beehive staff from the Prime Ministers Office, it told ministers not to give interviews about the thousands of pages of official papers, minutes and advice proactively released Friday afternoon. The documents dealt with the government’s response to the virus and the email basically told the government team they’ve been managing so well and have so much pubic support, they didn’t need to answer questions about what was in the papers."
"There's no real need to defend. Because the public have confidence in what has been achieved and what the Govt is doing," the email said. "Instead we can dismiss”.
"Now it’s run of the mill to suggest certain lines for ministers to run, as the email did. But to simply shut down all the cabinet ministers who are meant to be part of the team running the country during a crisis suggests people around the prime minister who are getting a little too comfortable with the extraordinary – but temporary – power currently invested in them."
"It’s dumb on a range of levels. Morally – or perhaps constitutionally – the New Zealand public has allowed this government at this time extraordinary powers and deserves at the very least in return full and frank information from cabinet. They deserve respect for the sacrifices made, not dismissal. To tell political staff to “dismiss” the questions of journalists working to keep that public informed is deeply cynical and defensive. It’s bad enough in the normal sweep of events; in these troubled times it’s shameful."
Well-reasoned, and I found nothing to dispute. But here's the thing: look at how he is directing readers (implicitly) to blame the PM's advisers. Guess who made the actual decision to issue the gag! I get that Tim is motivated to defend Labour's brand. Fair enough – but ain't it just a tad disingenuous to tiptoe around the PM like that?
What gagging order ?
Heres David Clark
Health Minister David Clark has rejected claims he and other Government ministers have been “gagged”, as he fronted today to announce a $160 million boost to Pharmac health spending.
“Clark rejected today an assertion he had been gagged – or that the memo was a sign of arrogance, as several political commentators have written. “Obviously I am here.”
He said he had not personally received the memo, but saw it after it became a story. He did not believe the Government was arrogant.
““I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have. This is the advice we have received. We have looked at that advice and then made decisions.”
Seems he heard about the gag the same way every one else did , suggest its was advice passed around the media advisors not a PM 'directive'
So the the Great Gag beatup falls flat on its face at the first hurdle . The health minister is happy to ask questions.Clearly its the pre budget talk fest so many Ministers will be available to the journos, pushing their portfolios but happy to talk .
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12330811
Get real. "Sent to Beehive staff from the Prime Ministers Office, it told ministers not to give interviews". What part of that don't you understand?
What part of …
I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have
....dont you understand . It was advice. And it didnt tell ministers anything , it was for media personal.
Your tone suggests you are doing a beatup of your own
"The email from Rob Carr, a senior ministerial adviser to the prime minister, was sent to the staff of Government ministers and to staff at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) who had worked on making public the documents. " Stuff
Rob might need to tell the media he's not all that after all.
So you're suggesting that Tim Watkin & Duncan Garner, etc, got it wrong? The PM's senior adviser does not actually speak for the PM? Still looks like wrong planet.
"The prime minister's office now says the email — which was provided to press gallery journalists hours after the Government publicly released hundreds of Cabinet papers — was a "clumsy instruction"."
I wonder if that opinion comes from a different staffer (anonymous). Obfuscation must be an exciting game for them. 🙄
Yes. Next!
Hard to believe Druncan could get something wrong, I know.
But hey, this leftist shares his view: http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2020/05/hubris-invites-nemesis.html
Now I know you will want to argue that his hubris invites nemesis thesis is so hi-falutin' that it'll sail clean over the heads of folks here, and perhaps even that words ending in is ought to be illegal…
As the Stuff story said , releases of Cabinet advice dont go with an offer of 'A Minister to speak on the record.'
What Ministers will speak about is a decision they have made.
All standard ministerial protocol.
The reef fish will do their normal actions based on their collective mind
When National do it, heralded as "disciplined", when Labour do it, slammed as "gagging order".
Omg yes. Simon has been on morning report more than any other National leader…
Are you suggesting that Ardern herself issued the email?
"An email from the Prime Minister's office, obtained by the Herald, directed ministers' press secretaries to issue only "brief written statements"
Said the Herald story
Yeah I know that. But the final paragraph of the primary comment seems to suggest the PM herself is somehow responsible. Rather than a clumsy staffer in the PMO.
Thats Dennis Franks style …. stretch the facts to fit his own preconceived notions
How did this happen?
LOL, really?
Amateurs .
The Prime Minister's office always speaks for the Prime Minister.
Clark was put up on the weekend because of the media blowback.
There was a discussion on that just now on the AM Show. Garner thought it had come from the PM & Trotter not. Starting to look like a staffer may have lost the plot & issued instructions without the PM's authorisation. If a Trump staffer did that, they'd get fired. Gone by lunchtime. Will be interesting to see how Ardern handles the insubordination.
If that's what it actually was. We await the facts still. The duke thinks the health minister is telling us the facts. Probably the only person in the entire country who would trust the health minister to do that…
Tinfoil hat. Take it off your head. Not everything is a government conspiracy orchestrated by that machiavellian schemer, Jacinda Ardern. I know the right are desperately flailing about trying to find a club to bludgeon her with because Bridges couldn't score a hit if you gave him a cannon and a satellite targeting system, but let's not go overboard.
Conspiracy? I didn't suggest any such thing! Nor am I a rightist. Try to get your head around what actually happened, huh? Did she instruct her ministers not to comment or not? The impression created by the email from her senior advisor makes us wonder if he does actually speak for her or not. We await clarification as to the source of the instruction.
We don't know. I don't know. You don't know. But your insinuation couldn't be any clearer. "Jacinda's gagging people! Police State! The fascists are on the march!" Let's all sit down, have a nice cup of tea, breathe, and wait. Getting all bent out of shape over things that likely aren't even true is a sure-fire road to a stomach ulcer. I wouldn't want you to get a stomach ulcer, Dennis.
You're overdramatising. My concern is around damage-mitigation. I'd rather she didn't get a reputation for hypocrisy. That does not concern you? Open, transparent governance, remember! That difference between preaching & practise easily becomes fatal. Voters get shifted by perceptions as much as reality!
Not a lot concerns me. I find being perpetually unconcerned about things is the best way to manage my mental health. (And puts me at low risk of developing a stomach ulcer.) But I understand where you're coming from in terms of not wanting JA to end up looking like a hypocrite. I guess we'll have to wait to discover the truth of the matter. I hope it wasn't an emotional junior staffer.
The only person who said 'open and transparent' was Clare Curran. And we all know what happened there.
Well, I see No Right Turn has a similar stance. Albeit, somewhat more forthright! 😇
Reef Fish !
NRT is mostly too silly for words anyway
" duke thinks the health minister is telling us the facts."
Who said that …this is of course classic Dennis Frank word manipulation
The health Minister was available for any questions , not gagged . Proof of the fantasy of your and others basic premise.
"yet , Here I am"
Thank you Duke. Did not notice that you had already articulated this earlier.
I'm suggesting that the email would have been authorised by the PM – before it was issued. Anyone who believes the contrary is naive. Does the duke really think Ardern would allow staffers to issue directives to ministers?? If so, wrong planet dude!
Nothing wrong with requiring message centralisation. Just good practise.
If the directive was to comms staff in Minister's offices then yes it would make sense to have come from comms staff in the PM's office (not the DPMC).
This is like one of those media stories that starts out like the worst thing has happened in the history of the world and further down the page it's more than slightly different. By your 3rd post it could be that a staffer in despatching the message has added the offending bit. Rather than the PM be hung drawn and quartered for the message that should happen to the staffer. And I sense, in the event of not despatching the despatcher, to Ardern herself.
True, but the gagging order framing came from Tim Watkin, remember (and others), so I was merely commenting on it as an emerging feature of our co-created reality.
If the PM did not issue or authorise it, the issue will likely become one of employment for the staffer. Remember that damage done to the govt's reputation in the eyes of voters is crucial in an election year. Minimisation is therefore crucial to the PM to increase the likelihood of re-election.
I bet she knows that, so will clarify who was responsible for creating the misapprehension (if she confirms it was that) or inform us that she was actually the source. If she fails to do so, it will be a sign that she is so confident of re-election that the damage done is no problem…
It is standard message control. Not a mistake. Not a firing offense. Red herring by Nats and credulous media.
Minimisation is crucial? So is maximisation. That's why it happens.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12330811
That must have been one clumsy directive to Ministers, but I’m sure you can fit it into your story 😉
Releasing documents on a Friday and managing your media message is hardly new, if not perfect democracy. This whole media outrage thing is a nonsense, a manufactured media hissy fit from a sidelined MSM that is resenting seeing a popular PM usurp their power.
The difference is when it happened under Key the MSM fell over itself to kiss the governments arse and hold the opposition to account in the hope some well paid sinecures and baubles would fall their way in PR and as advisors.
With a Labour government they have no such hopes so they cling to what privileges they can retain like shit to a blanket.
+100 the msm continue to display their irrelevance when it comes down to the crunch.
JA does it better, simpler and they can’t spin it which is their only job most days.
Time for a better public broadcasting presence, they've been a disgrace pimping nationals fwitted Trump themes.
Give us a break Dennis. there is no "gagging order" simply a normal and pragmatic approach in the face of increasing media misconduct. We are very fortunate that Jacinda has the ability and daring to go over the heads of our dysfunctional media. They are not happy about it but they have brought it upon themselves. What is upsetting the media about this the most is the amount of pushback from general public over their conduct. When they are through the denial/anger phase we just might start to see some improvement.
You get wrong Dennis. I've been reading his pieces for years and he is not a natural Labour man. But I give him credit for trying to be balanced in his views. But he is- along with all the others – wrong in their assumptions over that email.
It was never a blanket ban, and I'm suspicious of all the palaver it is creating. It has the feeling of engineered hysteria encouraged by a band of C/T type operators who are getting concerned by the national and international following Jacinda is receiving.
After years of subterfuge and the manipulation of populations into thinking their ideological opponents are the cause of all society's ills, along comes this bloody woman called Jacinda Ardern who is turning their hard fought battles for personal gain and supremacy upside down.
😮 Oh well, it sounds good.
Don't we all miss Malcolm Tucker.?
Agree. Watkin is a centrist, but certainly no partisan. Could be considered liberal or broadly socially democratic, but many of his stances are pragmatic. He is certainly a neutral journo and not enamoured of Labour. He usually follows the hot story in the news.
I’m not sure who the RNZ reporter that did the piece with National Finance Spokesperson Goldsmith on Morning Report just now is, but it was a really odd line of questioning.
Given that National would have had us in Level 2 at least a couple of weeks ago and given that almost everywhere else that has scaled back lockdown measures has had increased rates of infection, you would think that someone in the 4th estate would have the chops to ask the opposition how big an outbreak they’d be prepared to accept to get us to a lower level?
You forget the kiwi msm simple rule of DP logic:
IF labour/green/nzf 'hold to account' ELSE national 'Look the other way, follow script, supply soapbox'
Sweden apparently now will not admit to ICU anyone over 50 with co-morbidities, or just anyone over 80. This is not just aggressive triaging it is venturing into eugenics, of which Sweden has a dark history – https://www.pop.org/sweden-eugenics-world-war-ii/
I think this helps explain Swedish exceptionalism in the face of COVID-19. As a culture, they apparently have a long tradition of deliberately maltreating the weak.
I heard some where that just admitting a patient to ICU pushes the staff needed to care for them 5 fold from their previous ward. They are close to losing control.
However if I was over 80 I wouldnt want be sedated to go on a ventilator either. The death rate is extremely high for the elderly and you may be bed ridden anyway if you survive. Even people in their 30s cant walk across the room unaided until their lungs have fully recovered many weeks later. There is strong evidence that early on people were put on ventilators too soon as the first option.
Prognosis isn't the issue. It is the refusal to treat.
Prognosis is a key element of triage.
The decision isn't because of eugenics, it's because the machine that has a 3% chance of saving a life will probably be needed for someone who would have a 10% chance of surviving.
But it's because their hospitals are full they have to make this choice.
yes. Specifically their icu beds with venitlators.
Next step is to not admit some people to regular ward beds because none are available.
And the concomitant improvised storage of bodies as seen in USA.
Institutional eugenics then?
Always
Eugenics is about trying to improve people.
Triage is about trying to keep as many people alive as possible.
So, no.
Racism works differently institutionally than outright white supremacists. I don't see why the concept of eugenics can't be understood likewise. It's not that the Swedish govt are Nazis, it's that the political and social decisions being made may be de facto eugenics.
If a society sees disabled (or weak) people as lesser at a cultural level, how would this not affect decisions being made with the various parts of the system about health resource allocation.
Until I see reliable reporting on this issue in Sweden (triaging and the basis of that), I'm theorising. It may be that the people not being admitted to the ICU are still being prioritised with good medical care (i.e. it's an issue of appropriate care). Or it might be that the decision is these people are less likely to survive and we're running out of gear, so we won't treat them (the Italian situation). How society values disabled people generally affects all of that.
I mean NZ doesn't practice eugenics, yet we have entrenched institutional abuse and neglect of disabled people. It's not hard to see how that might play out if we have a major epidemic and the health system wasn't coping.
Yes, I think I see where you're coming from.
I suppose the tell would be in the comorbidities they exclude from the triage list. EG they include CF but exclude heart disease as deprioritisation criteria, even though patients at different stages of their condition might have equally poor prognoses. If we could argue one condition is viewed more commonly as a "disability" than the other.
But that's just the analyst in me speculating. If they're just using a standard vulnerable people list, I dunno how one would distinguish an institutional bias from a basic triage guideline.
That statement is either ignorant of history, or whitewashing, or just disphobic and I'm not sure which.
And anyone who has even had a passing look at the idea, knows it operates mainly in medical circles and is opportunistic to the core.
Fair call, it was a clumsy description poorly aimed at the idea that they were trying to create a society filled with what they saw as "better" people, be it based upon ethnicity or an undesirable tendency to "choose" poverty (or both, or whatever their boggle was).
They weren't about education and learning to play musical instruments, no.
eu•gen•ics yoo͞-jĕn′ĭks
►
The study or practice of attempting to improve the human gene pool by encouraging the reproduction of people considered to have desirable traits and discouraging or preventing the reproduction of people considered to have undesirable traits.
I'm not gonna take that bait. Too easy.
Isn't it just.
Words eh!
And another country with a past love of eugenics is.. New Zealand. You can see why disability advocates are keeping a very close eye on where the ideas of the right are veering.
In Aotearoa, the more 'eugenicesque' policies seem to be coming from the left e.g. abortion reform, euthanasia legalisation.
Seemore Coq's a leftist?
A lot of the support round these parts I would describe as left.
Similarly a lot of opposition to both comes from the socially conservative.
Eugenicists wanted to 'conserve' the 'purity' of their population.
Interesting motivations to untangle but I'm not hearing that about either abortion or euthanasia, are you?
" Interesting motivations to untangle but I'm not hearing that about either abortion or euthanasia, are you? "
While conserving the purity of the population doesn't come up in discussions, especially in mixed company, reforms of either make picking and choosing easier.
Although the point of my reply was the 'left' seem keener than the 'right' for these things.
Abortion reform is just allowing women to access abortions without having to go through hoops. In any case, the amount of abortions in NZ is trending downward long term, thanks to the avalibility of birth control measures.
Ironically it is easier for men to get a vasectomy, which can be done in the primary health sector for under $400 and takes 15min. I dont see anyone calling that 'eugenics'.
Yeah. nah Sacha, the left are as bad as the right in embracing eugenics in this country. For starters a wee look at first labour government and the support for programs like the plunket and the treatment of mental health. Or the earlier Liberal government treatment of returning war veterans. Nor the tacit agreement of both main parties throughout the twentieth century to sterilize disabled women.
And I dear say you'd struggle to find any historian back you up. Google is not going to be your friend either – except for a few loony marxist sites.
Those are good examples, thank you – especially the last one.
Can you please link to where you read this Sanctuary? I'm not finding much via google.
I’m clearly not following this. Your link directs to an article on sterilisation written 23 years ago. How is this relevant to admitting sick & elderly to ICU or not due to the COVID-19 pandemic [and where is your link for that?]?
When John Campbell on breakfast news is criticising the government for the email directive to ministers not to talk to the press, then its time for the government to take note. Labour have done a great job of managing the shutdown, but that goodwill can quickly disappear if they take the NZ public for granted.
They may be no different to other parties that have been in charge of the country, but Jacinda did say they would govern differently & be open & transparent. So Labour will be scrambling to play down the email directive. It must have been directed by Jacinda.
Any governments way of talking about what they have released (and sometimes releasing it piecemeal to setup a specific narrative) is also known as spin. In this case they seem to be relying on the outcome for New Zealand speaking for itself. There can't have been much of substance to talk about in this release.
Also the media will quickly tire of the positive narrative. That one doesn't sell the news.
There isnt any gagging according to David Clark, you know the Heath Minister
He said he had not personally received the memo, but saw it after it became a story.
““I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have. "
You reckon? I think you’ve underestimated the churn of the news cycle in these times.
The PM directed her staff to direct Ministers’ staff to direct the Ministers.
It would have been more direct if she’d just Tweeted them directly herself. And she has a degree in comms!? Pffff ….
How did this happen?
LOL, really?
Amateurs .
Just who are the amateurs here lilman.
nz 310 cases pm, 4 deaths pm
USA cases 4100 pm, deaths 243 pm (80,000 death)
uk cases 3200 per m deaths 469 per m (30,000 deaths
lol, you really are going to defend that excrement that was delivered on Friday's document drop?
Open and Honest, that's what the PM said and what has been shown to be the actual truth. Never cling to dead corpses, they eventually sink.
Apparently the traditional Friday hide&seek doesn't come organised by subject and with a table of contents for each. So a definite increase in openness and honesty in that regard.
Just a small point if we had the same death rate as US we would have nearly a 1000 deaths!!
Did I said I was defending — your words and interpretation.
Who do you think have handled the crisis better Trump or Ardern?
What is the point of comparing two completely different countries in this way ?
To show up the difference in response.
And if we had New York City's death rate we would be at about 11,000 deaths.
The American system of governance is totally different to NZ, to compare is like comparing touch rugby to all black test matches.
If you argue they are the same, you simply are an ideologue, who cares what the USA does, our response is ours to measure and to compare it to others is simply spin.
Own what you do and say, don't look to justify by comparison.
'The American system of governance is totally different to NZ,
Yes that is sort of the point!!!
dv was contrasting, not comparing.
Indeed Thank you Ivino!!
Whats America got to do with us, give me one reason to compare or contrast NZ to the USA?
This is about us as a nation, we run our own ship. Good or bad it's our reaction that needs to be critiqued.
Don't forget it's our responsibility to be held accountable by ourselves not political ideologues or party officials.
It's easier to judge a yacht crew against another yacht crew than just by themselves – you see their decisions, and the different decisions made by other crews at the same time, and what the results were. That helps establish how fair criticism is.
Same with judging the covid response against other countries.
Sure, a perfect result would have no community cases and probably zero deaths. There are things to improve – e.g. testing and contact tracing. But to get an idea of the govt's overall performance, we need to judge them against how other governments reacted, and what their results were.
Yes, we were lucky in many ways. But it's not all luck (otherwise there would be no point in criticising the government at all, as no action wouild change anything).
The govt went into lockdown as soon as it was being transmitted in the community. Comms have been excellent, and the leadership is evident by the nation largely pulling in the same direction.
Many other nations have failed dismally, in a variety of ways, and their mortality rate is evident.
Not perfect. But pretty good, overall.
Sorry, but 21 people died because of inaction, other countries sorted it, look at the debacle of the measle epidemic and they now say trust us, no way.
"21 people died because of inaction"
Even assuming every single one of those people caught it in NZ rather than overseas and that the comment is fair by every other impartial measure (rather than expecting perfect judgement during a rapidly evolving situation), that's well near the far end of the queue to hell for pollies whose decisions killed their citizens.
Not just for covid, or internationally – I suspect Roger Douglas would be on the hook for more than 21 dead, for example.
"lol" this bot is stuck in a loop.
You already said that lilspam.
Gabby, you out of your PJs yet?
Why both liberal and conservative Americans want a low-carbon fuel America – but for different reasons:
https://www.salon.com/2020/05/10/both-conservatives-and-liberals-want-a-green-energy-future-but-for-different-reasons_partner/
This is a set of large surveys that are broken down really well. It's a hopeful sign of collective American intelligence.
Hopefully that base level of agreement is acted upon.
Good find. The conclusion aligns with my broad thesis that in general we should assume that both the conservative and progressive sectors of society want similar outcomes, but weight differing priorities on how to get there. Understanding your 'opponents' value drivers is key to negotiating strategies you can both agree on:
It's plain as day that the media want National back in power so certain personalities can get those sweet sweet tax cuts.
While state house tenants get the boot, and supermarket workers get a 10 year wage freeze
Millsy,
"Plain as day"? What's your evidence? In fact what is your evidence for any of your three assertions? They are just your prejudices.
To me it is "plain as day" that National will not be offering a generalised tax cut. I also presume you specifically mean the 33% rate, which I imagine you think is the only rate of concern to your "certain personalities."
Wayne, it’s as ‘plain as day’ that the Natz cure for the pandemic is – tax cuts, more roads and getting tough on gangs, while their cure for the economic woes is – wash your hands and keep your distance.
Put another way, the Natz have no fucking clue!
TV , Natz also want a regulation bonfire!!!
On the recovery plan, I have no doubt that National would do a better job than Labour. My evidence is the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake, though I don't imagine you would agree on that.
The PM has shown herself to be brilliant during the covid emergency, just as she has done in the other emergencies faced by this government. However, the overall management of the economy has been nothing to write home about, with a few well publicised failures, including Kiwibuild, and the transport programmes.
The government will need to show a new found ability to deal with the recovery to change that. Maybe they will. The budget being the first test.
'My evidence is the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake, though I don't imagine you would agree on that'
But Wayne the two big superstars that 'guided' us through those events are long gone and…knighted.
How deep do you think Nationals talent pool is.
Simon Bridges is supposedly their best!
Agree.
GFC ?
labour in Australia did a better job…national prolonged it until 2015 and were relying on the migration surge
Christchurch Earthquakes ? They made sure on both CERR and CERA acts that judicial reviews or appeals were severely limited . Not to save lives as that was long after the events and plenty of time to carefully consider the legislation wording.
Really.
It took an earthquake stimulus, a 20% increase in population, a lot of short term overly extractive industry, and a lot of book cooking, to give the illusion of economic competency.
By the right wings favourite measure, economic growth, the effect of National was otherwise negative.
Even after only two years this Government was doing better, by almost all measures than National did, in nine years.
There was a degree of competence in some previous National Governments, though mostly manifested in making asset strippers, financiers and speculators richer. Admittedly also a feature of at least one, Labour Government.
Don’t see any in the current crop. Their main capability seems to be in barking at passing cars.
Which transport programmes?
Transmission Gully?
Planes and cruise ships freighting millions of tourists.
Silence noted.
National did such a sterling job with the Christchurch earthquakes, Gerry Brownlee has a park bench dedicated to him. The plaque on it is somewhat unflattering, but not everyone has their own park bench. I'm sure Gerry's chuffed.
Other people have said it but I'll contribute my mite:
Thanks to Michael Cullen, the Natz went into the GFC with a full piggy bank, which they proceeded to squander on tax cits to their rich mates.
Ask anyone in ChCh how the Natz handed the earthquake rebuild!
I repeat, the Natz have no fucking clue.
I'm trying to get my head around your rationale of National doing a better job in post Covid times than Labour on the evidence of the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake situations.
Did National do better than Labour in getting things going after GFC and the earthquakes? They should have, since they were in government.
Were they experienced in 'post catastrophe' mode or did they just learn on the job? And do it totally brilliantly? And because of how they did (the they from back then) no-one else would be as good as them in 2020, 2021 no-one else can do it as well?
There are some who think that the National Government of the day deserve a rating of 12 out of 10 for the way they handled the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake situations. They think the chance of the coalition Government deserving as high as 2 out of 10 for handling post Covid things is impossible.
Just how many of the GFC and Christchurch earthquake Ministers from National do you expect to be in Parliament after September this year?
As someone living in Christchurch then and now, National started well, but the follow-up overpromised and underdelivered.
Oh come on. You and I both know that National will impost a raft of huge austerity measures along with a bonfire of regulations if/when they get in. There will be a huge wall of red in to deal with, and as always, your party will send the bill to the poor, sick and retirees, just like Ruth Richardson did back in 1991.
National have in 30 short years, gone from (at best) acceptance that the state (even if has been devolved to community level) needs to do thing, to a whole generation of National MP's and members dedicated to Somalian levels of state sector involvement and regulatory oversight.
Bill English who people have forgotten could and would have easily have been PM during this time, makes his hatred of anything government run well known, even at community level. He even said that water shouldnt be run by councils.
If National were in power we will be at the mercy of the profit run private sector, the middle class prejudices of the church and charity sector and the nepotism of the iwi sector when it comes to accessing social services.
Am sure gutting what remains of employment law will be near the top of the list.
It this simple, 5 in my son's flat, 4 of them have lost their job, gone, not coming back.
3 of them got a months wages, that's it.
What future taxes? they will be on the job seeker or dole, expensive to the Govt, not productive.
Dunno if you heard, but there's a,worldwide pandemic, the whole world is in some kind of economic meltdown.
Lol this guy's a bit like our Bob Jones, but a reasonable and contributing member of society:
Aussie Nobel laureate immunologist Peter Doherty. He also thinks a vaccine might be mass-distributed in September, giving a rundown of where a number of projects are at. Which would make the herd immunity crowd close to looking like a bunch of Kodos-es.
Let us know when you or those scientists and economists have any data from the future.
No one has , thats why we have widely varying predictions, 95% of little value.
But from your own logic 5% of them are. The trick is in telling which ones. 🙂
Well, I thought a bit of relative optimism from someone at the top of the specific field was interesting and something other than chronically depressing.
And the rest of the interview has some good bits. Such a shame I just reached the paywall read limit.
Paywall ? ..just turn off javascript mostly works for lots of sites, except NZH here
"
There is also the prophylactic way ,where you can pop a pill ( which is the cheapest option, no need for injections). That is what they did for HIV as they have no vaccine, but isnt spread by sneezes either.
thanks for javascript tip. I keep forgetting.
The thing that really gets me about the "elimination if futile" crowd is that buying time is better than just outright surrender. The longer we keep it out, if we can, gives us time to do things better. Things that will save lives when we finally feel the full force of covid.
At worst, delaying it also means that the people whose lives are eventually taken still had weeks or months or years alive that they wouldn't have had if we'd followed the "herd immunity" plan.
Herd immunity is a myth for lots of reasons, I see that some people think it gives them personal immunity, when its a population thats protected from widespread infections. Local clusters will still occur, started in places like schools, workplaces, extended family, social gatherings , funerals etc.
In other words still leaves those 65% who dont have anti bodies ( suggested for Sars-CoV-2, maybe different) still as exposed.
New York may be at 12-15% level of population with anti bodies ( who really knows) , do they want to wait till 35% , does any country ?
New York doesnt really have any good choices left , neither does Sweden, while Greece with a similar population and the opposite Covid response does.
I mean, it's not really wrong.
It's just that getting it without a vaccine means a large number of dead people, regardless of the low percentage of deaths. Percentages always sound lower than the number of coffins they represent.
My parents remember well how "herd immunity" for Polio, worked.
A ridgy-didge Queenslander.
( alt link http://archive.li/nWUHm )
cheers for the alt link
Now that was fantastic Joe
I like the cut of that man's jib
Sharon Zoellner the ANZ chief economist is currently on Nine to Noon. Any guesses how long it takes her to bring up her pet subject of increasing the super age?
Bankers always want to privatise super.
After all it is a huge cash cow for them.
In reality, like most privatisations, not so good for the people relying on it for retirement.
I am sick of the bleating from the opposition. Unfortunately there is going to be a lot more bleating after 4 pm today.
From day one the dilemma Covid -19 posed was saving lives or saving the economy. This is so hard to do as social distancing is what saves lives and many businesses cannot social distance.
There is no more normal, people will need to adapt and tough decisions will need to be made.
It was never really the question.
The economy was going to be in recession, regardless. Despite some delusional claims.
In fact, evidence from past pandemics, and from elsewhere in this one, shows that dealing quickly and effectively with the disease, has better economic outcomes also.
The USA, s tardiness and lack of co-ordination is costing them dearly in lives and the coming recession.
This may be a good time to actually start a business.
The risk of losing capital may turn out quite low.
Rent holidays,tax breaks and subsidies in a brave new world of free…enterprise.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300009163/coronavirus-100k-spent-on-new-business-due-to-open-during-lockdown
Well well..well
NZ Herald owner NZME has today sought urgent Government help to allow it to buy rival publisher Stuff within three weeks, saying it is the best owner to save newspapers and jobs.
It has filed an urgent Commerce Commission application today for the purchase – for $1 – and wants to have the transaction complete by May 31.
In my view , let Stuff sink . The whole model of a major media octopus is so far out of date …support the smaller operators who are more agile and connected to their readers …ODT, Spinoff, Newsroom etc.
Why pay NZH for things they just syndicate from RNZ, Newsroom, Ny Times , The Conversation when I can go to those places and many others instead of wading through the total dross of NZH, the worst paper in Australasia
NZ Herald owner NZME has today sought urgent Government help to allow it to buy rival publisher Stuff within three weeks,'…or else!
Elections are looming …wonder what Simon says…pro or con.
[Changed font back to normal – Incognito]
National should pay for their own propaganda.
Out of allowed election funding.
NZME getting ahead of themselves…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/416331/nzme-makes-offer-to-buy-rival-stuff-for-1
Classic ambush tactics. The longer term media industry package being discussed looks like it may not be to their liking. So when we have a really busy government they go "me me me now now now". Funny how the RW seems to have given up funding this media.
That will be awesome, then our 'local' papers will be even more reflective of our community./sarc
Has anyone provided evidence that the memo went to Ministers directly rather than their offices, especially their comms managers? That's who controls messaging, not the Minister.
Seems like a convenient blurring for an opposition to make and media to uncritically regurgitate.
From the Tim Watkin article that Denis posted at (1) above:
A senior journalist and political show producer should know the distinction by now. What a prize dunce.
Does seem an odd message and then leaked to Media. (Tova???) Wonder if we ever know who was responsible for it. Not a Dirty Trick was it???
Someone from the right of Labour or Winston First, I'm guessing.
From memory over many years Friday “dumps of information” have been common. Gives the media something to do over the weekend seeing they are so concerned about their employment prospects these days. The general public don’t care which day information is released.
National must take first prize for hypocrisy complaining about this practice.
They are so in a frenzy at the appreciation and respect so many have for Jacinda they are beside themselves like toddlers having a tantrum.
They used to happen on the Friday before a holiday or at the beginning of a recess period. Parliament is sitting tomorrow so apart from this occurring on a Friday it does not apply.
What the media hate a document dump that isnt given to them for exclusives first
This one went online to EVERYONE.
This would have provided in normal times a month worth of 'reveals', this why they really are kicking
Apart from this one memo , which stuff doesn't even seem to reproduce in full just "interpreted", was there nothing else of interest in those documents? That's it? Just that? Nothing else of substance the media needed to bring to our attention?
If so then it looks like the govt has been pretty transparent on the way through if we are only getting this bit of "gotcha". And then the media wonders why we are not impressed with them or their sense of proportion.
BTW I don't remember similar data dumps about the Canty earthquake response.
Wonderful moving tributes to our PM on Facebook. It was heartening to see not everyone is bitter and twisted as the opposition and many media types.
I have been impressed with the two women journalists who front the 1pm press conference. They are not like the shrieking ones in the theatrette. The PM also is very much in charge, which is how it should be. If she wasn’t for sure they would be then saying she wasn’t up to the job.
I see Boris used the PM's analogy of climbing down the mountain. Nice to see that happen.
I'm not sure if this is what either Johnson or Ardern intended by the metaphor, but any climber will tell you getting down off the damned mountain is by far the riskiest part.
That is apparently what she intended, yes.
Those right wingers have no ability to innovate do they? Nice to see that you recognise they live in an arid desert where they have no new ideas so they are forced to grab for the communal ideas originated by others? Boris trying to get some reflected glow off Jacinda is he? Going for the "halo" effect?
Not only the mountain analogy but the Covid-19 Levels (5 not 4) appear to have been hijacked as well. Perhaps Boris would like to borrow our PM as well.
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".
I have wondered if we could rent out Jacinda & Ash – they should get top $.
On the oither hand we might need a fire sale to get some income off Simon Bridges
To be fair, we copied the alert levels from Singapore. I don't think anybody minds.
He already borrowed "stay faithful to your bubble" (without irony I may add) & the 5 levels reminds me of Spinal Tap ("normal levels go to 4, but ours go to 5!, one extra, coz we better.". Johnson is getting so much shit because no one quite understands wtf he's on about, "stay alert!" instead of "stay at home".
Depression,economics,banking & Hitler..
'When Hitler came to power, Germany was hopelessly broke. The Treaty of Versailles had imposed crushing reparations on the German people, demanding that Germans repay every nation’s costs of the war. These costs totaled three times the value of all the property in Germany.
Private currency speculators caused the German mark to plummet, precipitating one of the worst runaway inflations in modern times. A wheelbarrow full of 100 billion-mark banknotes could not buy a loaf of bread. The national treasury was empty. Countless homes and farms were lost to speculators and to private (Jewish controlled) banks. Germans lived in hovels. They were starving.
Nothing like this had ever happened before — the total destruction of the national currency, plus the wiping out of people’s savings and businesses. On top of this came a global depression. Germany had no choice but to succumb to debt slavery under international (mainly Jewish) bankers until 1933, when the National Socialists came to power. At that point the German government thwarted the international banking cartels by issuing its own money. World Jewry responded by declaring a global boycott against Germany.
Hitler began a national credit program by devising a plan of public works that included flood control, repair of public buildings and private residences, and construction of new roads, bridges, canals, and port facilities. All these were paid for with money that no longer came from the private international bankers.
The projected cost of these various programs was fixed at one billion units of the national currency. To pay for this, the German government (not the international bankers) issued bills of exchange, called Labor Treasury Certificates. In this way the National Socialists put millions of people to work, and paid them with Treasury Certificates.
Under the National Socialists, Germany’s money wasn’t backed by gold (which was owned by the international bankers). It was essentially a receipt for labor and materials delivered to the government. Hitler said, “For every mark issued, we required the equivalent of a mark’s worth of work done, or goods produced.” The government paid workers in Certificates. Workers spent those Certificates on other goods and services, thus creating more jobs for more people. In this way the German people climbed out of the crushing debt imposed on them by the international bankers.
Within two years, the unemployment problem had been solved, and Germany was back on its feet. It had a solid, stable currency, with no debt, and no inflation, at a time when millions of people in the United States and other Western countries (controlled by international bankers) were still out of work. Within five years, Germany went from the poorest nation in Europe to the richest.-R.W.Pennington
Did you really need to go there with the anti-semitism. Cmon.
The NSDAP government (they never called themselves "Nazi's") also started one of the world's first privatisation programs, to pay for re-armament.
And who is or was this R.W.Pennington you've quoted?
The person who wrote the piece.
If you consider it inaccurate ,you should say why as Duker does regarding reparations.
Hard to dispute the facts of depression,inflation and unemployment at that time and the reality that the Germany economy became the strongest in Europe within a few years.
There is nothing anti-Semitic about reality.
[See. I asked you a pretty straightforward question and you dodged because (it seems) you’re happy to promote anti semitic tosh. The historical take on the German economy may be right enough, but to use that as leverage to promote bile is fucked in the head. And since you wanted to keep the identity of the person you quoted shrouded, and are wholly backing what they wrote, I can only assume you’re an anti-semitic fuck head too. I hope you enjoyed your time having access to this site….bye bye.]
There's a lot of antisemitism in that "nationalvanguard" article written by Rosemary Pennington 19 Aug 2015 though. So much that I won't even link to it – people can google that shit. But you'll hopefully end up on a watch list that gets cross-referenced with firearms license holders.
It even appears to be largely plagiarised, such as the final paragraph. Although the "(controlled by international bankers)" was inserted, it comes from a book published five years previously. Many other parts of the quoted work stipulate just who the author thinks owned the banks, of course.
Now I have to delete my browser history for today.
The conditions of depression at the time are relevant to todays situation.
Whether you are a fan of the present financial system or not,no one can deny the reality of money expansion,interest bearing debt and its implications on society.
Your reply is not even related to what was posted.You will always find what you are looking for if you approach a topic with extreme prejudice.
You will end up on the watchlist now too,given you visited the site.
Yeah I will. But I don't think I'll raise too many other flags.
relevance? I was replying to your last line.
QFT.
But also, your source is a plagiarist. The economic bullshit you copypasted I addressed elsewhere. Comment 17.3.1.1 was about the WS~adjacent plagiarist you used as an unlinked source.
My last line is accurate.
In case you are not aware, there was instability in Europe after and even prior to the Wall St Crash and the onset of the Great Depression.
France had occupied parts of Germany to enforce compensation and unemployment was rising.
The geo politics of post war Europe were extremely volatile with the new Communist Russia looking to consolidate its power as well as ongoing Franco/German tensions.
Hitlers rise to power was a direct result of the German ECONOMY being in ruins.
Who/what caused the crash,the Great Depression?
Your last line about me being on the watchlist now, too? Yeah, thanks for that. But I suspect you read sites like that much more than I do.
What caused the Great Depression? Capitalism. Marx explained its faults without resorting to antisemitism, a feat your plagiarist couldn't manage.
Marx!.Isn't he a Commie?Is he reliable?How do we know what sources to trust?
I guess your 'plagiarist' managed to get published.
Amazing that you believe in having watchlists for political dissent.Can't think of much that is more anti freedom,anti democracy than that.
I think you read way too many propaganda sites.
you've lost the plot.
He may or may not have lost the plot, but he's gone McFlock. I was away for most of today and have only just come back to this sub-thread. Seems you had a joyous afternoon reading up on scum.
helluva rabbit hole, that one.
Is this source more palatable.?
https://positivemoney.org/2016/01/qe-for-people-in-germany-moving-beyond-weimar-a-history-of-qe-for-people-part-6/
Well, it's light on antisemitism and actually attributes other people's work, so yes it is "more palatable".
It's still complete bollocks. Without occupying it's neighbours, the Reich's balance of payments and currency issues would have taken it back to depression. It's like saying they maxed out their credit card but it was a brilliant plan because they robbed a bank to make the payments just before the bailiffs came around.
Hmmm who is more credible ..McFlock or Henry Liu?
Hey, I can pay for all sorts of shit with gold stolen from other people. That doesn't make me a good financial manager.
You manage to continually miss the point.
As an establishment droogue who believes in the American Dream, you equate any mention of Hitler with anti Semitism.
The certificates as fiat currency that the Nazis issued are a relevant comparison with what sovereign govts do when they create 'money and spend it back into the local economy.
The only one who has 'lost the plot' is you, because you seem to consider any constructive critique of German economic policy in the 30's as deserving one being put on a fucking …watchlist!
The primary public works revolved around preparing for war, and the stolen resources kept the economy from going full Weimar.
Every time Germany took over a country, that area's gold reserves in international holdings were transferred to the Nazi economy, and whatever they could physically get their hands on, they stole. Starting with Austria. Continued with the assistance of the Bank of international settlement.
problems when the very first part is incorrect…I always assume the rests of it mostly nonsense
" Treaty of Versailles had imposed crushing reparations on the German people, demanding that Germans repay every nation’s costs of the war."
They werent crushing, they were made to look that way for political reasons, and the end result was very little . The context for France was the 1871 war when Prussian troops remained in occupation till the reparations were paid in full.
Every nationals costs of the war, just isnt true Britain got nothing. And for France and Belgium the costs were for their own reconstruction as the war in that front was mostly fought on their territory, Germany had barely a scratch. The costs in lives and munitions wasnt factored in nor was destruction in eastern, Italian front etc.
As Germany paid very little , as designed, the reconstruction costs were carried by France and Belgium anyway, who also had to maintain a large standing army and construct major defensive fortifications ( Maginot line).
The continuing story of poor old Germany and the nasty Versailles treaty is just the standard german revisionism that they werent responsible for the war.
Since Germany didnt pay a high price they were at it again 20 yrs later, and real answer to divide the country was taken. After the Armistice in 1918 Germany should have been divided North from South. The Southern Bavarian-Austrian state along with the neighbouring german kingdoms would have catholic, linguistic conservative traditions. While the Northern state would have been protestant, liberal/socialist traditions. A NSDP run Greater Bavaria would have been no threat to France or Poland
'In short, during the 1920s a financial merry-go-round was in operation. US bankers lent money to Germany. The German government used that money to pay reparations to Britain and France. The British and French used that money to repay their war loans to the US bankers. The US banks made huge profits, and lent even more money to Germany. Everything was going well, until the bubble burst.
Hitler didn't only cancel reparations payments. He also defaulted on Germany's debts to US (and, to a lesser extent, British) banks. After the Second World War, the new democratic German government accepted responsibility for the roughly 16 billion marks of debt still owed to foreign banks (plus additional debts incurred after 1945) – although in 1953 it was agreed by Germany's creditors to halve the total amount to be repaid, and furthermore the full sum would not become due until after German reunification.
When Germany did reunify in 1990, the German government thus recommenced making payments. The last one, €70 million, was paid in 2010 and thus cleared Germany's outstanding debt from the war.
However, these payments were not reparations; they didn't go to the victims of the war. They went to the banks which had lent money to Weimar Germany in the 1920s. Newspaper reports which refer to the payments made since 1931 as 'reparations' are using the term inaccurately.'-Quora…
Did the gold fillings help in the end, at all?
[Maybe you would like to join Blazer so that you can cheer them up with your ‘witty’ one-liners? – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 5:51 PM.
Mark Richardson and Duncan Garner admit they don't have much purpose.
Seven to eight weeks worrying? Tens of thousands of NZ families and hundreds of thousands of people live this reality every single day of every single week of every single year. Permanently, in fact.
How nice of Mark Richardson to finally recognise how detrimental to life low-level anxiety can be for the vulnerable and under-privileged.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/05/don-t-have-much-purpose-duncan-garner-and-mark-richardson-s-emotional-revelations-on-mental-health-struggles.html
The burden of having all that wealth and power must weigh heavily on Richardson and Garner.
What we really need in these trying times of crisis, especially if you've just been made redundant, is to hear windbag television personalities crapping on about their anxiety. Those poor dabs. I don't know how they cope.
Ship B Golgafrinchans epiphanise.
Can someone please explain what this is about? A short version of the history and state of play would be good.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300009341/stuff-owner-says-talks-with-nzme-terminated-last-week
Sounds very conflicted. Perhaps the news media could investigate themselves to see if anyone is telling porkies?
Ahhh ..heres the answer
"NZME shares rose 17 per cent to 25 cents on the NZX in the wake of NZME's announcement, [but later] despite Nine's statement that talks had been terminated."
Interesting – hope the stock exchange is watching the trades.
BTW do you know if the stock exchange has required companies to file notifications of the wage subsidies they have applied for/received plus (if I had my say) an updated table of wage & salary distribution with $ values so we can see how much to trim those top wages.
There appear to be several lines of thinking nationally on when to move from level 3. The majority of comments from readers on Stuff relating to epidemiologist Michael Baker are rather vitriolic and dismissive, and suggest conspiracies of various degrees. I wonder if those correspondents were offered the option to sign a waiver whereby they would not request any intervention/treatment in the event of their catching the virus, they would still be so strident in their views.
No. No, they wouldn't. But life is hard when you can't get your tips frosted, get rolling drunk with your homies, or go to the mall with Stephanie and Monique.
Great interview, but sad to think that the centrists in the UK Labour party ( like in all "left" parties in the western world) would rather live under a right wing party than give a real progressive like Corbyn a chance…disgusting really, although I guess it has exposed how devoid of a moral or ethical centre the Liberal so called 'left' are.
Jeremy Corbyn in conversation with Dr Bob Gill about NHS privatisation and COVID-19 pandemic
It wasn't the centrists in Labour that did Corbyn in, it was the voters in the 2019 election. They had a clear choice and they voted Boris.
FIFY
Do you believe that most voters were aware of and understood all of the skullduggery and undermining that went on from within Corbyn's party? And that if they did the result would've been the same?
"Peters’ support for Morrison’s call has bewildered Beijing. Canberra’s shadowing of Washington’s diplomatic sallies is expected by the Chinese. They don’t like it (and have made their displeasure very plain) but they are not surprised by it. Peters’ behaviour, on the other hand, has left them perplexed. Is he acting with the full knowledge and blessing of his Prime Minister? If so, then Jacinda Ardern is deliberating putting at risk the mutually respectful and highly beneficial relationship that has evolved between Beijing and Wellington over the course of nearly half a century. If not, then what the hell is going on inside the New Zealand Government?"
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/104938/chris-trotter-muses-whether-covid-19-crisis-ushering-major-shift-new-zealand-foreign
Winston running his own foreign policy?
I'm confident Beijing will be very au fait with Winstons political posturing and history and will not be concerned about it.
"Winston running his own foreign policy?"
Coalition agreement …says inter alia NZ First can have their own public position that is different for the Governments ( which would be labour)
the election is closer than you think..4 months
Love this guy – Chris Smalls now organising more workers.
It's just occurred to me with all these White House aides getting the 'rona – we might see an Acting President Pelosi after all!
There's no mechanism for temporary fill-ins for prez and veep to be chosen on the fly, it's specified by statute. So if the Kumquat Pol Pot catches it and becomes incapacitated, and passes the preznitsy on to
the over-boiled cauliflowerPence by the 25th Amendment, then Pence is in turn incapacitated, it has to go to the Speaker of the House Pelosi.It's a lovely thought, innit?
One of my happier Monday afternoon fantasies.
Cooperation works.
Forty years ago, the world celebrated the vanquishing of a formidable foe, smallpox, which had maimed and killed millions for centuries. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been eradicated.
That milestone, reached while the Cold War still raged, is an example of what the public health world can achieve when it works together — and is particularly resonant in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The campaign against smallpox took 21 years and required not just vaccinations but tracking and isolating new cases.
“We learned a lot of lessons in smallpox, but one of them is the absolute necessity of coalitions,” William “Bill” Foege, one of the architects of the smallpox eradication program, told STAT.
[…]
Though there is currently no vaccine to prevent Covid-19 infection, the surveillance and containment approach, as it is called, forms the basis of the recommended strategy to contain the new disease. Test to find cases. Identify everyone they’ve been in contact with. Isolate the sick and quarantine the contacts while they might be incubating the disease.
“You hear with coronavirus about contact tracing and how difficult that is. That’s what we were doing with smallpox,” Foege said, noting back then the work was done without computers or cellphones.
In May of 1974, in a single state in India, 1,500 smallpox cases were being identified every day. “And every one of those cases involved a new investigation. So 1,500 investigations a day,” Foege said. “I’m surprised now, with all of our communications and things, that people think tracing Covid-19 is too difficult.”
Within a year of using this containment approach, transmission in the state, Bihar, stopped, Foege said.
Foege, who is a legend in global health circles, called the idea of defunding the WHO “illogical.” He warned the United States risks isolation on the global health stage if it pursues this approach.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/08/what-the-world-learned-in-eradicating-smallpox-unity-mattered/
Heh. Marmalardo gives a graduation address …
https://twitter.com/nbcsnl/status/1259326250176385036
Listening to the PM's press conference, hearing her repeating "kiwis will be spaced out" and "we will all be spaced out" in the plan for level two social situations, took me way back. Half a century ago, I was frequently in social gatherings where all were spaced out. I bet plenty of other listeners went into the same time warp! Disappointing to hear nothing about retaining mask-wearing as precaution though. 😷
Doesn't surprise me in the least. You're coping well, considering.
So far so good. If another decade comes my way, I may even start to suspect that my time of testing may produce a verdict of success. I appreciate your verdict for now!
Mr Trump's style of leadership is reaping as it sows.
I guess when you're on the big money it's best to just trot along behind the blustering buffoon and bite your "You're making a capital dick of yourself right now Don" tongue.
"Mr President, please don't step outside, you're nude."
" No I'm not."
Our supermarket duopoly have paid for their kids' Harvard educations over the last month. Bribes inclusive. Every food $ we used to spend elsewhere has pretty much gone to one of two companies.
They should be telling every staff member "You have all worked harder than you're paid for. Under conditions you aren't paid for. Your pay under Alert level 4 and 3 will be doubled."
I think it's the least they could do, those guys have made millions on millions in the last month. Oh how I longed for KFC we all chucked those $ down Countdown's throat.