Open mike 11/09/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, September 11th, 2019 - 188 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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

Step up to the mike …

188 comments on “Open mike 11/09/2019 ”

  1. The Labour party sexual assault allegations story is growing in strength as more information comes out.

    The Spinoff have published Timeline: Everything we know about the Labour staffer misconduct inquiry

    Jacinda Ardern has declared herself “deeply concerned and incredibly frustrated” over the allegations levelled at a Labour staffer as well as the party investigation into the man, who remains employed by the Labour leader’s office and denies wrongdoing.

    The party president says he is “confident I have handled the process in a professional manner”.

    The prime minister says she had been assured that no complainant alleged sexual assault or violence. She says the first she learned of the nature of the allegations that Sarah (a pseudonym) insists she raised repeatedly with the Labour Party, was upon reading the Spinoff’s investigation published on Monday.

    A crucial question is whether the Labour Party’s position, that it was not informed of the allegations, is tenable. Just as important is whether its process – for example in repeatedly failing to meet complainants’ requests to review the summaries of their oral evidence – is defensible.

    They then detail "an incomplete chronology, based on public statements and numerous documents provided to The Spinoff".

    They include authentication of the open letter to the prime Minister that emerged yesterday:

    An “open letter to the prime minister” is circulated within the party by “Me Too Labour”, an unnamed “group of Labour Party members who are writing to you to urge you to immediately take action regarding the allegations” surrounding the staffer. It makes a series of demands including the resignation of Haworth. The letter, which The Spinoff has verified originates from party members, had by lunchtime attracted more than 100 signatures.

    Claims of a false flag or a conspiracy by National don't stack up.

    Stuff: Complaints about Labour Party staffer taken to his employer

    Two of the complainants in an investigation into assault, bullying and harassment by a Labour Party staffer have taken their concerns directly to the man's employer.

    The man, who Stuff cannot name for legal reasons, works in the Labour Leader's Office, but is a public servant employed by Parliamentary Service.

    A 19-year-old woman, who alleges sexual assault, and a young man, who has accused the staffer of throwing a punch at him, wrote to Parliamentary Service boss Rafael Gonzalez-Montero on Tuesday.

    But Gonzelez-Montero says his hands are tied because the accusations do not relate to the man's employment. Neither of the complainants work at Parliament.

    That seems an odd avoidance of any responsibility. It is affecting his employment.

    The man has not been stood down. But he agreed to work from home after allegations surfaced about his conduct in early August.

    And Ardern's credibility is looking at risk.

    HDPA (Newstalk ZB): We must question PM's honesty over Labour sexual assault allegations:

    This is what we want to ask her: When did she know that the allegations against a staffer in her office were of an alleged sex crime?

    She told media yesterday: ”I was informed in the very beginning that the allegations made were not sexual.”

    She told RNZ this morning that she found out yesterday.

    “The first I’ve seen the complaints of that nature was when I read then." Asked when that was, she said "When I saw them in the Spinoff.”

    That is very hard to believe. This has been reported in the media for the last five weeks.

    If you believe that yesterday was the first the Prime Minister heard of this, then you must believe that the Prime Minister of this country does not watch, read or listen to the news reported in this country.

    That she for the last five weeks has missed every bulletin, newspaper and programme that mentioned the fact this guy is alleged to have committed a sexual crime.

    Like this on Newshub: “The Labour Party has been forced to review its own investigation into bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault by a Labour staffer.”

    Or this: “Two more of the seven people who laid complaints about bullying, sexual harassment and assault by a Labour staffer have told Newshub about their experience of the department’s internal investigation.”

    You have to also believe that the Prime Minister didn’t ask what allegation was so serious that a staffer in her office stopped coming to work five weeks ago.

    You also have to square it with this comment she made yesterday in her press conference”:

    “A month ago I visited New Zealand [Labour Party] Council. Very seriously shared my view that they were not the appropriate place to undertake inquiries around concerning behaviour of members of the Labour Party. But particularly they are not the appropriate place to ever undertake an investigation into a sexual assault. And that would be their view too.”

    Why would she say to the Labour Party council that they were not the right people to investigate an alleged sex crime, if she didn’t know the allegations were of a sex crime?

    Because she did. She did know.

    On the 6th of August, one day after the story broke in the media, Mike Hosking raised it with her right here on this station.

    He asked her: "How many people have quit your party as a result of this investigation into this bloke who may or may not have sexual assaulted someone?"

    Her response was: “I’m going to be very careful answering that question Mike because this is an inquiry and work is still underway and it is still a party matter.”

    Exactly when the Prime Minister knew is important for a bunch of reasons.

    Did she fail in her duty of care to staffers and volunteers? Was this supposed to be covered up? But mostly it’s important because this is now about her integrity

    It’s becoming increasingly hard to believe her version of events, and possibly this is the first time that we’ve had reason to question Jacinda Ardern’s honesty.

    This is not just Ardern's honesty and credibility at stake. Labour's chances in the next election may be severely compromised by this.

    It has been claimed that the man facing the allegations is seen by Labour as an important part of their campaign team. He may be more toxic than helpful. It's hard to understand why Ardern can't see this.

    In an interview on RNZ's Checkpoint yesterday a man who claims to be the victim of an attempted physical assault and a physical assault indicated the accused man had family connections to the Labour Party.

    Protecting him looks increasingly untenable.

    [lprent: I’d suggest that you be careful about claiming authentication of that ‘open letter’ here. I read that article and I simply don’t believe it. Apparently nor do many others – 100 people adding to it doesn’t exactly sound like a landslide.

    To me it reads exactly like a fake false flag operation. And I never appreciate false news or outright lies being promulgated here. ]

    • Sacha 1.1

      Also another article by Alex Casey detailing further evidence she has seen establishing what Labour was told about the nature of the assault: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/11-09-2019/fresh-evidence-emerges-confirming-labour-was-told-of-sexual-assault-allegations-on-june-11/

      [lprent: That isn’t ‘evidence’. That is statement about seeing a email that is alleged to have been sent. It is simply an allegation and has no evidential authority at all of actually arriving.

      And somehow you didn’t refer to this in the same article.

      The Labour Party has told The Spinoff that no attachments were received by the investigation chair, and that no one involved in the investigation was aware that any of the people appearing before them was alleging sexual assault.

      That places this claim as being a hearsay allegation. If you want to continue commenting here, could you please refrain from making shit up?

      The title of that article should be a the subject of a media complaint if anyone can be bothered. ]

      • Sacha 1.1.1

        And the investigating panel is a subset of these people (scroll down page): https://www.labour.org.nz/party_info

        Members of NZ Council

        President: Nigel Haworth
        Senior Vice President: Tracey McLellan
        Maori Senior Vice President: Tane Phillips
        Women's Vice President: Fleur Fitzsimons
        Affiliates Vice President: Chris Flatt
        Pacific Island Vice President: Jerome Mika
        Youth Vice President: Kaitlyn White
        Policy Council Representative: Rachel Boyack
        Rainbow Representative: Paul Stevens
        Te Kaunihera Maori Representatives: Honey Heemi and Rudy Taylor
        General Secretary: Andre Anderson
        Parliamentary Leader: Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern MP
        Parliamentary Deputy Leader: Hon Kelvin Davis MP
        Caucus Secretary: Jan Tinetti MP
        Auckland/Northland Representatives: Antonia Verstappen, Simon Mitchell and Jesse Thompson
        Waikato/Bay of Plenty Representative: Rosina Taueki
        Central North Island Representative: Alan McKenzie
        Wellington Representative: Paul Tolich
        Northern South Island Representative: Keir Leslie
        Otago/Southland Representative: Michael Wilson

        • lprent 1.1.1.1

          *sigh*

          The only sanction that these people could to is to remove whoever it is as a party member.
          They can’t make a complaint to the police.
          They can’t even remove them as a parliamentary employee.

          Exactly how is that going to help? It sounds like a completely useless gesture.

          Could you please explain why this is relevant?

          • Sacha 1.1.1.1.1

            As an outsider, trying to establish who was involved in the process – and particularly which people inside the party were allegedly made aware of the nature of the allegations.

            That list was news to me. From what you say, Haworth still seems most appropriate to be carrying the can for the party's performance of the process.

            And I am not talking about the justice process (which as you say could include police and parliamentary services), just the political one. Who needs anyone to offer the opposition such an easy stick to beat the govt with?

            • lprent 1.1.1.1.1.1

              FYI: The presidential role inside the Labour party is

              1. Not a paid position. The secretary is the operational head. The presidential role is mostly about fund raising and keeping factions from each others throats.
              2. Not a HR position. You’d have to look to the secretary for that.
              3. Not operational at all. The Labour party head office at Fraser House is usually something like about 5 people and some volunteers. Run by the secretary. It doesn’t sound like they had anything to do with any of the reported occassions (hard to tell – the journalists appear to brain dead when looking at lines of responsibility)
              4. Not operational at all even inside the NZ Council. The secretary operates that as well

              None of what is alleged seems to have had much to do with the Labour party. My biggest complaint about Nigel’s involvement was that he got involved at all. It isn’t part of his role.

              If a formal complaint was made to the NZ Council, then the most that they could do would be to sanction someone by excluding them from occasions that they organise and removing their membership.

              There isn’t anything hard about understanding that. It is exactly the same as every other organisation.

          • weka 1.1.1.1.2

            re the open letter, what would be a reasonable standard of verification? The Spinoff aren't going to reveal sources, but I thought their statement about verification was too light given what is involved. I'd probably be satisfied with a better explanation from them, but I don't know the technicals of how someone would prove to them ownership of a google doc like that.

        • Sacha 1.1.1.2

          RNZ Checkpoint has identified the 3 members of the panel as Tracey McLellan, Honey Heemi, and Simon Mitchell (who Heemi told RNZ took the official notes 'because he is a lawyer'). Heemi interview is interesting.

          Audio will be here eventually: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/20190910

      • lprent 1.1.2

        Ah no. That isn’t ‘evidence’. That is a set of allegations and copy of something that could have been sent.

        If you think that is evidence , then I’d have to say that I think you are an idiot.

        • Rapunzel 1.1.2.1

          When it comes to such complaints as you mention above about "headlines" is a headline not being sufficiently accurate or reflective or different from the main content enough?

          I have often been tempted but an experience with a complaint to Magic Radio reduced my confidence in that action. While the agreed the statement was "incorrect" they maintained it was not, in their opinion" something that the public would have either "noticed" or would have influenced their opinion. By then I was a bit over it after waiting for a response, I think it may be something that should be followed up on and complaints made especially if the media are going to be such a major influence on "opinion" for next year's election.

          • xanthe 1.1.2.1.1

            The use of headlines that contradict or mislead the content is a big bugbear of mine also ! The Hearsay is high on my list of media outlets that engage in this practise

            • Rapunzel 1.1.2.1.1.1

              Perhaps it is something to make the time to pursue, I had one on the weekend that caused me to cancel a subscription – and say why – but more should be done than that, time for me to make the effort.

        • sumsuch 1.1.2.2

          You have all the fight of Labour, Lprent. From a disgustant since 1984. The Left without ideals is nothing. I spotted it then. Yissee, I'm old and am prepared to play the long game for our Country.

      • Sacha 1.1.3

        somehow you didn’t refer to this in the same article

        I did not 'refer' to anything beyond the headline. Sensitive much.

    • They include authentication of the open letter to the prime Minister that emerged yesterday:

      If so, the people who posted it could seriously do with some lessons on how to post stuff on the web so that it doesn't look like a personal-data-gathering exercise by unknown agents. Having seen the thing, I wouldn't submit personal info to it regardless of what the Spinoff says.

      • Sanctuary 1.2.1

        Oh God, we are going to get a few weeks of hysterical outrage from the beltway and partisan hacks about this.

        It is the perfect imbrication of the tangential tribal politics of the liberal elites and oppositional hysteria.

        The National party and it's cheerleaders in the media are desperate to weaponise this to try and damage the PM. For them, they want to use this as a stick to beat the PM with forever and forever and forever and forever and forever ad nuseum.

        The MSM press gallery and opinionistas have got an issue they can now endlessly (and cheaply) interview their keyboards about without the need to question the bubble the live in and without fear of contradiction by any sort of collision with the reality of the lives of 99% of the population.

        The twitterati of the Grey Lynn 500 who are obsessed with identity and sexual politics have found the next thing to be hysterical about forever. Pity the occupiers of Ihumatao, for Alison Mau has now got something far, far more interesting to be outraged about. For these people, no apology is good enough and accusation counts as irrefutable evidence.

        Meanwhile, the rest of us just get on with paying the bills and worrying about the economy and wondering why Simon Bridges is such an idiot.

        • Sanctuary 1.2.2.1

          The thing is, it isn't that i am not interested in issues of people lives. But I am more interested in (for example) the accusations of systemic bullying in the police force, or the economic radicalism of Corbynism as it realites to the lives of workers.Why? Because in the first case the police are well funded and professional organisation that has systemic issues that solving can lead to major improvements for lots and lots of people. The second because the potential material benefits to the working poor and precariat are huge – and that is what i am interested in – radical politics, not the ravings of over-privileged liberals.

          Political parties are largely run by an assorted collection of the community minded, mild eccentrics, tribal loyalists, political chancers, true believers and party apparatchiks all of whom are mostly under appreciated, undertrained and seldom paid well or at all. How these often dyfunctional organisations – which are, after all, committed to a greater or lesser extent to the democratic process – run themselves is of course of interest. The issue of whether or not our funding laws are fit for purpose is an important story. But not story, or at least not to this level of sanctimony, inappropriate outage and sheer nonsense.

          • AB 1.2.2.1.1

            Our media is populated by a materially comfortable middle class for whom all structural questions with the economy or society are already solved . When issues arise they must therefore be attributable to bad behavior or incompetence at the individual level. So they love this sort of sh*t.

            • Rapunzel 1.2.2.1.1.1

              It crossed my mind how many of those pursuing this with a zest that has not been seen with the National Party internal inquiry are dependent on these "stories", so many the details are now a bit of a blur, for their income and to maintain, create or increase their public profile.

      • weka 1.2.3

        I find the format of that open letter very odd and likewise wouldn't 'sign' it*. It's possible that it's fake, but it's also possible that it was done by survivors and others who just don't have a good sense of how to do something like that, technically or socially.

        *in part because it reminds me of Labour early on who used such online forms around social justice or political issues but also used them to harvest emails. I doubt that is what is happening here but it's unfortunately still a badly done action. This makes me tend to think the form is genuine and comes from Labour people.

        The other thing I don't like about the form is that it puts the people 'signing' in a position of being blind to what is going on. They don't know what happens to the information when they click submit, and there is *no way to know if it is genuine or fake or nefarious.

        I've seen these kind of forms used on social media for other kinds of justice actions and they're problematic in that they're a system of disempowerment not empowerment, and that's really not a good move given what is going on. The people who set it up probably have a high need for anonymity, which is understandable, but this isn't the way to manage that.

    • vto 1.3

      Listening to the RNZ interview last evening, it was all very smelly… didn't trust the interviewee… don't trust the party hierarchy…

      best you lot keep this within the confines of party politics – nothing turns voters off quicker

    • Wayne 1.4

      Iprent

      You have zero proof that it is a false flag operation. Just your belief that it could be.

      Pete George is entitled to rely on it for what it purports to be. The burden of proof is upon you to prove otherwise.

      • marty mars 1.4.1

        wise words from Marc that applies across the board to ex politicians imo

        "You never get a politician on a show like that. Because they believe they are the voice of reason, but in actual fact, there's no streetwise politician, they've just had people fluffing them continuously," he said.

        https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/115698770/marc-ellis-says-second-season-of-celebrity-treasure-island-was-faked

      • lprent 1.4.2

        You have zero proof that it is a false flag operation. Just your belief that it could be.

        Just as you and PG have zero proof that it isn’t.

        As far as I am concerned, if he wants to rely on it here for extravagant claims that it represented a widespread trend inside Labour, then he needs to provide more supporting evidence than a statement by a journalist that some of the 100 people who have signed it are in fact Labour members. Not exactly an expert source.

        There are a lot of Labour members. Some have been members for decades. Some have been members for a week. I am one myself for decades. FFS the journo making the claim that it is legit doesn’t even deign to say why they were sure? Did they see a card like the one in my wallet? Or was it just someone saying that they were?

        I think that it is most likely to be a false flag operation. So far I haven’t seen ANY evidence that it is or that it isn’t. I have seen evidence that if I wanted to set up a false flag operation is is exactly what I would have done, and exactly what like I seen in the past by dangerous fools like Ben Guerin.

        And of course the way the law operates is that an allegation or hearsay doesn’t constitute evidence except on the balance of probabilities basis. In my judgement, the balance of probabilities is that it is probably a false flag operation. So I’m treating it as being one until evidence is provided that it isn’t. Just as I do for any otehr unsustantiated bulklshit that comes off the net.

        • Wayne 1.4.2.1

          Iprent,

          Well, as you say "In my judgement, the balance of probabilities is that it is probably a false flag operations".

          It seems to me that you are mixing up two things here, "burden of proof" and "standard of proof".

          Burden of proof requires the person making the allegation to adduce some evidence to support their claim.You have produced none, it is just "in my judgement". Standard of proof is the level of proof that the evidence has to clear. Hence "balance of probabilities" mean evidence that is more likely than not to be true. But you have produced no evidence at all, just your view of the matter.

          I would have thought if you are saying something is false on the balance of probability you have to adduce at least some evidence of that. You have admitted it is "in my judgement", but that is not evidence of any sort at all.

          By the way hearsay can be admitted as evidence, at least in civil cases, it just may not have that much weight.

          • Wayne 1.4.2.1.1

            Iprent, weka, PM

            I would also note the article in the The Spinoff by Toby Manhire on the timeline has this statement, "The letter, which The Spinoff has verified originates from party members…".

            I am certain the The Standard authors and commenters would know that when a reputable journalist makes such an emphatic statement (has verified) about something then it will be true.

            The Spinoff staff have clearly done enough research on the open letter that they absolutely know it originated from Labour Party members. They will have probably interviewed the originators of the letter and have seen membership cards, or alternatively they know enough about the people who originated the letter to know they are Labour Party members.

            • mac1 1.4.2.1.1.1

              Wayne, I would hope so, that a reputable journalist etc.

              But I have been fulminating here about supposedly reputable journalists who don't meet the criterion of journalist in that their writing is loose, inexact and badly edited. I have criticised Hoskings, du Plessis-Allan and Rob Stock within the past week for that.

              It is therefore very important to exactly know upon what basis a journalist makes a statement that something is verified. After all it was once verifiable that the earth is flat.

              Even you say the Spinoff staff 'probably' acted properly, within reasonable expectations. The thing is we don't know, and it could all be assumptions or hearsay.

              It also depends on the English being used as well. The word 'evidence' by itself does not mean that the material is true. It's just evidence, material put forward to justify a case being proposed. It can be true or false.

              But most English users assume it means incontrovertible evidence only, not debatable, factually wrong, misinterpreted or misapplied. Therefore it was journalistically dubious to use the word 'evidence' in the headline "Fresh evidence emerges confirming Labour was told of sexual assault allegations on June 11". The misuse of the word by a journalist or editor is compunded by the word 'confirmed'. There is no idea of allegation or of possible error. It is 'confirmed'. Judge, Jury, Guilty as Charged in one headline.

              That came from the Spinoff as well, written by' reputable' 'journalist' Alex Casey.

              https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/11-09-2019/fresh-evidence-emerges-confirming-labour-was-told-of-sexual-assault-allegations-on-june-11/

              • Climaction

                Cath Casey’s daughter? Hardly a foot soldier in the VRWC that seems be promulgated here.

                More like a believer in the effect metoo and sunlight has in reducing Rape culture that appears to be endemic in the halls of power in this country

                • mac1

                  climaction, address the issue, why don't you? I don't care whose daughter she is. She is addressing as you say an important issue of power and proper conduct.

                  She should be using, ot her editor, whoever wrote the headline, English accurately.

                  Not as a foot soldier. As a journalist.

                • Climaction

                  maybe they have irrefutable evidence and they aren’t publishing it yet to get comment on it from labour and to protect their sources?

              • Wensleydale

                Criticising Mike Hosking is largely a waste of time. Everyone knows what Hosking's about, and it's never been journalism.

                • mac1

                  Maybe though the 'reputable' journalists might up their game if they are lumped in with the like of Hoskings.

            • lprent 1.4.2.1.1.2

              That isn’t a verification – that is an assertion. If they’d explained how they verified…

              They will have probably interviewed the originators of the letter and have seen membership cards, or alternatively they know enough about the people who originated the letter to know they are Labour Party members.

              See – even you are unsure how they “verified”. You’re having to resort to mere supposition.

              I know for a fact where “has verified” has been used by a “reputable journalist” where the verification was just asking for verbal confirmation. I’m sure that we all have. It is like the way that the media also trot out people to comment on the internal workings of Labour who I know haven’t been members or involved for decades, or never have been members or involved.

              Forgive my cynicism – but I’m afraid that statement by Toby Manhire is just meaningless waffle. As far as I am concerned if he’d said something like he’d seen the membership cards or he has known that they were Labour members for a decade – but he didn’t eh? And would have been so easy to say that. That tells me the level of veracity he is using.

            • mac1 1.4.2.1.1.3

              I've just read this in a paper. " (name) revealed he will be retiring as principal at the end of December. The move comes in the wake of a challenging few months at the (name) college after allegations of sexual abuse involving a teacher".

              The principal involved has reached retirement age. He has good reasons to be retiring.

              But the phrase "in the wake of' means that there is a consequential component to the resignation. It means more than a simple time sequence.

              That was another 'reputable journalist' in paragraph three spreading an allegation which was not at all addressed in the rest of the article. In this case, it was the editor who wrote the article.

              There is an Autralian journalist who every time when referring to union leaders calls them a union 'boss' but a leader of a conservative party is propeerly called a 'leader'.

              Reputable journalism?

          • lprent 1.4.2.1.2

            It seems to me that you are mixing up two things here, “burden of proof” and “standard of proof”.
            Burden of proof requires the person making the allegation to adduce some evidence to support their claim.

            What I am saying is that I see absolutely no evidence that a suspicious object on the net is what it says that it is. Therefore it should be treated as being internet garbage – which is the default action that everyone should always take (and usually do).

            If you believe that a anonymous page on the net making claims should be believed, then I will find you some that you should press links on to see how you get along with them. After all by your argument – you can’t determine that they are dangerous until after you have tried them.

            However the reporter and PG are making a claim. They are saying that it is a legitimate object. However they are offering no evidence to support their claim. Nor do they appear to have a lot of expertise at making that judgement. To me that makes them unreliable.

            By the way hearsay can be admitted as evidence, at least in civil cases, it just may not have that much weight.

            Yeah I know. I simply don’t find that their hearsay evidence to support that claim is compelling.

            To put it mildly, I am the resident expert on political bullshit on the net around here after watching it for more than a decade. I am also the person in the gun if we have false claims coming out of the comments. So I’m afraid my opinion is the one that counts. This one smells to my internet nose to be exactly like a previous false flag with a little more sophistication on the concealment side. So I treat it exactly the same way. Since the dirty politics fuckwit in my previous post has gone on to be a professional dirty politics fuckwit… I guess my nose keeps proving to be accurate. I’ll trust it.

            Arguing about it doesn’t help. All it does is irritate me and waste my time.

            Perhaps finding something that convinces me that it worth the risk of having PG make claims that I’m liable for would be a better use of your time than trying to dance on the head of a pin.

            • weka 1.4.2.1.2.1

              that post, christ. I'm guessing he didn't put that on his CV. Or maybe he did, and they've shipped him off to London to hone his skills.

      • Psycho Milt 1.4.3

        Wayne: for your own good – if you encounter a web form asking you to enter your personal information and you can see that the owner of the form is effectively anonymous and doesn't tell you what will be done with your information, you would be unwise to assume you can rely on it for what it purports to be. That way lies identity theft or worse.

        • Chris T 1.4.3.1

          Would imagine they wouldn't have clicked on the link to the random form if they didn't trust the person who sent them it.

          There seems to be some seriously desperate looking "fending off" going on here in the last couple of days given the seriousness of the accusations, which is at odds with the rhetoric that comes from Labour supporters, when these cases come up any other time

    • mac1 1.5

      Further very unclear thinking from HDPA as reported by Pete George above at #1.

      "On the 6th of August, one day after the story broke in the media, Mike Hosking raised it with her right here on this station.

      He asked her: "How many people have quit your party as a result of this investigation into this bloke who may or may not have sexual assaulted someone?"

      Her response was: “I’m going to be very careful answering that question Mike because this is an inquiry and work is still underway and it is still a party matter.”

      Now what does that actually prove? Is it meant to be further proof that Arderne knew of the sexual nature of the allegations? The question from Hosking referred to numbers of members resigning.

      I cannot understand the point that HDPA is trying to make here.

      Very unclear, and what this issue needs is clarity, not lazy writing and mischief-making.

      • Wensleydale 1.5.1

        That's Heather's attempt to go "See?! Look! Labour did… some stuff, and it was bad stuff! Very bad! Naughty Labour! Let's see if we can fling muck about in the vain hope some of it will stick to the PM! She's like the Oracle of Delphi, that Jacinda! She knows all! But she won't admit it! Oh no! Tricksy. Like a hobbit. Dirty Labour!"

        It's hysterical flailing. Actually, it's transparent hysterical flailing. Now that Nigel Haworth's ritually disemboweled himself, can we all move on?

    • xanthe 1.6

      "That she for the last five weeks has missed every bulletin, newspaper and programme that mentioned the fact this guy is alleged to have committed a sexual crime."

      An alternative scenario is that the PM does not act on media headlines but rather established facts.

      I cannot imagine that either HDPA or hoskins are on the PM's list for providers of facts. they certainly are not on mine

      • mac1 1.6.1

        +1 xanthe. Add Pete George to that list.

        I'd like to ask Hoskings, " "How many people have quit listening to your show as a result of these allegations into whether you may or may not be a biased interviewer?"

        If he answers "None" then he doesn't know about me.

        If he answers "At least one" then he has admitted that it has been said that he is a biased interviewer, hasn't he? If he answers "I don't know" then he is still a biased interviewer.

        That was the ploy he tried on with Arderne.

        She avoided the trap.

    • Dukeofurl 1.7

      George/HPDA is also incorrect to claim 'its been in the media for 5 weeks'

      Harrasment/bullying yes. The sexual assualt claim was 'broken' by Spinoff in the last few days and the previous claims were in Spinoff 5 weeks ago.

      it even says so in the indro to that story

      "A woman who says she was subject of a sustained sexual assault by a Labour staffer has for the first time described .."

      https://thespinoff.co.nz/unsponsored/09-09-2019/a-labour-volunteer-alleged-violent-sexual-assault-by-a-senior-staffer-this-is-her-story/

      Dateline of that story was 9 Sept

      • Formerly Ross 1.7.1

        The article by Alex Casey quotes Nigel Haworth:

        “It’s important to be clear that none of the complaints the party investigated related to sexual assault. The person leading the original review made it clear to the complainants that the party would never be the appropriate body to handle allegations of that nature and that they would need to be investigated by the police.”

        Have any of the alleged victims spoken to police, and how many have approached Paula Bennett? What did the alleged victims expect would happen after approaching Bennett? What expertise does Bennett have in dealing with victims of sexual assault? How has Bennett assisted the alleged victims?

        • lprent 1.7.1.1

          The article by Alex Casey quotes Nigel Haworth:

          “It’s important to be clear that none of the complaints the party investigated related to sexual assault. The person leading the original review made it clear to the complainants that the party would never be the appropriate body to handle allegations of that nature and that they would need to be investigated by the police.”

          Ummph. Clearly I didn’t read that article deeply enough. Which would be pretty much what I would have expected.

          Bullying by a staffer employed by parliamentary services which is what the original complaints appear to have been about are barely within the remit of the NZ Council, and will only apply to two aspects…

          1. If the subject of complaints concerned should have access to NZLP volunteers. It sounds like there was a clear effort towards separation.
          2. If they should be a member which doesn’t sound like it was raised. It would have been the subject of the full council.

          Reading the article again. It appears that what ‘Sarah’ and ‘Jamie’ is reporting and what the panel from the NZ Council are reporting are two completely different sets of interviews and meetings.

          But basically I can’t see any way that the NZ Council could have or would have acted on a sexual assault complaint. They simply don’t have any mandate to do so.

          That is and should have been a police matter.

          • SPC 1.7.1.1.1

            So the Council would only deal with allegations of assault, but not sexual assault.

            Thus would ignore evidence submitted about sexual assault.

            Thus could assure the PM they were not looking at any allegations of sexual assault – even though some people may be alleging that this has happened and providing such testimony to it.

            • lprent 1.7.1.1.1.1

              Sexual assault is a criminal offence. You can’t have vigilante groups (like the NZ Council?) dealing with it. That is unlawful.

              Tell me – what exactly do you think the NZLP council can do about any assault? They literally aren’t allowed to deal with things that are in the realm of criminal.

              I’d suggest that you campaign for a law change to achieve what you seem to be asking for. The problem comes with what you think that law change should look like, especially when it needs to cover all organisations.

              • SPC

                You seem to be missing my point – why was the PM of the view, for months, that no allegations of sexual assault had been made?

                As to organisational safety, if an allegation of a serious sexual assault had been made many would act to protect members long before police took the matter to court. In this case the matter is one confused by mixed jurisdiction – place of work and political party are connected but not the same.

                Thus the confused interface between the party and the PM – with parliamentary services not even involved, as no complainant was on staff.

                • lprent

                  Because that was what she was told? I thought that was made pretty clear by the PM in the last few days.

                  Don’t you read the news?

                  • SPC

                    Sigh.

                    Were we not discussing why she was told that, rather then the truth?

                    1. Because the Council do not investigate criminal matters, it informs the PM it is not investigating criminal matters.

                    2. The PM informs the media there are NO ALLEGATIONS of criminal matters being investigated by the Council.

                    3.There were such allegations made, but the Council does not/did not investigate them.

                    If the allegation is dead on arrival at the Council but lives on for those who testify to it, will the dead parrot come back to life and squawk out a name? For whom the parrot squawks … .

    • xanthe 1.8

      Ok here's the thing,

      We all knew six weeks out from last election that the LP was a basket case! the country wasn't going to vote for them and I certainly wasn't.

      And then there was Jacinda. Suddenly we had an actual caring, empathetic, smart! and appealing person to vote for and I and enough others changed our minds and voted for her. Events have shown that we made the right choice.

      But I do not expect miracles. the LP is still a dysfunctional basket case and Jacinda is not going to turn that around with a magic wand. we should not expect her too. If she remains at the helm for long enough things will improve. and you can argue that each major #$%CK up along the way will actually make things better (as long as the right people get the blame!!).

      I really don’t think this will affect election 2020 at all. sadly ALL the available parties are shit. There is only Jacinda and the populous will vote for her as there is nothing else.

      Its a sad state but here we are and it could be a lot worse!

  2. mac1 2

    There is a very important issue going on with the language of how things are being reported here.

    I am examining in particular the assertion by HDPA in Pete George's comment at 1 above.

    The text reads. "“A month ago I visited New Zealand [Labour Party] Council. Very seriously shared my view that they were not the appropriate place to undertake inquiries around concerning behaviour of members of the Labour Party. But particularly they are not the appropriate place to ever undertake an investigation into a sexual assault. And that would be their view too.”

    My reading of this quote is that there is a break in the meaning after this two sentences "“A month ago I visited New Zealand [Labour Party] Council. Very seriously shared my view that they were not the appropriate place to undertake inquiries around concerning behaviour of members of the Labour Party. "

    The next two sentences are, as I read it, a comment by Ardern upon what she siad to the council a month ago. She added on the reference to the sexual allegations as an extension now that she had been informed of the sexual allegations.

    The use of the word "would" indicates the conditional nature of the comment, starting at the word "But".

    Read the quote like this, instead, to get what I believe Ardern was saying.

    "“A month ago I visited New Zealand [Labour Party] Council. Very seriously shared my view that they were not the appropriate place to undertake inquiries around concerning behaviour of members of the Labour Party.

    But particularly they are not the appropriate place to ever undertake an investigation into a sexual assault.

    And that would be their view too.”

    The word 'would' indicates that the issue had not been considered by the Council a month ago but refers to the situation now, after disclosure of sexual assault allegations, as to how they 'would' now react.

  3. Sacha 3

    Titirangi chickens not cheap to tackle. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115647790/titirangi-chickens-will-cost-about-112-each-to-remove

    Birds would be captured in the areas where they were fed using nets, traps and by hand.

    Wonder if they priced 'capturing' the person who feeds them instead?

    • David 3.1

      $25000 to catch an estimated 100 – 200 chickens does sound an awful lot. And it’s not as if the are spread over a very large area: mainly the shopping area and community centre. At dusk they are perched in trees and, you would think, could be rounded up with a minimal of effort.

  4. Pat 4

    Neolib owned MSM coming for the Coalition ably assisted by a preponderance of useful idiots….and inept handling by the parties themselves.

    Are memories now so short that a Nat Gov next term becoming a possibilty?

  5. A 5

    Save Our Subbies!

    …makes a good point about paying PAYE, ACC, etc, but HNZ hasn't paid them. My boy is a tradie and I worry that one day this will be him – stressed with no way of avoiding massive losses, kids asking parents if they are ok?

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/115673806/stanley-group-collapse-subbie-shares-pain-and-anguish

  6. marty mars 6

    sad vlad

    A Russian rapper who describes himself as Vladimir Putin’s best friend has pulled his latest pro-Kremlin music video from YouTube after it set a new record for online unpopularity.

    The track, entitled Moscow, was released by Timati on the eve of Sunday’s city council elections in the Russian capital.

    …The music video, which featured sweeping images of Moscow’s best-known landmarks, recorded the highest number of dislikes – 1.48m – for a single video on Russian YouTube. It also entered the top 30 most disliked music videos worldwide. It had 85,000 “likes”.

    Timati denied allegations that he had been paid by the government to record the track.

    …Guf, another rapper who contributed to the now notorious music video, apologised to his fans and said he had not even been aware elections were taking place. Putin’s ruling United Russia party suffered massive losses at Sunday’s city council polls.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/10/pro-putin-rapper-sets-record-for-unpopularity-on-russian-youtube

  7. Peter 7

    It seems it's just another day when proof and truth are disposable commodities.

  8. south china morning post covers bridges grovelling in china..

    'Euan Graham, the executive director of La Trobe University’s Asia department in Melbourne, said the visit set a “new jaw-dropping standard in cringeworthiness for Western politicians visiting China”.

    “While the questions were leading, Bridges took up the challenge of buttering up the party with obvious enthusiasm, praising Xi Jinping in such obsequious terms that he sounded like a paid-up party member,” Graham said.'

    https://amp.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3026500/new-zealand-politician-simon-bridges-defends-beijing-visit?__twitter_impression=true

    • Chuck 9.1

      Both Bomber and Cactus Kate agree on one point – brand Jacinda is in mortal danger of imploding.

      Depending on which view you tend to lean toward either Jacinda has no idea of what is happening within her own inner circle (Bombers take) or she does and looks the other way (Cactus).

      • SPC 9.1.1

        It's a bit of both. The play book is to allow the party leader deniability in the cover up. The leader above the fray talks about process and the party waits to see if they can make it go away or not.

        • greywarshark 9.1.1.1

          Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has more on her plate to deal with than the prurient and malicious thoughts of you RW coming here. Thank goodness that we don't have a person from your 'set' at the head of our country any more. And long may that continue. Why don't you brand your lot with your chosen brand logo, or get it tattooed on each hand, so we know who not to shake hands with so we can keep all our fingers.

          • SPC 9.1.1.1.1

            Both wrong in tone and in fact. I've voted to the left of you my entire life.

            • Enough is Enough 9.1.1.1.1.1

              As did I, and will continue to. Just look back at my comments over 10 years.

              Greywark seems to be suggesting that you are right wing if you dare to criticise the Prime Minister, the government, or the handling of this sexual assault.

      • lprent 9.1.2

        And what does Jacinda’s brand have to do with getting anything done about these allegations?

        I’m afraid that neither Bomber nor Cactus Kate seem to actually be interested in anything except the political fallout?

        • Chuck 9.1.2.1

          "And what does Jacinda’s brand have to do with getting anything done about these allegations?"

          Once the alleged victims went public – nothing. Its as you allude to political fallout.

          It is clear the complainants believed that the Labour Party after hearing their testimonies would have acted with empathy and made the necessary changes. The opposite happened.

          There are two separate issues at hand. 1/ Will the alleged victim/s give statements to the police ending up in court if the evidence is sufficient. 2/ The fallout within the Labour Party (both wings) as to who knew what and when and if the complainant's assurances are correct, why the sexual assault detail was suppressed.

          • lprent 9.1.2.1.1

            Agreed about the police – that is where it should have gone in the first place for both the Young Labour camp for something that was clearly unlawful behaviour (the only thing that the NZLP could do was to chanbge procedures to that the opportunity didn’t happen again) and for this one based on what was in the Spinoff article.

            The fallout in NZLP is just problematic. NZLP could do something if the allegations related to something that happened at a NZLP event. They can’t do much if it wasn’t as appears to have been the case. The person involved isn’t an employee of the NZLP. Similarly the actions claimed appear to be criminal.

            The NZLP has no more ability to deal with sexual assault cases than any other external organisation. Employers can. Police can. Complaints should be directed to them.

            Now I’m sure that there will be political fallout from this one. The correct response should be to tighten the complaint procedures to things that the NZLP council can actually do.

            That should be clearly written, quite formal, and be signed by the complainant that they know the limits of what could be done.

            If anything more is required, then it is a law change that changes the legal requirements for all organisations – one that covers from companies to charities. And includes the legal requirements for the police. Having half-arsed unenforceable coverage for sexual assaults through to bullying behaviour needs to be comprehensive and legislated rather than half arsed, unclear and unenforceable as this current snafu shows.

  9. greywarshark 10

    The statement said, until now, the complainants had believed that Mr Haworth had had the best of intentions.

    "He was like a fatherly figure to us six women and he's let us down."

    This is from a statement that was in a Radionz news piece. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/398515/labour-complainants-say-party-president-let-them-down

    Isn't this similar to what Louise Nicholas experienced with a senior police officer to whom she took her story – that he was seemingly sympathetic but with the idea of taking it no further?

    In the 2013 story 'Louise Nicholas: 'I've gone full circle' she and Police Commissioner announce an initiative where she is helping police and the public in giving guidance on help for victims and family after sexual abuse. Ms Nicholas, a campaigner for victims, has helped police create a brochure which will be given to anyone who reports a sexual crime with the focus on support for survivors and their family and whanau. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10891131 (In it her name was spelt differently, with two variations Nichols and Nicholas! It's hard to get things right it seems.)

    The matter of dealing with attitudes to sex and being more open about how it affects our thinking and behaviour needs to be actioned as it is still a leading cause of unhappiness and violence when it should be the opposite. I really like the Hollies 'All I Need is the Air that I Breathe' for the sort of fulfilled and serene feeling that can be the outcome of good sex. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HydvceA1PAI

    But of course it is not appropriate to discuss things positively, only to criticise outcomes – an endless and ultimately vicious circle.

    Looking in to the background of policing and NZ mores in the Louise Nicholas case brought forward a number of stories. This is one.

    The Louise Nicholas saga – Out Of The Shadows The Louise Nicholas saga – Out Of The Shadows by Phil Taylor in 2007

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457065

    The reporting on sexual matters being covered and uncovered in one location in NZ is an unusually honest and frank nearly stream-of-consciousness piece. It reflects how things are happening in our impoverished degraded society after neolib swept our norms away – our jobs, our sense of agency in our lives, our ability to earn a living wage and have a place of our own to live, and the degraded community that has followed on the heels of the depredations of neolib. The economist dreamers who know nothing about real life and everything about their graphs and charts and computer models with economic 'laws' that are generalised, showing tendencies, and not suitable to be adopted as concrete universal law. But the government has accepted and implemented the neolib theories and the patchy and erratic results are being experienced in a tidal wave over all the country now.

    • SPC 10.1

      The statement said, until now, the complainants had believed that Mr Haworth had had the best of intentions. "He was like a fatherly figure to us six women and he's let us down."

      Using the now standard play book.

      https://asianinvasion2019.blogspot.com/2019/09/why-arderns-problem-is-not-employment.html

      • greywarshark 10.1.1

        I'm sorry i haven't time to read the sort of books that you read SPC. I never notice from your comments that they have given you any insight into the depressing problems of today, and future, and still existing ones of the past.

        • SPC 10.1.1.1

          I never notice from your comments that they have given you any insight into the depressing problems of today, and future, and still existing ones of the past.

          The comments I have made cannot do that. But then, nor do the comments of others do that for them after they made them either.

      • Dukeofurl 10.1.2

        Asian Invasion? Cactus Kate up to her old tricks and SPC uses this as a source ?

    • lprent 10.2

      Isn’t this similar to what Louise Nicholas experienced with a senior police officer to whom she took her story – that he was seemingly sympathetic but with the idea of taking it no further?

      It is not only there. You’ll find that everywhere from HR departments covering corporate arses through to the police. Basically you can’t and shouldn’t depend on authority figures. You need to depend on mandated procedures and avoid shortcuts and fob-offs.

      What needs to happen is to find out what the formal complaints procedures are for the actual issue that you’re dealing with and then to follow them rigorously and relentlessly to achieve the desired outcome. Find the review and appeal procedures at the same time and make it very clear that they also will be followed.

      In this case, if the allegations were correct, presumably to removing someone from their position that they were exploiting. Unfortunately that will usually expose the complainant to formal and court processes. But really the reason you do this and all other complainant procedures is as much about stopping the repetition of activities on to other people.

      • greywarshark 10.2.1

        lprent Just a musing. Your concerns about ensuring good practice made me think about keeping things clean and fresh and i thought of Quenton Crisp. I'm not a good housekeeper, and the witticisms of this eccentric Brit amused me:-

        Quentin Crisp — 'There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse.' from Goodreads quotes.

        Your points above show that it is essential to do good housekeeping as you have described. Not to do it from the first can result in the dire outcomes Crisp describes, which cannot be tolerated when it comes to abuse and bullying.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Crisp

        And this can also be applied to the reports of police bullying of lower ranks which seems endemic.

        https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/398518/bullying-in-the-police-it-absolutely-destroys-you

        • McFlock 10.2.1.1

          Disagree entirely on housekeeping (I'm on Crisp's side for that one), agree entirely on the bulk of your comment 🙂

          I'm involved with a non-profit organisation, on the board. We get a lot of people through the door from members of the public to client organisation to our own staff and volunteers. Thousands a year. So statistically speaking we also get hundreds if not thousands or people who have or will sexually assault others at some time in their lives.

          So we have the basic OSH procedures and plans, and we also have procedures and plans for sensitive issues of varying levels (causing discomfort through to to outright criminal complaint). And they're workable procedures with clear action points.

          It's part of making a robust organisation, as opposed to ticking boxes to limit personal liability.

          We're not perfect – sooner or later shit will happen that we clusterfuck in a catastrophic way – but we can at least plan for the likely hazards.

    • greywarshark 12.1

      It seems from reading that piece, that many young NZs don't think much about what people from another English-speaking culture are like. We aren't all the same – as the saying goes from GB Shaw – 'The English and the Americans are two peoples divided by a common language.'

      What Waititi said was just right.

      "At the end of the day, the reality is we're all losers, and we're all uncoordinated," is another of the filmmaker's pearls of wisdom.

      "We're the worst of all of the animals on Earth and there's something quite endearing about that."

      Good point. Rosie Carnahan-Darby, an LA-based Kiwi comedy producer, says New Zealanders' "very dry, sarcastic, sardonic, self-deprecating sense of humour" doesn't always translate well in the US.

      "Another thing to remember is that as a nation, New Zealand was very isolated for a very long time, so our language and culture has evolved to reflect that," she says, adding that humour from a country other than your own will almost always seem strange.

      And washroom, bathroom, toilet, wc. Anyone who has watched USA tv much should know that they are very given to euphemisms for the basic matters of life, and are sort of agin' them? Like they didn't allow even a married couple to be pictured in bed together in the early movies. That's weird. And Canada is a bit like the USA – it has a strong Scottish Christian background too. But in Quebec who knows, those saucy French – now that is another prejudice, misconception, perhaps.

  10. greywarshark 14

    Keep watching – it would be terrible if NZ as we know and love it vanished one day while we were not looking. Oh dear we will say, I didn't know it was so sick, why didn't someone say something, we could have helped, saved it from this terrible end. It is terminal, and we aren't even allowed to give it euthanasia. Now I can't bear to watch.

    This morning's news.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/398534/residents-exposed-to-noxious-sewer-gases-at-retirement-complex-in-lower-hutt

    Bad plumbing. Poor job. Not done to good standard and probably regulations (if any) are broken, ignored.
    .

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/398527/acc-taxi-troubles-drivers-rejecting-trips-due-to-lower-pay-auckland-woman-told

    Officially denied by taxi people, but disabled person on ACC needing assistance from government as promised to citizens are being denied because ACC machine-minds, aggravating alghorithms, won't pay normal rates to meet costs of taxi drivers.
    .

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/398543/small-businesses-struggling-with-overdue-payments

    The real economy for the people is in small face to face business. It is suffering badly, because of poor decisions that have ignored the domestic economy while going after more glamorous exports, and foreign investors who make everyone feel important when they come and take an interest in us and pick our plums, but these are not the workers in the orchards.
    .

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018712756/michael-ross-discusses-the-expansion-of-the-wanaka-airport

    More and more money on airports?? When we are worrying about climate change and using less fossil fuels and also what about the principled travellers which will ruin our business, they might cut down on their willingness or ability to travel by air?

    Bloody unbelievable. Those of us who are thinking need to set up 24 hour watches so we can keep up with those who dream up these nightmares while we are sleeping.

  11. McFlock 15

    Stuff is reporting that Howarth has resigned.

    Andrea Vance is also reporting it:

    Party President Nigel Haworth has resigned after Ardern saw correspondence in which "confirms that the allegations made were extremely serious"— Andrea Vance (@avancenz) September 11, 2019

    • SPC 15.1

      It would have taken more than one person to have kept the PM misinformed for so long, but we will not hear about most of the fallout.

      • McFlock 15.1.2

        Not really – he's the main connection between the party and the caucus.

        The investigation was screwed up, and I still think it's 50/50 that the reviewers viewed themselves as restricted solely to reviewing the investigation, rather than raising issues with Ardern.

        As for Lew, he seems to think everyone involved is employed by the party or even Ardern, rather than being elected officials.

        Hopefully the new president puts some stick about so shit isn't so ossified. And maybe the guy everyone's been complaining about should take a tip from Howarth.

        • Sacha 15.1.2.1

          Maybe someone can offer the alleged assaulter a seat on the Todd Barclay career express to the UK?

        • Chuck 15.1.2.2

          "The investigation was screwed up, and I still think it's 50/50 that the reviewers viewed themselves as restricted solely to reviewing the investigation, rather than raising issues with Ardern."

          That's a longbow to draw but ok let us accept they binned any reference to sexual assault …however we have Ardern telling us she asked and sort assurances that none of the claims were of a physical/sexual nature. That gives the investigation panel nowhere to hide, or maybe they did raise it?

          • SPC 15.1.2.2.1

            They were not investigating sexual assault matters and they told those complainants that such were matters for the police, so while they knew of such allegations, they were not investigating them. And thus they could tell the PM none of the allegations they were investigating involved sexual assault (because they do not investigate those matters).

            A male complained he was assaulted when confronting the alleged perp, if he was also told to take that to the police, there would have been less and less for them to investigate and find him culpable for.

            The interesting thing is that no one has yet said they were asked to inform the party if they took the matter to police. Did they presume no one would?

            • lprent 15.1.2.2.1.1

              The interesting thing is that no one has yet said they were asked to inform the party if they took the matter to police. Did they presume no one would?

              Perhaps because it is illegal to interfere in any individuals decision to lay a complaint to the police or interfering with a police investigation. I’d have to look up the acts (which I don’t have time for right now), but I remember running across that several times in various contexts over the decades.

              Think it through about what the implications are of having early warning about a complaint being laid.

              • SPC

                I don't see being informed, after the fact, of a complaint to police being made, as interfering in the decision to do so.

                Or party awareness of this having occurred compromising or interfering with any investigation by police for that matter.

                In this matter the party advised people to take matters to police, if it was in fact illegal to influence a persons decision on whether to go to police, the party would surely not have done so.

          • McFlock 15.1.2.2.2

            I'm not sure how proper it would have been to speak to the reviewers like that directly. So who did the assurances come from (hint: probably the guy who just quit).

            But either way, sometimes folks in such roles have a very narrow idea of what "professionalism" means in that role, because it's not their usual job.

      • Sacha 15.2.1

        Ardern from her release above:

        “This morning I was provided some of the correspondence from complainants written to the party several months ago. It confirms that the allegations made were extremely serious, that the process caused complainants additional distress, and that ultimately, in my view, the party was never equipped to appropriately deal with the issue.

        Evidently that was good enough for her.

      • Gosman 15.2.2

        Looks like I was off by 24 hours…

  12. haworth has resigned…

    • OnceWasTim 16.1

      Meanwhile "the PB" is so beside herself with joy, she's decided to treat herself to a new frock and "the Soi" hez dusoided on a noit on the tearn. Insiders say the gNatz are about to ramp up their targeting using a bit of new-found wealth promised on a recent trip to the Whurl's farcetist groan konamy.

      • Fireblade 16.1.1

        Paula Bennett on Twitter.
        Haworth has gone but this goes right to the PM. It’s her employee, her senior staff and a senior minister and what they knew when. And of course what Ardern herself knew.
        2:29 PM · Sep 11, 2019.

        • OnceWasTim 16.1.1.1

          It's probably high time Jacinda got out that Mark Richardson index finger again and directed it towards a few senior public servants and others just along for the ride.

          It isn't just Her Madge's opposition that are the problem but sure as shit it seems to be taking an eon for some to realise just where the roadblocks to transformation and kindness are. Often, they're staring them in the bloody face

    • Jimmy 16.2

      Nigel had to go to protect Jacinda. She is far more important.

    • vto 17.1

      Ha, that's brilliant, especially the part where one of the goons noted that the last time government went after the banks in the 1930's, twenty years later in the 50's and 60's they had the most equal income spread ever..

      ffs what is wrong with people

  13. The Fairy Godmother 18

    Looks like Nigel Harworth has resigned and taken one for the party.

    • Anne 18.1

      Yes Fairy Godmother, that's my take too.

      The DP brigade and their media enablers were not going to be satisfied until they had his scalp. My pick is: he took it for an underling or two.. Now they will be after Jacinda's scalp.

      Anyone see Soper on the TV stand-up with Jacinda today? Standing over her (almost) shouting hostile questions at her. What an ill mannered creep. She ignored him.

  14. Puckish Rogue 19

    Anyone still believe this is a false flag operation, asking for a friend angel

    [lprent: FFS The false flag was about the “open letter’. Banned for 3 months for lying about my moderation. ]

    • Stuart Munro. 19.1

      I'm far from convinced it's meaningful. Even your own interest is driven by factionalism, not credible concern for the victim or victims. It's news (to you) because it represents an opportunity to impugn the government, not because the government are supporters of abuse. As such it is a side show, whatever the facts (and I've yet to see them) may be.

    • marty mars 19.2

      keep cracking jokes about this, after all judith collins is your hero you zero, and you must score your points to be a big man eh

      meanwhile the rest of us will listen carefully and watch closely to try to sort this out for the VICTIMS

      • Puckish Rogue 19.2.1

        Had this issue not been pushed Labour we wouldn't have known about it, had the issue not been aired the victims would not have their chance to speak, if Labour had their way no one would have known about this and the guy would be free to keep on doing what he likes

        • marty mars 19.2.1.1

          yessss hold your precious close you P.O.S. and cry your fake tears of concern as you pretend to care – no one is fooled – it makes your true nature shine forth puckwit

          • Puckish Rogue 19.2.1.1.1

            "cry your fake tears of concern as you pretend to care "

            Take that back, I have no wish for anyone here to think I might be part of Labour

        • lprent 19.2.1.2

          As far as I can see, he still is free to do what is alleged.

          Until a formal complaint is made to the police or parliamentary services then there is very little to stop him.

          • SPC 19.2.1.2.1

            Are they not PS only involved when both parties are on staff?

            • lprent 19.2.1.2.1.1

              Why? PS doesn't have a complaints department and procedures for external people to access. I think that has been standard at every place I've worked at.

              If I complain about an employee of an organisation that I'm dealing with then I'd expect that is a problem for their manager and probably then to their HR. It is after all an issue for the organisation if people complain about the behaviour of their employees.

              • SPC

                Did the party volunteers work with him as a staff member of parliamentary services? Or as part of the Labour Party organisation to which they …

                Sure they could say they felt unsafe when visiting parliament and why. But he was already working from home while the party investigated.

          • The Fairy Godmother 19.2.1.2.2

            And very frustrating too. As a young woman long before social media a friend told our women's group how she was raped at 16 by her minister. She chose not to tell the police. I was horrified at the thought he was still employed and still likely to hurt someone else. Yet not one of us could go to the police as it was all second hand. Its weighed on my mind. This is similar. Until the victim goes to the police harm will continue to be done.

  15. Peter Christchurh nz 20

    While we are talking about sexual abuse…..

    Marist Brother gets Home D for repeated child sexual abuse? His defence lawyer says the child exploitation porn he possessed had no victims?

    With attitudes like these, and the long history of Labours attitude to victim blaming or denial (like in the Darren Hughes case), no wonder Ardern has a see no evil/hear no evil attitude.

    She's toast now I think, unless she and Labour start seeing that a kinder and more caring government starts with how the most powerless individuals in society are treated.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12246380

    • Puckish Rogue 20.1

      If I could wave a magic wand then any and all child sexual abuse would be mandatory jail time, no ifs or buts

      • In Vino 20.1.1

        PR, if you were not simply utilising sexual abuse for your own political purposes, you would use your magic wand to put an end to all sexual abuse.

        You are nowhere near as idealistic as your crocodile tears pretend.

    • Anne 20.2

      That's drawing a long bow comparing those two cases PCnz.

      And you're up the creek without a paddle when it comes to Jacinda. Where have you been these past nine months in particular? Or do you have an extraordinarily poor memory?

      • Peter Christchurh nz 20.2.1

        Anne, Re-reading my post, yes you are right. Linking the Marist Brother to this current situation was wrong of me.

        I guess what I was trying to say was that sexual abuse, in general, is still way too casually viewed by many people.

        Not sure what you mean in your second comment? I absolutely admire her handling of the mosque shooting. Hope she take a similar approach with this. Maybe she was telling the truth and was misled. Just find that surprising.

        • Anne 20.2.1.1

          Fair enough. I thought you were referring to Jacinda when you mentioned … a kinder more caring government. They are infinitely better then the previous government but still have a way to go.

          I went through a similar process to these 'complainants' 25 years ago but it wasn't through a political party although politics was involved. In my case the incidents were more broad-based (and there were sexual connotations as well) but I was terrified. What absolutely shocked me (still does) was the inability of the authorities I approached to be able to comprehend what I was trying to tell them. They were all men and they clearly concluded I was just making shit.

          I suspect something similar happened here.

          • Anne 20.2.1.1.1

            Oops last sentence – making up shit.

          • Peter Christchurh nz 20.2.1.1.2

            Yes, a way kinder and more caring government for sure. No doubt whatsoever in my mind about that!

            Posts, texts etc always miss the nuances that are so important, and it is so easy, for me at least, to not quite convey the subtleties of my message at times. Hope you can understand that and allow me a little grace.

          • Shadrach 20.2.1.1.3

            "And yet, these are the rules the young complainants in this latest scandal have had to negotiate their way through: a task made all the more difficult and distressing by the fact that nobody told them what they were. They did not understand that the invitation to come forward with their personal experiences of sexual misconduct was never meant to be taken seriously. They did not grasp that the prime objective of the Labour Party is not to build a better, fairer world, but to win the next election. "

            https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/09/11/labours-fatal-flaw/

            Your cheerleading is sickening.

            [Your comment was a reply to Anne’s @ 20.2.1.1, which was based on her experience with a similar complaint process. I cannot see how this could be considered as “cheerleading [that] is sickening”. You couldn’t even be bothered to use your own words but instead used Chris Trotter’s, which bear no relevance to Anne’s personal comment and experience and it was mind-numbingly stupid trolling given the recent developments. In any case, I’m going to stop you from trolling this site in general and of women here in particular in order to improve the overall culture here. Banned for three months – Incognito]

    • WeTheBleeple 20.3

      I think you'll find Ardern stared evil straight in the face. You, on the other hand, bow deferentially to any POS you think might pimp your precarious position of being a complete prick.

      The Standard was a good read. PR and his PR team have fucked it.

      [We don’t need (more) personal abuse and insults. Please tone it down – Incognito]

      • alwyn 20.3.1

        "I think you'll find Ardern stared evil straight in the face".

        Applying her make-up was she? Or are you thinking about something else?

        • In Vino 20.3.1.1

          Sorry alwyn – witty, but deficient. Staring evil in the face can only be eyeball to eyeball. Applying makeup, people look anywhere but the eyeball. Little external details, not the essential.

          Good quip, but no banana.

          I think this indicates your lack of a socially cohesive philosophy..

          Just saying

        • marty mars 20.3.1.2

          wow so you are implying that our Prime Minister is evil – sad to see someone so low and useless drop even further but you, alwyn, have managed it – wash your face with lots of soap cos you are dirty

          • alwyn 20.3.1.2.1

            There there. You really shouldn't make such assumptions about what I say.

            Now just calm down you little adorer of all creatures on the sinister side. This incoherent rage can't be good for your blood pressure.

            • marty mars 20.3.1.2.1.1

              “"I think you'll find Ardern stared evil straight in the face".

              Applying her make-up was she?”

              I have no rage just disgust with your insinuations including this latest one – "Now just calm down you little adorer of all creatures on the sinister side"

              what does that mean in the context of this thread – you think our Prime Minister is a creature from the sinister side?

              You rwnj's are manhandling yourself constantly on this – such weaklings, it is no wonder you are fiddling on the hoof.

      • Peter Christchurh nz 20.3.2

        If you mean she showed brilliant leadership with the mosque shooting, you are right.

        But hey, as always wtb, just play the abuse, if that somehow makes you feel.better and you believe it in some strange way forms an argument. And please do not make assumptions about you, as certainly am tempted about you but have.far more respect for you than apparently you have for me, or maybe for anyone that has an opposing view.

        • Jimmy 20.3.2.1

          My 2 cents, for what its worth…yes I think Ardern was brilliant the way she handled the Chch mosque shooting. However, I believe she has not handled this well at all.

      • Incognito 20.3.3

        See my Moderation note @ 3:58 PM.

  16. Fireblade 21

    Will the National Party president Peter Goodfellow now reflect on his past behavior and resign?

    National Party president denies abuse allegation cover up.

    https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/national-party-president-denies-abuse-allegation-cover-up/

    Harassed woman allegedly signed confidentiality agreement in Jami-Lee Ross case.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12144911&ref=rss

    • Anne 21.1

      Yep. The media were silent when National was in the spotlight for exactly the same sort of thing – twice in the past year. No screaming headlines. No hysterical commentaries from the likes of Hosking, Soper, HdPA – and others of their ilk. No presidential scalp demanded from the Nats.

      • rod 21.1.1

        + 100 Anne yes

        • greywarshark 21.1.1.1

          Just bought a book from the library 50c – on how opposition from a deadhead, erratic, manic, ambitious politician that no-one in the Labour Party wanted as a leader was replaced by a reluctant Julia Gillard.

          And how she was attacked and villified by a nest of media vipers and polly sycophants, for the whole of her time in the position, with attention going onto the latest trumped-up stooory instead of her remarkably good outcomes achieved while working with a Coalition

          Sound familiar? Soimon may be a wizard's familiar. Who would the wiz in the background be?

          I'll put some quotes later from auuthorKerry-Anne Walsh, Oz reporter of renown and regular on Radionz.

      • Chris T 21.1.2

        You have to be joking, they were all over it like a rash!

        Lol

        And half of posters on here came across as if it were Ross who was the victim and gave the woman crap.

        And Cameron Slater became their number one source of truth.

        Lol

        • Anne 21.1.2.1

          Bullshit. The MSM reported it all yes, but there was no blood-rushing to the head. No hysterics from the usual suspects eg. Hosking and co. And no MSM screaming for heads to roll.

  17. rod 22

    TVNZ so called news these days, is more like a party political broadcast on behalf of the National Party. What are the political affiliations the news editor? Anyone know?

  18. greywarshark 23

    Flickering lights – I've got them at home. Why, what ?? This info that I have come across so far.

    I’ve never had this before. I don’t have dimmers just bog standard light fitting hanging from the ceiling. I still use some incandescent bulbs, and one of those was flickering also.

    https://theconversation.com/leds-could-be-harmful-to-health-the-eu-halogen-ban-will-make-it-worse-102589

    https://www.thespruce.com/fix-a-flickering-light-bulb-4123638

    https://homeguides.sfgate.com/stop-cfl-lamps-flickering-93829.html

    Washington Post says LED can’t flicker. ‘How to stop your LED lights from flickering – The Washington …
    https://www.washingtonpost.com › business › 2018/07/25 › how-stop-your-l…
    Jul 31, 2018 – There’s no flickering. LED bulbs don’t have glowing filaments…..’

    • MickeyBoyle 23.1

      LEDs can flicker, it's rare but is usually caused by the LEDs driver or a dimmer switch in the circuit. Even though you don’t always see it all mains powered light sources flicker, whether incandescent, halogen, fluorescent or LED due to our electrical supply being alternate current. Older 230V LEDs are especially affected by the odd flicker, what voltage are yours?

      • Andre 23.1.1

        Tried really hard to detect any flicker in my household 230V LEDs ($2 cheapies from Bunnings), using techniques I know I can detect flicker in some other LEDs. Videoing, head movements, variable speed rotating objects. Nothing.

        They're warm white, so they're blue leds shining through a lot of yellow phosphor. And because that phosphor emission takes a while to die off, the yellow part of the light might not be flickering significantly even if the underlying blue led actually is flickering. Kinda like a light analogue of an electronic capacitor. On mine, you can definitely see the light fading when they're switched off, unlike the instant-off you get with monochromatic LEDs (such as brake lights).

        Don't have any cool white LEDs to check. Maybe they have more noticeable flicker since much more of the output light is directly from the blue LED, rather than absorbed then re-emitted from a yellow phosphor.

        • greywarshark 23.1.1.1

          I prefer warm white, and find the cool white ones give a stark lab room feel. here is stuff to learn – lumens etc and I have been reading a bit here and there. I like to keep some indcandescents for spares. I think I should do most of my political reading at night – by the time I am finished I am so energised that I am incandescent myself, probably enough to do two rooms.

      • greywarshark 23.1.2

        Mickey B – Ah, silence about that voltage? I have been using Phillips Tornado but got some EV things from Warehouse. And then I got some that have normal round shaped bulbs from the supermarket. I imagine they are all the usual is that 230-240? Anyway I will look in the weekend and try to be more informed.

    • Andre 23.2

      If you've got flicker in an incandescent bulb, I strongly recommend checking it out carefully. A likely cause is some kind of poor connection, which can than cause arcing and heat. And if it really goes bad, could conceivably start a fire (very very rare, but possible).

      With it off, first carefully look for any sign of anything getting hot (just look, don't touch). Yellowing plastic near the socket is a sign. Then turn it on and listen for buzzing and/or crackling noises when it's on. Turn it back off, let it cool, remove the bulb and look at the contacts on the bulb and inside the socket. Check the metal shell for the contacts isn't loose or distorted (both bulb and socket).

      If there's nothing visibly faulty, put the bulb back in and check the bulb is a snug fit in the socket and the spring pressure of the contacts feels normal as you install the bulb. (Definitely do not poke at the contacts inside the socket to feel the spring pressure, if you're taking advice from randoms off the webz, you definitely don't know enough about what you're doing to do that safely).

      If the bulb and socket all seem good, have a listen for buzzing/crackling noises at the switch, then at the fuse box. If you hear any buzzing/crackling noises anywhere that correspond to malfunctioning electrical stuff, please call a sparky.

      edit: Should also mention a rellie moved into a new place that had a bunch up lights with the sockets pointing up rather than hanging down, that were giving problems. Turned out the sockets had filled up with dead bugs attracted by the light.

      • greywarshark 23.2.1

        Thanks Andre – Blinded by the light eh. I have had mice in the ceiling (old house and two layer ceilings – the normal 8 ft and further up in part 11 foot.) I left some rat bars up there to chew on but haven't been up there lately. I hope they aren't chewing on my electric cable. I will have to explore. Have a new ladder so have the stable steps for getting up there.

        I'll keep all that useful stuff fom you to hand.

        • Rosemary McDonald 23.2.1.1

          Re: Rodents.

          The buggers will chew your wiring and eat bits of your car. (Some bright spark decided to be all eco-cool and use bio plastic insulation on some of the wiring of a particular brand of car…as if the rats and mice need any encouragement.)

          We dealt to our problem with good old fashioned mouse and rat traps. Poison them and they just die and rot in your roof space…after chewing your plastic water pipes to ease their poison induced raging thirst.

          Bait the traps with peanut butter…or bacon fat…but especially peanut butter. Might pay to staple a bit of strong string to the rat trap and tie to a nail…they have been known to take off once caught, taking the trap with them.

          Sounds ghoulish…but over the past couple of years the rodents have become particularly destructive.

          And maybe get your wiring checked…does your flickering light cause the transistor radio to crackle?

  19. burt 24

    Harworth has fallen on his sword, I assess the reason being he was proven to have known and not informed the PM.

    More senior people put into those shoes today. How many more are going to stand and say they didn't know and/or didn't tell the PM?

  20. TootingPopularFront 25

    Scientific paper on Work Trade Centre 7 collapsing into its own footprint not because of fire but because of “the almost simultaneous failure of every column in the building.” surprise surprise! And yet further amazement that the mainstream media across the globe (with few exceptions) looks the other way https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/09/10/presstitute-blackout-of-9-11-study/

  21. greywarshark 26

    Hooray for tiny house owners in their fight to get some sensible and practical moves from legislators.

    MoBIE have got an exemption. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Let's have a gander at tiny houses minimum regulations and then let people get an affordable place to live. Is that asking too much from you shiny-seated twits?

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/398583/govt-accused-of-hypocrisy-after-ordering-its-own-batch-of-tiny-home-on-wheels

    …But the fact the houses will be on wheels hits a nerve with tiny house owners like Amberley man Alan Dall, who was told by Hurunui District Council, and then by MBIE, he needed to make his tiny house building code compliant as a fixed-foundation structure.

    He maintains it should simply be treated as a vehicle, as should MBIE's houses…

    "For a $66,000 one-bedroom tiny house, it would very likely cost them another $20,000 to go through the consent process with council," he said.

    Mr Wightman acknowledged that MBIE's houses were for emergency situations, but said New Zealand's housing crisis was also an emergency, for which his tiny houses were a viable solution.

    Pity that the ones in the picture were painted a lovely shade of dark grey! They are as near to black as possible, dark grey is the new black, as black heats up too much and the paint splits, same with very dark green, navy. But there are other 'colours' in between black and other darks and white. Couldn't we enjoy our houses and colour them, be happy and look happy even decorate them like Romany ones.

  22. greywarshark 27

    I guess most fiction readers will like Robert Harris, many of whom I hope are men as they are known to be mainly non-fiction readers. He has written another one in a back to the future style I think. Interview:

    Robert Harris: The Second Sleep

    From Sunday Morning, 10:08 am on 8 September 2019 “All civilisations consider themselves invulnerable; history warns us that none is.” That is the ultimate warning from best-selling author Robert Harris’ latest novel that fictionalises the dangers that await humanity. You can listen plus read a full informative piece about his thinking.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018712334/robert-harris-the-second-sleep

    The Second Sleep has all the trappings of a historical novel, and it’s titled after the noted pre-industrial European habit of having two bouts of sleep and waking up in between to complete tasks or socialise.

    Readers might be fooled into thinking it’s set in the 15th Century as the book also opens with a young priest, Christopher Fairfax, arriving in a remote Exmoor village to conduct the funeral of his predecessor.

  23. greywarshark 28

    There's a saying about crooked people, that they can't even lie straight in bed. Boorish won't even be able to go to bed by the time the Kingdoms unite against him and bloody England.

    Live
    Brexit latest news: Parliament may have to be recalled after Scottish court rules Boris Johnson broke law by proroguing

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/09/11/brexit-latest-news-boris-johnson-referendum-parliament-suspended/

    Meanwhile:

    Brexit: Labour deputy Tom Watson calls for referendum ahead of election

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49657006

  24. sumsuch 29

    There are 2 stories, the Right and the Left — dinna complicate matters. More importantly the kicked-overs point of view. We need a power of unity, or the rich will win. And all the failure in the last 40 years was lack of organised resistence to the decisions of the silly rich.

  25. Eco maori 30

    Kia Ora The Am Show.

    Condolences to Akilisi Pohiva whanau for their loss and to Tonga for the loss of a great Prime minister.

    Jacinda doesn't need to stress to much she puts trust in her top staff that is who made a mess of the staff issues.

    It will take time for the Muslims people who were at prayer in the Christchurch heal.

    I agree national played the parliamentary staffing issues to try and dent Jacinda Star Power. That's correct Willy national had there own scandals and the Coalition Government did try and use it as a tool harm there credibility.

    Looks to me like the national skeemers are not fronting up.

    Ko Te Reo Maori Te ahua reka ki Te iwi.

    Ka kite Ano

  26. Eco maori 31

    Yes I agree the Star power of great celebrities is greatest when use to influence humanity to do positive things for all the Papatuanuku co founders of Friends at Mahi Ka pai.

    Ka kite Ano

  27. Eco maori 32

    Kia Ora to Fush n Chip shop owner for teaching our Te reo Maori I think you protest the demise of our Ika taonga Terakihi kia kaha bro.

    Ka kite Ano

  28. Eco maori 33

    I'm not impressed with the fishing industry add stating that they only take a certain % percent of our Ika for one we have to trust them that the data is correct ITS NOT like One can not sit on a hill a take count of our fish stock they have to guess some of the data.

    Also we have to trust people are reporting there fish catch honestly some will but some people can't help but rip our fish off. Its so easy to set scales to have one kg less per bin. Because of this phenomenon fishing draws in the shady type of business persons there only conscience is MORE MONEY.

    They mite say they account for their sly ways but I have no confidence in this.

    I have seen right before my eyes our fish stock drop wet fish shell fish.

    When I was short in the tooth I could take my whanau walk around the pohatu for half a hour and get a decent kai. After 10 years that Kai Moana disappeared the state will be in a very depressed depleted state now 25 years later. It is good that the fishing industry has dropped there catch tonnage but that is a model that has failed to protect our wild resources in the past I don't believe it's going to work NOW. The Ambulance at the bottom of the hill strategy. I.E harvest the natural stock ya bonanza hard out everyone's creaming it.

    Next minute O these things are getting harder to catch let's slow down lower the take on the resource. And most speices collapse and never recovered unless we invest heaps of putea to reseed the wild stock ECT.

    For one I can not see that being achieved with Orange Roughy they live very long lives 50 to 150 years and thousands of meters deep for this reason I say 3 %estimated catch rates are to much.

    Let's protect our Mana taonga great resources for our Mokopuna and there descending tangata.

    Ka kite Ano links below.

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/104173620/fishing-giants-underreported-hoki-catch-by-thousands-of-tonnes

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/104315559/leaked-govt-report-shows-thousands-of-tonnes-of-fish-dumped-unreported

  29. Eco maori 34

    Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.

    https://youtu.be/yblB87dpJGc

  30. Eco maori 35

    Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.

    https://youtu.be/aLJFRgE4Ywk

  31. Eco maori 36

    Kia Ora Newshub.

    I think it's great that our government is making people register there guns and show that there mental health is stable before qualifying to get a gun licence it's about time.

    It was needed the 9 million extra funding for Christchurch mental health department especially after the Christchurch desaster Ka pai.

    Some people don't care about their workers working in the horticultural and neighbours. industry being affected by the chemicals they apply to their orchards. . Organic is the way to go.

    I agree with Helen Clarke.

    boris has master the art of bullshitting

    Ka kite Ano

  32. Eco maori 37

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    That's was a great legacy The Tonga Prime minister has changing the government to a tangata democracy

    I'm. Not giving him any oxygen.

    I am very happy that Aotearoa real. History is going to be taught to all our tamariki in Aotearoa THAT will help create happiness and harmony amongst all tangata Ka pai.

    That is awesome seeing all the new tangata whenua running for councillors kia kaha

    Its great that Tangata Whenua O Aotearoa are receiving a warm reception while they are in China

    Kai pai Webster great speach it gives Eco Maori A sore face to see all the Rangatahi rising up and showing there Mana wairua. Even a little tear kia kaha.

    Ka kite Ano

  33. Eco maori 38

    You better leave my Tamariki and Mokopuna alone.

    https://youtu.be/QAB6aXOfUmU

  34. Eco maori 39

    Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.

    https://youtu.be/fKopy74weus

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    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    12 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
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