I cannot help but think that the Leader of the Opposition (such as it is) is in a similar position, with her attack on Siouxsie Wiles, as Cersei Lannister would have been had she entered a popularity contest with Margery Tyrel. Absent a significant alchemical stockpile, there is no way for an embittered and essentially useless rule breaker to land a criticism on a useful and broadly popular expert.
If Winston Peters attempts a Lazarus-like rise from the dead with dog-whistling public remarks and /or stunts over the coming months, & Seymour carries on doing the same thing, the Trumpian Territory will be very crowded & the right wing & redneck votes could well be so split they're not a serious challenge to this government.
Please don't use that elitist putdown to denote bigotry.
“Redneck” is the contemptuous term for working people used by Democratic Party mandarins in the 1970s to condemn the minority of working people who voted for Nixon. It’s been thoughtlessly recycled over the years, and was enthusiastically used by Clintonistas and Hopey-Changey cultists to besmirch white working people who they believed should vote for them by divine right.
Think about who the most bigoted, racist, outrageous hatemongers in this country are: Don Brash, Jamie “Lock Up His Sisters” Whyte, Mike Hosking, David Seymour, Cameron “Whalefat” Slater, John Ansell, Garth “The Knife” McVicar. Only the last-named qualifies as a redneck, as he has actually done some physical work in his life.
My grandfathers and my uncles all worked hard on farms and in factories, and they often got sunburned, including on their necks. They were and are rednecks, just like the hardworking men and women in the United States are. But I’ve never, ever heard any of them utter the brutal and heartless and ignorant rhetoric that we are inflicted with every day from comfortable, sedentary, white-collared, white-necked people like Brash and co.
These hate-filled right wingers are not rednecks, they are bigots.
Thanks Andre. As your link shows, the elitist contempt for poor people certainly goes back a long way. It became particularly nasty after the Nixon election, though. The anger and bewilderment of the East Coast elite is evident in any issue of Time or Newsweek or the Village Voice from the 1970s.
The anger at poor and ignorant whites got even crazier and more unhinged during Trump’s clownish four years.
How am I "unreliable", exactly?
Oh that's right. I didn't buy in to the Russia conspiracy nonsense that you and some others pushed for the last four years. How is that going by the way? How did that Mueller Report go?
Andre. Yes I've noted Morrissey's robust style & views & might not always agree or engage with his comments. But in this case, it reminded me that I have actually heard & seen the same explanation of the origin of rednecks before.
It's an American derogatory term that doesn't really have a traditional equivalent in NZ. I have decided to not use it again in any context.
Randy Newman's contemptuous and unfunny song "Rednecks" was a catalyst in the use of the term. Newman was a guest on Kim Hill's show a while ago: he was a dyed-in-the-wool Russiagate conspiracy theorist.
I like a lot of Randy Newman's songs, & his piano & vocal style. I've always perceived them as loaded with tongue-in-cheek irony & lyrics thus never to be taken at face value.
I am surprised to hear he's a Russiagate conspiracy theorist, but he's not alone there. She's a hard road finding the perfect human being, M.
His 1974 release Good Old Boys was a set of songs about the American South. "Rednecks" began with a description of segregationist Lester Maddox pitted against a "smart-ass New York Jew" on a TV show (this was a joke, because the "Jew" was Dick Cavett), in a song that criticizes both southern racism and the complacent bigotry of Americans outside of the south who stereotype all southerners as racist yet ignore racism in northern and midwestern states and large cities.
This ambiguity was also apparent on "Kingfish" and "Every Man A King" the former a paen to Huey King the assassinated former Governor and US senator from Louisiana, the other a campaign song written by Long himself. An album that received lavish critical praise, Good Old Boys also became a commercial breakthrough for Newman, peaking at No. 36 on Billboard 200, spending 21 weeks there.
But I’ve never, ever heard any of them utter the brutal and heartless and ignorant rhetoric that we are inflicted with every day from comfortable, sedentary, white-collared, white-necked people like Brash and co.
Don Brash I personally think is a little different from the others you mention. Yes he's certainly a class of racist as the term is not singularly applied to people who hate others of another skin colour or culture.
Whenever I've watched or listened to him, my impression is that My-wife-is-from-Singapore-Don (subtext, so I can't be racist) has as his main thesis that "We are One people" & that Maori actually did sign up to surrender their tino rangatiratanga in Te Tiriti in their own nga rohe.
The Kiwi Not Iwi campaign certainly was aimed directly at racists & those who feel threatened or angered by the resurgence of Maori cultural & political awareness & believe they are not owed anything. Even in the face of the obvious fact that the treaty was almost immediately abrogated by settler governments, & that they were ripped off, tricked, ruthlessly warred on & dispossessed nationwide of huge tracts of land there was never any doubt they hadn't legally sold, for legitimately resisting. And further that treaty settlements don't go anywhere near recompensing them for the real economic & social costs of their subjugation.
Don, to me is a racist who is so blinkered he doesn't know he's a racist. He's permanently resistant to education on the matter because he can't comprehend that is. A sad figure.
But I believe (or perhaps hope might be a better word) that by now most people in NZ, and certainly I wish those younger, who have been taught or have themselves just google-researched the history of the treaty & the settlement of New Zealand by Maori & Pakeha (even Wikipedia these days is getting to be very comprehensive & balanced) now see people like Don as a rather doddery old man whose attitude is myopically ill informed and well out of date.
The media have of course focused on the word "fat" and used that to turn it against Judith and you have taken the bait 'hook, line and sinker'. If Judith had not used the word 'fat', the media would have emphasised the word 'big'. OMG….Judith called Siousxie big! Judith needs to be more careful with the language she uses.
Seymour was smarter when he called James Shaw "a complete hypocrite".
Given that you are apparently incapable of providing links; Jester (it's the button that looks like a chainlink – just paste the URL), I fosacked this out of RNZ's archive.
Shaw may be a bit of a grey suit man, but he's far less of a hypocrite than Seymour or Collins.
"We don't have the option of a virtual COP. It's not been made available to us," he said.
"There are negotiations that are happening online but the United Kingdom and the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) feel that we're not going to be able to make the kind of progress that we need to make without some portion of it happening in person."…
"I would prefer not to go, to tell you the honest truth. If I thought that I had some way to influence that, then I would. But I don't. It's not up to me .. also Glasgow in winter? Who needs that."
"David Seymour and Judith Collins had the option of a virtual Parliament … they rejected that option because they wanted to be able to have in-person conferences like this one. Media conferences,"
"The United Nations development agency says Afghanistan is teetering on the brink of “universal poverty” which could become a reality in the middle of next year unless urgent efforts are made to bolster local communities and their economies. It said the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has put 20 years of steady economic gains at risk.
…
“Afghanistan pretty much faces universal poverty by the middle of next year,” Kanni Wignaraja, UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Director, told a news conference Thursday launching its 28-page assessment. “That’s where we’re heading — it’s 97-98% (poverty rate) no matter how you work these projections.”
Currently, the poverty rate is 72% and Wignaraja pointed to many development gains after the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001: Per capita income more than doubled in the last 20 years, life expectancy at birth was extended by about nine years, the number of years of schooling rose from six to 10, “and we got women into university.”
"The Taliban have issued an ominous warning to the United States after backlash from the international community surrounding the appointment of its interim Afghanistan "terrorist" government.
…
"…in a statement on Thursday night obtained by news.com.au, Mujahid slammed US officials for calling out cabinet members of the "Islamic State" – aka Afghanistan – and claimed they were in violation of the Doha agreement.
"Pentagon officials have remarked that some cabinet members of the Islamic Emirate or family members of late Haqqani Sahib – may Allah be pleased with him – are on the US blacklists and still targets," the statement reads.
… the group claimed any leaders in the new government under the Doha agreement meant any "blacklists" should have been wiped.
…"all officials of the Islamic Emirate without any exception were part of interaction with the US and should have been removed from the UN and US blacklists, a demand which still remains valid.
"That America and other countries are making such provocative statements and trying to meddle the internal affairs of Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate condemns it in the strongest terms. "Such remarks by US officials are a repetition of past failed experiments and such positions detrimental for America.
Yes Gezza, it is indeed a hopeless situation for the Afghans. The USA is not finished with interfering in Afghanistan. They will foment ( and fund and militarily support) as much trouble as they can to bring unwanted problems to both Russia and China because that is all they are interested in to try and prove they are "exceptional and the indispensable nation”. They don't give a damn about the people of Afghanistan and they never have. Same same as Vietnam and all their other "conquests”. I will go so far as to say they would rather destroy the world than lose their "anglo/american " empire. Such is the madness and nature of their military /industrial complex.
Yes, I agree. One of the good things about Trump, I thought, was that he was such an outrageously gung ho "America First, Everywhere" Amerika uber alles ultra-nationalist bully, he made it abundantly clear that nobody else anywhere registers on the minds of so many America's politicians & voters as having any worth beyond what they can do for Americans.
And he publicly abandoned the claim to be "leader of the free world". I thought it woke a few people up.
Biden has gone back to the old script of claiming that title.
Interesting Pakistani expert/intellectual on Kim Hill (RNZ) right now saying the USA was doing well in Afghanistan until it invaded Iraq, then they lost focus and support and it all fell apart.
Of course it doesn't help that the regime they installed was corrupt.
You could at least warn us of the long Fox intro, then the Tucker Carlson intro, before you get to words out of Mr Greenwald that are so predictable that they come out as a set of Leftie Grump Hallmark Cards.
For real 20-year-hindsight analysis from the people who made the decisions on the day and in the weeks afterwards, try this long form interview piece:
– Ambassador John Negroponte, General Richard Myers, Frances Townsend, Admiral James Stafridis, Douglas Feith, John McLaughlin, General David Petraeus, Michael Chertoff, Andrew Card, Senator Tom Daschle, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, Joshua Bolten, Paul Wolfowitz, Senator Trent Lott, Ambassador Paul Bremer, Dan Bartlett, and Senator Joseph Liebermann.
But that fact has often been used as a blanket justification for many of the most far-reaching, controversial and even harmful decisions made in the aftermath of the attacks — the vast expansion of the surveillance state; covert operations to kill or capture suspected terrorists, and in some cases torture them; and the invasion first of Afghanistan, where the attacks were planned, and then Iraq, where they were not.
It's been said that the Americans believe that if something is worth doing it's always worth overdoing. Well after 20yrs in Afghanistan – that benighted land that God uses to teach the powerful some humility – maybe it's time they learned this was never more than a dangerous hubris.
And that perhaps moderation is the smartest strategy in the room after all.
PS on scrolling down – it looks like required reading.
For real 20-year-hindsight analysis from the people who made the decisions…
Thanks for that Ad. What a collection of ghouls. Most of them are criminals, who should be behind bars, not enjoying sinecures at universities and extremist "think tanks", but a few of them come across as simply pathetic—like Tom Daschle, who admits to being browbeaten into supporting the aggression, Paul Bremer, who seems to be genuinely delusional, and Joe Lieberman who, as always, just seems sad.
It's a horrible article, a PR puff piece, but it's also darkly funny, and a perfect example of the way these crooks are packaged and presented by their media accomplices. Each one of them has been beautifully photographed in striking black and white. The pictures are similar in style to Annie Leibowitz's shots of celebrities for Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone. They have the effect of making these people appear sober, respectable, and serious.
I'm sure that I'm not the only person to be offended that the author of this shambles calls these monsters "architects of the post-9/11 world", as if they had built something instead of conspiring to destroy a country and kill millions of people. My favourite quotes are…
“Nations are like people. They get some things right, they get some things wrong.” — Admiral Stavridis
"Once you get into nation-building, you get into pacification….We thought it was going to be a cakewalk and it turned out to be a pretty nasty fight when we got in there."–John Negroponte.
“Over the years, we just took out leader after leader and some of these that are overlooked were vastly more important than people realize…. The agency and JSOC responded incredibly and carried out just innumerable operations. The problem is that so much of this is colored because of the enhanced interrogation techniques usage that was part and parcel of that CIA effort.”—Gen. Petraeus
“We should have not authorized the use of military force but we did. The administration was really pressing us to get it done before the [2002] election. I have regrets about how that was done. I think many, if not most people, share those regrets today. The costs in lives and treasure that we have experienced both in Afghanistan and Iraq as a result of those actions are ones that we all have to take some responsibility for.”— Sen. Tom Daschle
“I think we should have asked more about, ‘OK, where are these weapons of mass destruction? How can we deal with that? How can we destroy them?’ I’ve always felt like I didn’t raise enough questions about the intelligence. … I hope that in the future our leaders will be aggressive in dealing with the administration, with the presidents. Don’t just take their word for it. Try to have more input.” —Senator Trent Lott
<<“I am very happy the American forces have finally left Afghanistan, and very grateful to Allah for making this happen. At last I feel safe.”
Those murders were perhaps the most high-profile civilian deaths of the war. But it was not the only time foreign forces killed large numbers of women, children and non-combatant men, in just this one corner of a single district of Afghanistan.
Five men from Zangabad who spoke to the Guardian said they lost 49 relatives between them in airstrikes and the massacre, bloodshed spanning nearly a decade. These terrible losses, repeated in many parts of Afghanistan, would prove powerful recruiting tools for the Taliban, as they slowly gathered their forces to retake the country. >>
Thanks for that Morrissey…always good to have a bit clear eyed analysis run over these propaganda pieces…you would think these guys would be able to see through such obvious nonsense, but I guess you see what you want to see…
"“Overreach” is a word they use often to describe a nation-building effort that notched tactical and even historic successes — like empowering women in Afghanistan"…I mean come on..really?
Bang on, BG. Wherever they've invaded countries or got involved in their wars since 9/11 (and before) to "save" the local people from their "dreadful" rulers & bring the light of American culture & democracy & technology & corporations to rescue them from their "backwardness", they've slaughtered thousands of ordinary troops legitimately defending their country – & killed more innocent civilians in the local populations [directly or indirectly, thru the aftermaths, like Islamic State] than their despotic rulers ever did.
They've utterly stuffed their economies, ramped up sectarianism, installed incompetent or incoherent governments rife with corruption & instability, changed the balance of power, & in the Middle East either directly or indirectly been responsible for the total or near total destruction of whole cities & towns & their infrastructure.
And they remain blithely unconcerned & seemingly convinced they did them all a favour.
Taliban releases statement saying United States is in 'clear violation' over terrorist comments
[and they are]
Matt Young – news.com.au, 10 Sep, 2021
"That America and other countries are making such provocative statements and trying to meddle the internal affairs of Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate condemns it in the strongest terms. "Such remarks by US officials are a repetition of past failed experiments and such positions detrimental for America."
In contrast to the above, the Taliban have praised New Zealand by name for continuing our aid to the Afghan people.
The Biden administration and the Western Alliance are continuing the war by other means.
New Zealand should refuse to take part.
The Biden administration's vindictive, (and pointless), war by other means, inevitably resulting in economic collapse and mass famine in Afghanistan, cannot but help foster political instability across the region and fuel terrorist reprisals against the West.
New Zealand must have no part in the US war by other means, and continue our humanitarian aid to the Afghan people.
Taliban heaps praise on New Zealand over $3 million humanitarian donation
"New Zealand has been the first, the leading country, as it has always been during humanitarian causes, has been the leading country to announce humanitarian aid to the Afghan people."…
…."I would like to say as a representative of the people of Afghanistan, I would like to immensely thank the people of New Zealand and the Government of New Zealand for showing empathy with their fellow human beings,"
I watch Aljazeera tv news daily. It's an excellent global news media service that covers events happening all over the world, covering countless daily events in counries we never see even mentioned in NZ msm online & tv media.
Charlotte has built personal connections wirh the Taliban leadership, and when she is accosted or insulted by the Kabul footsoldiers who are brutally suppressing women protesting [the Taliban have banned protests & inappropriate reporting], or they refuse to talk to her because she is a woman and is "inapproriately dressed" she complains to them & they usually apologise, she reports.
Cameron Slater posts some surveillance footage of Siouxsie Wiles on The BFD, makes extravagant claims and accusations and what appear to be false claims, but gets no traction.
So he passes the DP baton to David Farrar who repeats and tries to give the story some semblance of reasonable analysis that appears tainted by taking Slater at his word. And there's the expected pile on on Kiwiblog.
There's two attack lines – the alleged hypocrisy of Wiles (Slater accusing someone of hypocrisy is rather cute), and blasting the media for not repeating and amplifying Slater's 'scoop'.
Someone in the media does ask questions at the high profile daily Covid media presentation, and Wiles generally does a good job of explaining that she was more or less abiding by the rules but concedes her companion breached rules by going for a swim – if that was a general member of the public it's unlikely anyone would have noticed let alone cared, but those preach strict compliance should be held to account when they don't do what they implore of others.
Then Judith Collins joins the fray, seemingly already well versed in the Slater attack and making intemperate and tone deaf comments about Wiles. I can only guess that this was a deliberate approach by Collins, but it re-emphasises her unsuitability as a leader of a party that needs mainstream support.
And it realigns her with Slater and Dirty Politics, something that will likely not work out well for her.
And back to the original source this morning it's obviously not just Slater involved. The 'editor' of The BFD, Juana Atkins, has carried on with the smearing of Wiles. Atkins has long been as complicit as Slater in the dirty BFD tactics – in fact it seems likely it only continues now due to her efforts to keep it going.
But bringing Farrar into the mix and then Collins piling in as well has effectively dragged the National Party back into the centre of Dirty Politics, something they could ill afford to happen given their deteriorating situation.
Our politics is the poorer for a dysfunctional ex-major party and for the resurrection of Dirty Politics.
Hi Pete. Missing your blog & hope you're enjoying doing the other things you wanted to get on with.
Good summary.
I can't access the BFD on this iPad2; it's too "busy" & continually crashes once I open more than one article there. Just as well though. The BFD's just a parody. Have they even got much of an audience these days?
I sometimes read Kiwiblog but note that it seems to be mainly disgruntled National commenters & the slinging off at “Cindy” & “Jacinderella” etc lowers the tone too much for my taste. It crashes a lot on this iPad2 as well, as the comments start to build up.
Serious National party people will be shaking their heads that Collins is prepared to get into the sewer with Slater and Atkins. Collins will need to try to scrape the mess off the bottom of her shoes but the smell that had subsided is back.
The most pertinent aspect of the incident is that it shows in full flourish who and what Collins is. The age old-timers will be asking, "How did it get to this? Is this who we are? Is this as good as it gets?"
Finlayson seems deadly serious in his contempt for the current management of his old firm. Whether he still counts as a Nat is another matter, but he'll always be a Tory to me.
“Political parties have to feel the cold blast of opposition before they acquire the humility to be in government again. But if you're asking me to express sympathy for them, forget it.”
He's a bright and amusing commentator. I was wrong to suggest that they're all hopeless–they're not. And after they leave parliament, they're often very nice.
Finlayson's version of treaty settlements (for which he has nothing but praise for himself) has largely delivered a very, very narrow Maori middle class based on property rights. If all you want out of a Settlement is to mirror the worst of capitalism, then all you want is the National Party.
Covid is a very tricky virus – the Gnats seem to be less evolved – more primitive – an ancient species that has outlived its time and is now chiefly of interest to paleontologists and cryptozoologists.
DP was always a bit like a 4-wheel drive in wet mud with all wheels spinning fast until one of them got some traction. It was never pretty and it was always dirty. Lately, the Leaders of the National and ACT Parties, the Crusher turned La Cheffe Fatale and the Dancer turned Cockwomble, respectively, have been hustling for the driver’s seat and the media love nothing better than a reality demolition derby. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the NZ political scene at its finest.
Biden withdraws pick to run firearms agency after NRA pressure
NRA hails withdrawal of nomination as ‘critical win’
Richard Luscombe – The Guardian, 9 Sep. 2021
…..The gun reform group Brady says Biden’s decision to bow to National Rifle Association (NRA) pressure and withdraw his nominee, a strong gun control advocate, to lead the agency enforcing federal firearms laws is “a shameful day for our country”.
…..“He would have been an exemplary director of the ATF and would have redoubled its efforts to crack down on illegal firearms traffickers and help keep our communities safe from gun violence,” Biden’s statement said.
…..In its own statement, the NRA hailed it as “a critical win”, claiming that Chipman’s work with Giffords seeking to tighten gun laws “posed a grave threat to the second amendment”.
As we all know or at least are lead to believe if you listen or watch any western media, white western lives and most especially white American lives have a lot more value than any other lives around the world….so as we are force feed a serious amount of air time around the USA's 9/11, for a bit of balance here is a bit of historical context as to why most of the world see the USA as the biggest threat to world peace….here is Chile's own 9/11 which through direct US intervention brought in a reign of terror, death, torture, rape ..which of course is never remembered by western media…but as I said they are not white westerners..so who cares.
Chile’s🇨🇱 9/11: The Augusto Pinochet Coup- How The USA Brought Neoliberal Fascism To Chile
A little of respect for nature, and to see how wonderful and enterprising Bruce is. Brought a smile in this current time when a smile can make wonders to someones state of mind.
"Just months earlier, Shaakir drove to the maximum-security Auckland Prison. After weaving through a labyrinth of guard posts and gates, he was led into a special unit for prisoners of “extreme risk” – a unit originally built to house the gunman behind the Christchurch terror attack.
In a secure meeting room, Shaakir sat face-to-face with [the Lynnmall attacker], a 31-year-old obsessed with violent, terror-inspired content. From behind a solid pane of glass, Shaakir tried to make a connection.
“Although he didn’t know me from a bar of soap, he was really excited to sit with me. He was very calm, and we had a good discussion. I tried to get inside his mind to understand how he had been radicalised, and how I could assist and rehabilitate him.”
Shaakir wasn’t the only Muslim leader who believed [S] needed help to rewrite his radical beliefs. Three years earlier, Auckland barrister Aarif Rasheed tried to persuade authorities to do exactly that.
“They had characterised [S] as a terrorist sympathiser,” says Rasheed. “However, he was the first to admit his lack of Islamic knowledge, and he was willing to learn. With the right support, we had the chance to get this guy on the right path.”
… https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/126332093/the-makings-of-a-terrorist–and-the-people-who-tried-to-help-him
…
Superb article, & lots of information about the LynnMall attacker & his situation. One hopes the latest teenager who's been charged with making statements about wanting to kill non-Muslims can be assisted by Imam Shakir & that work can be done to develop and integrate a proper personal plan for de-radicalisation with the Courts, Corrections, Police & Muslim community working together.
This sounds like a lot of submissions – something like 2% of the population. Though a lot of them may be cut and paste sock puppets. Anyone here know the usual amount of submissions to an NZ government ?
The Government is considering over 100,000 submissions on a prohibition of conversion therapy bill
The NZ Christian Network was urging its members to respond in their own words, not copy and paste. This concern about government overreach was widespread among the churches of Aotearoa. The Govt is seeking to privilege one particular ethic above others and enforce its view. It is antithetical to a secular, tolerant society.
The dreary ritual of politicians and media figures looking and sounding sad about the attacks on 11 Sept. 2001, and ignoring any political explanations for them, began in earnest yesterday morning. On TVNZ1, John Campbell interviewed an ex-Clinton staffer who looked mournful and said that today she would be reflecting on the power of memory. Campbell mirrored her sad expression and thanked her profusely for talking to him.
On TV3, the special guests were two former New York firefighters, Captain Peter Hayden and his deputy Jay Jones. Following are the highlights of Ryan Bridge's interview with them—if "highlights" is the word for such a dire few minutes.
Along the bottom of the screen the chyron informs viewers: "PETER AND JAY WALKED OUT OF THE RUBBLE TOGETHER."
DEPUTY CHIEF JAY JONAS: Today is always going to be tied to, uh, ahhh, grief and bereavement.
(Almost instantaneously the chyron at the bottom of the screen changes. "JONAS: TODAY IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE TIED TO GRIEF AND BEREAVEMENT.")
The two ex-firefighters speak at length about the horror they experienced. Then it's time for Ryan Bridge to move the interview along a bit…
RYAN BRIDGE: Jay, I just wanna talk about the response to the attacks, the War on Terror and that kind of stuff. How do you feel about the response George Bush made?
DEPUTY CHIEF JAY JONAS: Uh, I don't know that I'm qualified to comment on that. I'm a firefighter. But I was happy to see the aggressive response to this horrible event.
……
RYAN BRIDGE: It was incredible, absolutely incredible. I was thirteen at the time and I don't have much to say.
(Twenty minutes later, it's time to ask another guest to reflect on the events of Sept. 11th.)
RYAN BRIDGE: It's one of those occasions isn't it where you always remember where you were. Helen Clark joins us for her take next…
(A commercial break ensues, and then the screen is filled with the grave mien of the former prime minister, beaming in via Skype from Paeroa.)
RYAN BRIDGE: It's the evilness you feel, isn't it.
HELEN CLARK: Yes, and evil is the appropriate word.
RYAN BRIDGE: And of course the world changed forever. How do you feel about the response, Helen?
HELEN CLARK:[pause] I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing. …. Iraq distracted attention away from Afghanistan, which needed long term investment. There was some indication that the Taliban were amenable to a political solution, but this was completely rejected by the Americans. [snickers]
(Then the sports guy decides, unwisely, to speak.)
MARK RICHARDSON: There have been no more attacks on American soil by Islamic militants. So the Americans would say it was a success. Do you agree?
HELEN CLARK: No. No I don't.
(Ryan Bridge and Amanda Gillies visibly squirm in embarrassment.)
ad nauseam….
"Ryan is a truly exciting broadcaster who is perfectly suited to a dynamic morning show. He flawlessly pivots from conducting hard-hitting interviews to sharing engaging and entertaining anecdotes, driven by his innate curiosity and genuine desire to connect with his audiences."—SARAH BRISTOW, Newshub "Director of News"
Your transcript, as ever, demonstrates how ill-informed significant sections of our media are.
By comparison, Double Down News actually adds context to the event.
In this 12 minute clip ‘ The One Thing They Don’t Tell You About Terrorism’ Mark Curtis provides the context that we rarely hear. The video refers to the US and the UK’s actions in Iran and Egypt back in the 1950s.
Best of all is Adam Curtis’s ‘The Power of Nightmares.’ if you have the time. Brilliant documentary with an outstanding soundtrack and amazing footage.
Interesting & very good. I know all this stuff already. It hasn't really dawned on me how important it is that most people, and politicians, in NZ don't.
Even when we get an ideal opportunity for the media here – like the 9/11 anniversary, the Lynnmall attack, & the stunning but potentially catastrophic victory of the Taliban – to post that video in an in-depth news article, or show something like that documentary on the Sunday tv1 programme, (which is about the only documentary programme we seem to have that takes offshore media content of any length) instead our media are focussed on often comparatively trivial, magazine-style content & purely local issues.
It's a good way of instructing the wider population where these these attacks have come from & why their aftermaths really happen. We need to steer clear of engaging with these kinds of enterprises.
This covert & sometimes overt US & NATO support for certain Islamic extremist or fundamentalist groups against others, or less than wholesome regimes expriencing insurrections that could undermine US & EU investments, I believe is still going on in places like Libya & other countries.
Our MSM media have been exceptionally restrained on 9/11 today.
Agreed. Although, unfortunately for aficionados of the bizarre, Ryan Bridge's dullness and Mark Richardson's stupidity are no substitute for the full-blown madness of the Saatchi headman Kevin Roberts when he made his notorious appearance on a TV3 chat show twenty years ago.
Quite right Morrisey. One right wing Puppet walks away from the am show, and the the bloke who takes his place is, and you've guessed it is. just another right wing Puppet. Newshub the voice of the National Party.
It will be interesting to see the direction Queensland go in, because they experienced their Delta spike around a month before us. They have a population around 3x the size of Auckland, have had lower daily case numbers than Auckland over the spike, and their current daily numbers are lower.
Queensland has used the same elimination techniques as NZ for each Covid outbreak to date, including the 2 recent Delta outbreaks. (so did Victoria and ACT, but lockdown weariness/lack of compliance has affected Victoria much more than Qld). So far, so good, but Qld has a long border with NSW which is intent on "living with Covid" at levels of vaccination, the wisdom of which is disputed by different "experts." Its hard to see how Qld can keep Delta out for much longer and as elsewhere the race is on to vaccinate as many people as possible and do what can be done to control any leakages.
Possibly a seasonal thing. Our warm damp Autumn wiped my total crop out in less than a week, probably wasn,t the only one. Also guess what same thing happened in Switzerland this year – most of the early summer commercial tomato crops wipe out by fungus too !
…What are 'unlinked sub-clusters', and should we be concerned about them?
Katie Kenny – Stuff.co.nz, Sep 11 2021
….Unfortunately, unlinked sub-clusters and mystery cases make it hard for the Government to be able to confidently lower alert levels without compromising the goal of eliminating Covid-19 from the community.
Experts agree the missing links could mean the difference between Auckland remaining at level 4 lockdown or shifting to level 3 next week….
Lockdown a 'small taste' of World War II hardship, Auckland Mayor says
Kendall Hutt and Josephine Franks – Stuff.co.nz, Apr 02 2020
"We're getting a small taste of what our grandparents and parents went through during World War II and the Depression, so try not to just complain.
"We need to say 'Hey, this is what it is and if we work together we will get through it'."
….there were people doing it harder than others: pregnant women and new mums, people grieving for loved ones, families living in overcrowded conditions.
"It's about thinking of all those people," he said.
Auckland's Mayor is right to invoke the memory of the Great Depression and the World War.
The government is spilling red ink all over the place, record numbers of Auckland families are queuing for food parcels. In the midst of this crisis, the banksters are still transfering hundreds of millions out of our pockets, and out of the country in the form of mortgage payments. (We all pay mortgages, renters are just paying someone else's).
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff compares the experience of our Grandparents generation during the World War and the Great Depression to the current crisis and hardship being experienced by this generation due to the Covid crisis.
Of course there are many differences, one of the biggest difference between then and now, is how little of the current hardship is being shouldered by the top end of town. During the war, in line with the Labour Government policy of conscripting wealth as well as Labour, the top tax rate on the richest New Zealanders was set at 90%.
During the Great Depression, to ease the burden of the crisis on ordinary New Zealanders, a moratorium on mortgages was enacted.
To ease the burden of the lockdown on ordinary New Zealanders, (especially if it neccessary to go on for much longer) the Current Labour Government can look back to the precedents of the past and declare a nationwide Mortgage Moratorium. (We all pay mortgages, renters just pay someone else's). Just as it was in the pass the Mortgage Moratorium legislation would be mandated, that landlords pass on mortgage relief to their tenants.
If there was anything could earn this goverrnment the love of farmers, and undercut farmers support for the right wing Groundswell movement, and the National Party, it would be mortgage relief.
…..by 1931, it was clear that further intervention was necessary to prevent widespread foreclosures and mortgagee sales. Although some of the measures taken applied to all mortgagors, this paper is concerned only with those that were of direct concern to farmers. Mortgage relief for farmers was explicit or implicit in more than a dozen pieces of legislation passed between 1931 and 1936 as successive governments tried to cope with the worsening crisis…..
…..The modification of mortgage conditions was not new in New Zealand. A 'mortgage moratorium' had been imposed as a war measure in 1914
….Although mortgage relief was frequently discussed at some length by
contemporary commentators, and by some historians in the 1950s and
1960s, it has been relegated to a few lines at most in more recent works.'
The Mortgagors and Tenants Further Relief Act, 1932, gave new rights to mortgagors. Whereas, previously, mortgagors could seek relief only when they were directly threatened by mortgagee action, they could now apply for relief independently of any action taken by a mortgagee.
This Act also extended to lessees the same protection
that had been granted to mortgagors,
This last ammendment to the Mortgage Moratorium, that it be extended to lessees, (tenants), may have been due to the work of the powerful 'Anti Eviction Committee'.
A Mortgage Moratorium, to make Auckland's level 4 lockdown bearable until there are Zero community transmission of untraceable infections.
It is not like our big foreign owned banks can't afford it, they take $3.5 billion off shore from us every year.
If the banksters dare bitch and moan, we need to quote Mayor Goff's words at them.
“We're getting a small taste of what our grandparents and parents went through during World War II and the Depression, so try not to just complain…..
this is what it is and if we work together we will get through it.” Auckland Mayor, Phil Goff.
Let us beat this pandemic.
Let's do all it takes.
The alternative is the needless deaths, and an overwhelmed public health system.
Jesus – front, side, and backward effects, huh. The poor bastards have me surrounded!
edit: I have a certain shocked admiration for the idea the vaccine causes infections in the unvaccinated. So getting covid would be the result of exposure to vaccinated people, not actually covid.
As of September 11, Savor Group has been paid $226,856.00 in wage subsidy for August 2021.
Newshub spoke to four employees who say they are among many left desperate to receive the full amounts of the wage subsidies after the company had made applications under their names, but were only paid based on their minimum contracted hours of three hours each.
[…]
When New Zealand went into lockdown, she expected to qualify for the 'part-time' wage subsidy at the very least – but instead, Davison has been receiving just $40 weekly for her contracted three hours work.
This is despite Savor Group applying for a wage subsidy under 'part-time' work in her name for $359, a Ministry of Social Development (MSD) document sent to Newshub confirms.
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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; ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
“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 ...
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, ...
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, ...
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, ...
.“$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 ...
“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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 → ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track 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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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, ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
He’s bringing ‘Sophie’ back, yeah. Goodshirt’s ‘Sophie’ music video is one of the most instantly recognisable New Zealand music videos of all time. Featuring a woman listening to the song on headphones while her entire house is burgled behind her, the video won the New Zealand music award for Best ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University A year ago, the AUKUS agreement was formally announced between Australian and UK Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden. The agreement mapped out the “optimal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Helwig, Associate Professor, Electro-Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern Queensland SmartS/Shutterstock Steam locomotives clattering along railway tracks. Paddle steamers churning down the Murray. Dreadnought battleships powered by steam engines. Many of us think the age of steam has ended. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carrie Leonetti, Associate Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Victims who experience family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand are treated differently, depending on which part of the justice system they turn to for help. But a new member’s bill ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Tesch, Visiting Fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies, Australian National University In perhaps the least surprising news of the year, Vladimir Putin has triumphed at the Russian ballot box and been enthroned for the fifth time as president. He ...
The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court has stopped a byelection for the Madang Open seat being held until an appeal filed by former MP Bryan Kramer is concluded. Kramer had appealed to the Supreme Court over a National Court decision not to review his application of the Leadership Tribunal decision ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Despite a “historic” ceasefire agreement in Papua New Guinea between Enga authorities and tribal leaders after months of bitter warfare, a young woman has been found brutally killed near Kaekin village, Wapenamanda. Despite the peace agreement and signing concluded in Port Moresby last Thursday ...
The second season of Ryan Murphy’s Feud is a sadder and slower entry into his canon of true story-telling, leaning heavily on a verdict about the cost of a single work of art. Hollywood heavyweight Ryan Murphy has had a bit of “ick” about him in the last few years. ...
Are you deeply passionate about sharing Māori stories? We’re on the hunt for an experienced writer/editor to lead coverage in our Ātea section.Ātea is a deeply valued section of The Spinoff site, offering Māori perspectives and insights across politics, current affairs and culture. We are thrilled to be looking ...
By Aisha Azeemah in Suva With the lights on one of his sneakers blinking as he ran through the gallery, a little boy looked up at several works of art. One of them was a sculpture of his grandfather: the man who changed how we see the Pacific — Epeli ...
WHAT: Uber drivers are holding a rally outside the Court of Appeal in Wellington tomorrow, as the company begins its appeal against 2022’s Employment Court verdict (in a case taken jointly by FIRST Union and E tū) that four drivers were permanent ...
RNZ Pacific The Fiji Meteorological Service has a heavy rain warning still in place for the whole of the country after a weekend of flooding, although some floodwaters have receded. Flood and flash flood warnings and alerts are also in place, including a warning for all flash flood-prone areas, small ...
Responding to Grant Robertson’s recent admission on a Q+A with Jack Tame that his only regret from his time in office was that he didn’t take on more debt, Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson, Alex Murphy, said: “Grant Robertson has now admitted that he ...
I cannot help but think that the Leader of the Opposition (such as it is) is in a similar position, with her attack on Siouxsie Wiles, as Cersei Lannister would have been had she entered a popularity contest with Margery Tyrel. Absent a significant alchemical stockpile, there is no way for an embittered and essentially useless rule breaker to land a criticism on a useful and broadly popular expert.
If Winston Peters attempts a Lazarus-like rise from the dead with dog-whistling public remarks and /or stunts over the coming months, & Seymour carries on doing the same thing, the Trumpian Territory will be very crowded & the right wing & redneck votes could well be so split they're not a serious challenge to this government.
…the right wing & redneck votes…
Please don't use that elitist putdown to denote bigotry.
“Redneck” is the contemptuous term for working people used by Democratic Party mandarins in the 1970s to condemn the minority of working people who voted for Nixon. It’s been thoughtlessly recycled over the years, and was enthusiastically used by Clintonistas and Hopey-Changey cultists to besmirch white working people who they believed should vote for them by divine right.
Think about who the most bigoted, racist, outrageous hatemongers in this country are: Don Brash, Jamie “Lock Up His Sisters” Whyte, Mike Hosking, David Seymour, Cameron “Whalefat” Slater, John Ansell, Garth “The Knife” McVicar. Only the last-named qualifies as a redneck, as he has actually done some physical work in his life.
My grandfathers and my uncles all worked hard on farms and in factories, and they often got sunburned, including on their necks. They were and are rednecks, just like the hardworking men and women in the United States are. But I’ve never, ever heard any of them utter the brutal and heartless and ignorant rhetoric that we are inflicted with every day from comfortable, sedentary, white-collared, white-necked people like Brash and co.
These hate-filled right wingers are not rednecks, they are bigots.
Good call. Sorry M. Thank you for the education & clarity about rednecks. The word will disappear from any future comments by me.
Good on you Gezza, yoo're a champion.
I recommend thoroughly checking any assertions made by Morrissey that might influence you. His reliability isn't the greatest.
For instance, here's just one of the first hits on looking for the origin of the term "redneck":
https://slate.com/culture/2019/12/redneck-origin-definition-union-uprising-south.html
Thanks Andre. As your link shows, the elitist contempt for poor people certainly goes back a long way. It became particularly nasty after the Nixon election, though. The anger and bewilderment of the East Coast elite is evident in any issue of Time or Newsweek or the Village Voice from the 1970s.
The anger at poor and ignorant whites got even crazier and more unhinged during Trump’s clownish four years.
How am I "unreliable", exactly?
Oh that's right. I didn't buy in to the Russia conspiracy nonsense that you and some others pushed for the last four years. How is that going by the way? How did that Mueller Report go?
Andre. Yes I've noted Morrissey's robust style & views & might not always agree or engage with his comments. But in this case, it reminded me that I have actually heard & seen the same explanation of the origin of rednecks before.
It's an American derogatory term that doesn't really have a traditional equivalent in NZ. I have decided to not use it again in any context.
Randy Newman's contemptuous and unfunny song "Rednecks" was a catalyst in the use of the term. Newman was a guest on Kim Hill's show a while ago: he was a dyed-in-the-wool Russiagate conspiracy theorist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTLHxpUQ_B8
Ha! I thought that song was unfunny and unlistenable as well.
The only song of his I like is "Baltimore."
I do enjoy some of his songs, but I just don't have a lot of respect for someone who endorsed Barack Obama in 2012.
I like a lot of Randy Newman's songs, & his piano & vocal style. I've always perceived them as loaded with tongue-in-cheek irony & lyrics thus never to be taken at face value.
I am surprised to hear he's a Russiagate conspiracy theorist, but he's not alone there. She's a hard road finding the perfect human being, M.
His 1974 release Good Old Boys was a set of songs about the American South. "Rednecks" began with a description of segregationist Lester Maddox pitted against a "smart-ass New York Jew" on a TV show (this was a joke, because the "Jew" was Dick Cavett), in a song that criticizes both southern racism and the complacent bigotry of Americans outside of the south who stereotype all southerners as racist yet ignore racism in northern and midwestern states and large cities.
This ambiguity was also apparent on "Kingfish" and "Every Man A King" the former a paen to Huey King the assassinated former Governor and US senator from Louisiana, the other a campaign song written by Long himself. An album that received lavish critical praise, Good Old Boys also became a commercial breakthrough for Newman, peaking at No. 36 on Billboard 200, spending 21 weeks there.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Newman
I like his song Birmingham, among others.
Being a working class "redneck" and an ex "Westie" myself, that is appreciated.
Don Brash I personally think is a little different from the others you mention. Yes he's certainly a class of racist as the term is not singularly applied to people who hate others of another skin colour or culture.
Whenever I've watched or listened to him, my impression is that My-wife-is-from-Singapore-Don (subtext, so I can't be racist) has as his main thesis that "We are One people" & that Maori actually did sign up to surrender their tino rangatiratanga in Te Tiriti in their own nga rohe.
The Kiwi Not Iwi campaign certainly was aimed directly at racists & those who feel threatened or angered by the resurgence of Maori cultural & political awareness & believe they are not owed anything. Even in the face of the obvious fact that the treaty was almost immediately abrogated by settler governments, & that they were ripped off, tricked, ruthlessly warred on & dispossessed nationwide of huge tracts of land there was never any doubt they hadn't legally sold, for legitimately resisting. And further that treaty settlements don't go anywhere near recompensing them for the real economic & social costs of their subjugation.
Don, to me is a racist who is so blinkered he doesn't know he's a racist. He's permanently resistant to education on the matter because he can't comprehend that is. A sad figure.
But I believe (or perhaps hope might be a better word) that by now most people in NZ, and certainly I wish those younger, who have been taught or have themselves just google-researched the history of the treaty & the settlement of New Zealand by Maori & Pakeha (even Wikipedia these days is getting to be very comprehensive & balanced) now see people like Don as a rather doddery old man whose attitude is myopically ill informed and well out of date.
Judith “pot calling the kettle black” with regards to comments about Souxie’s weight issues, Judith is not exactly an A List Model IMHO ?
The media have of course focused on the word "fat" and used that to turn it against Judith and you have taken the bait 'hook, line and sinker'. If Judith had not used the word 'fat', the media would have emphasised the word 'big'. OMG….Judith called Siousxie big! Judith needs to be more careful with the language she uses.
Seymour was smarter when he called James Shaw "a complete hypocrite".
Seymour was smarter…
Wrong. Seymour is not fit to talk about hypocrisy, or anything else for that matter.
Neither of them are particularly smart especially when they open their mouths when the brain is not engaged.
That goes for all politicians from all sides of the house.
Given that you are apparently incapable of providing links; Jester (it's the button that looks like a chainlink – just paste the URL), I fosacked this out of RNZ's archive.
Shaw may be a bit of a grey suit man, but he's far less of a hypocrite than Seymour or Collins.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.rnz.co.nz/article/52655a9d-7a34-4b39-bd83-8abf45abf697
"The United Nations development agency says Afghanistan is teetering on the brink of “universal poverty” which could become a reality in the middle of next year unless urgent efforts are made to bolster local communities and their economies. It said the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has put 20 years of steady economic gains at risk.
…
“Afghanistan pretty much faces universal poverty by the middle of next year,” Kanni Wignaraja, UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Director, told a news conference Thursday launching its 28-page assessment. “That’s where we’re heading — it’s 97-98% (poverty rate) no matter how you work these projections.”
Currently, the poverty rate is 72% and Wignaraja pointed to many development gains after the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001: Per capita income more than doubled in the last 20 years, life expectancy at birth was extended by about nine years, the number of years of schooling rose from six to 10, “and we got women into university.”
But she said Afghanistan now faces “a humanitarian and development disaster” resulting from political instability, frozen foreign reserves, a collapsed public finance system, “a crush on local banking because of this,” as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic."
…
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-pakistan-afghanistan-islamabad-qatar-d35bb246ad1db460b2a2e8d24c77f99d
…
And
"The Taliban have issued an ominous warning to the United States after backlash from the international community surrounding the appointment of its interim Afghanistan "terrorist" government.
…
"…in a statement on Thursday night obtained by news.com.au, Mujahid slammed US officials for calling out cabinet members of the "Islamic State" – aka Afghanistan – and claimed they were in violation of the Doha agreement.
"Pentagon officials have remarked that some cabinet members of the Islamic Emirate or family members of late Haqqani Sahib – may Allah be pleased with him – are on the US blacklists and still targets," the statement reads.
… the group claimed any leaders in the new government under the Doha agreement meant any "blacklists" should have been wiped.
…"all officials of the Islamic Emirate without any exception were part of interaction with the US and should have been removed from the UN and US blacklists, a demand which still remains valid.
"That America and other countries are making such provocative statements and trying to meddle the internal affairs of Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate condemns it in the strongest terms. "Such remarks by US officials are a repetition of past failed experiments and such positions detrimental for America.
"We urge that these incorrect policies be immediately reversed through diplomatic interactions."
…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/taliban-releases-statement-saying-united-states-is-in-clear-violation-over-terrorist-comments/Y5QEQXEITJO5TKBDFCAA2MOT64/
It's like some tragic, truly awful black comedy unfolding. Just seems like a hopeless situation for the Afghan population.
Yes Gezza, it is indeed a hopeless situation for the Afghans. The USA is not finished with interfering in Afghanistan. They will foment ( and fund and militarily support) as much trouble as they can to bring unwanted problems to both Russia and China because that is all they are interested in to try and prove they are "exceptional and the indispensable nation”. They don't give a damn about the people of Afghanistan and they never have. Same same as Vietnam and all their other "conquests”. I will go so far as to say they would rather destroy the world than lose their "anglo/american " empire. Such is the madness and nature of their military /industrial complex.
Yes, I agree. One of the good things about Trump, I thought, was that he was such an outrageously gung ho "America First, Everywhere" Amerika uber alles ultra-nationalist bully, he made it abundantly clear that nobody else anywhere registers on the minds of so many America's politicians & voters as having any worth beyond what they can do for Americans.
And he publicly abandoned the claim to be "leader of the free world". I thought it woke a few people up.
Biden has gone back to the old script of claiming that title.
Interesting Pakistani expert/intellectual on Kim Hill (RNZ) right now saying the USA was doing well in Afghanistan until it invaded Iraq, then they lost focus and support and it all fell apart.
Of course it doesn't help that the regime they installed was corrupt.
The idea they were "doing well" in Afghanistan is as fraudulent as the rationale for attacking it in the first place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-kpdXCYY80
You could at least warn us of the long Fox intro, then the Tucker Carlson intro, before you get to words out of Mr Greenwald that are so predictable that they come out as a set of Leftie Grump Hallmark Cards.
For real 20-year-hindsight analysis from the people who made the decisions on the day and in the weeks afterwards, try this long form interview piece:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/09/10/9-11-attacks-20th-anniversary-reassessing-20-years-of-war-506924
It covers:
– Ambassador John Negroponte, General Richard Myers, Frances Townsend, Admiral James Stafridis, Douglas Feith, John McLaughlin, General David Petraeus, Michael Chertoff, Andrew Card, Senator Tom Daschle, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, Joshua Bolten, Paul Wolfowitz, Senator Trent Lott, Ambassador Paul Bremer, Dan Bartlett, and Senator Joseph Liebermann.
Good looking link. Thanks.
At about the fifth para in we get this:
It's been said that the Americans believe that if something is worth doing it's always worth overdoing. Well after 20yrs in Afghanistan – that benighted land that God uses to teach the powerful some humility – maybe it's time they learned this was never more than a dangerous hubris.
And that perhaps moderation is the smartest strategy in the room after all.
PS on scrolling down – it looks like required reading.
For real 20-year-hindsight analysis from the people who made the decisions…
Thanks for that Ad. What a collection of ghouls. Most of them are criminals, who should be behind bars, not enjoying sinecures at universities and extremist "think tanks", but a few of them come across as simply pathetic—like Tom Daschle, who admits to being browbeaten into supporting the aggression, Paul Bremer, who seems to be genuinely delusional, and Joe Lieberman who, as always, just seems sad.
It's a horrible article, a PR puff piece, but it's also darkly funny, and a perfect example of the way these crooks are packaged and presented by their media accomplices. Each one of them has been beautifully photographed in striking black and white. The pictures are similar in style to Annie Leibowitz's shots of celebrities for Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone. They have the effect of making these people appear sober, respectable, and serious.
I'm sure that I'm not the only person to be offended that the author of this shambles calls these monsters "architects of the post-9/11 world", as if they had built something instead of conspiring to destroy a country and kill millions of people. My favourite quotes are…
How mass killings by US forces after 9/11 boosted support for the Taliban | Afghanistan | The Guardian
<<“I am very happy the American forces have finally left Afghanistan, and very grateful to Allah for making this happen. At last I feel safe.”
Those murders were perhaps the most high-profile civilian deaths of the war. But it was not the only time foreign forces killed large numbers of women, children and non-combatant men, in just this one corner of a single district of Afghanistan.
Five men from Zangabad who spoke to the Guardian said they lost 49 relatives between them in airstrikes and the massacre, bloodshed spanning nearly a decade. These terrible losses, repeated in many parts of Afghanistan, would prove powerful recruiting tools for the Taliban, as they slowly gathered their forces to retake the country. >>
Thanks for that Morrissey…always good to have a bit clear eyed analysis run over these propaganda pieces…you would think these guys would be able to see through such obvious nonsense, but I guess you see what you want to see…
"“Overreach” is a word they use often to describe a nation-building effort that notched tactical and even historic successes — like empowering women in Afghanistan"…I mean come on..really?
"Overreach"—isn't that what got Mayor Cuomo into trouble?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHN9b6mLJlo
Bang on, BG. Wherever they've invaded countries or got involved in their wars since 9/11 (and before) to "save" the local people from their "dreadful" rulers & bring the light of American culture & democracy & technology & corporations to rescue them from their "backwardness", they've slaughtered thousands of ordinary troops legitimately defending their country – & killed more innocent civilians in the local populations [directly or indirectly, thru the aftermaths, like Islamic State] than their despotic rulers ever did.
They've utterly stuffed their economies, ramped up sectarianism, installed incompetent or incoherent governments rife with corruption & instability, changed the balance of power, & in the Middle East either directly or indirectly been responsible for the total or near total destruction of whole cities & towns & their infrastructure.
And they remain blithely unconcerned & seemingly convinced they did them all a favour.
In contrast to the above, the Taliban have praised New Zealand by name for continuing our aid to the Afghan people.
The Biden administration and the Western Alliance are continuing the war by other means.
New Zealand should refuse to take part.
The Biden administration's vindictive, (and pointless), war by other means, inevitably resulting in economic collapse and mass famine in Afghanistan, cannot but help foster political instability across the region and fuel terrorist reprisals against the West.
New Zealand must have no part in the US war by other means, and continue our humanitarian aid to the Afghan people.
I watch Aljazeera tv news daily. It's an excellent global news media service that covers events happening all over the world, covering countless daily events in counries we never see even mentioned in NZ msm online & tv media.
Charlotte has built personal connections wirh the Taliban leadership, and when she is accosted or insulted by the Kabul footsoldiers who are brutally suppressing women protesting [the Taliban have banned protests & inappropriate reporting], or they refuse to talk to her because she is a woman and is "inapproriately dressed" she complains to them & they usually apologise, she reports.
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/afghan-journalists-were-beaten-taliban-155623974.html
So it's Dirty Politics deja vu.
Cameron Slater posts some surveillance footage of Siouxsie Wiles on The BFD, makes extravagant claims and accusations and what appear to be false claims, but gets no traction.
So he passes the DP baton to David Farrar who repeats and tries to give the story some semblance of reasonable analysis that appears tainted by taking Slater at his word. And there's the expected pile on on Kiwiblog.
There's two attack lines – the alleged hypocrisy of Wiles (Slater accusing someone of hypocrisy is rather cute), and blasting the media for not repeating and amplifying Slater's 'scoop'.
Someone in the media does ask questions at the high profile daily Covid media presentation, and Wiles generally does a good job of explaining that she was more or less abiding by the rules but concedes her companion breached rules by going for a swim – if that was a general member of the public it's unlikely anyone would have noticed let alone cared, but those preach strict compliance should be held to account when they don't do what they implore of others.
Then Judith Collins joins the fray, seemingly already well versed in the Slater attack and making intemperate and tone deaf comments about Wiles. I can only guess that this was a deliberate approach by Collins, but it re-emphasises her unsuitability as a leader of a party that needs mainstream support.
And it realigns her with Slater and Dirty Politics, something that will likely not work out well for her.
And back to the original source this morning it's obviously not just Slater involved. The 'editor' of The BFD, Juana Atkins, has carried on with the smearing of Wiles. Atkins has long been as complicit as Slater in the dirty BFD tactics – in fact it seems likely it only continues now due to her efforts to keep it going.
But bringing Farrar into the mix and then Collins piling in as well has effectively dragged the National Party back into the centre of Dirty Politics, something they could ill afford to happen given their deteriorating situation.
Our politics is the poorer for a dysfunctional ex-major party and for the resurrection of Dirty Politics.
Hi Pete. Missing your blog & hope you're enjoying doing the other things you wanted to get on with.
Good summary.
I can't access the BFD on this iPad2; it's too "busy" & continually crashes once I open more than one article there. Just as well though. The BFD's just a parody. Have they even got much of an audience these days?
I sometimes read Kiwiblog but note that it seems to be mainly disgruntled National commenters & the slinging off at “Cindy” & “Jacinderella” etc lowers the tone too much for my taste. It crashes a lot on this iPad2 as well, as the comments start to build up.
We must not forget what Collins said about Wiles
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/collins-calls-dr-siouxsie-wiles-big-fat-hypocrite
And remember who traveled to wellington from lev 4 Auckland because she was/is (HUH) an ‘essential worker.
Serious National party people will be shaking their heads that Collins is prepared to get into the sewer with Slater and Atkins. Collins will need to try to scrape the mess off the bottom of her shoes but the smell that had subsided is back.
The most pertinent aspect of the incident is that it shows in full flourish who and what Collins is. The age old-timers will be asking, "How did it get to this? Is this who we are? Is this as good as it gets?"
Serious National party people will be shaking their heads…
?????
Could you provide us with one example of a "serious National party" person?
Finlayson seems deadly serious in his contempt for the current management of his old firm. Whether he still counts as a Nat is another matter, but he'll always be a Tory to me.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300345221/national-party-is-selfdestructing-former-minister-says
He's a bright and amusing commentator. I was wrong to suggest that they're all hopeless–they're not. And after they leave parliament, they're often very nice.
Finlayson's version of treaty settlements (for which he has nothing but praise for himself) has largely delivered a very, very narrow Maori middle class based on property rights. If all you want out of a Settlement is to mirror the worst of capitalism, then all you want is the National Party.
It was telling that he considers "Property Rights" are second only to the "right to life".
As we have seen many times, "Property Rights" are most often the rights of the "overlords' to hang onto the commons they originally stole.
Rather Ironic when we are talking about Maori land rights.
It worked to get the Maori "elite" invested in supporting a capitalist ruling class however.
Brian Easton makes the same point today in his column.
Yes every time Finlayson is on The Panel (RNZ) he appears to be a legend in his own mind.
I think the stages of National Party people go something like:
minor, mild, moderate, serious, acute, and morbid.
They have a bit of a surplus on the extreme right atm – goes with the territory.
Stuart Munro.. A bit like covid then?
Covid is a very tricky virus – the Gnats seem to be less evolved – more primitive – an ancient species that has outlived its time and is now chiefly of interest to paleontologists and cryptozoologists.
DP was always a bit like a 4-wheel drive in wet mud with all wheels spinning fast until one of them got some traction. It was never pretty and it was always dirty. Lately, the Leaders of the National and ACT Parties, the Crusher turned La Cheffe Fatale and the Dancer turned Cockwomble, respectively, have been hustling for the driver’s seat and the media love nothing better than a reality demolition derby. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the NZ political scene at its finest.
'
All politics is pressure:
Sadly, guns are there to stay in the US. The gun lobby owns too many politicians in both the Democrat & Republican parties.
As we all know or at least are lead to believe if you listen or watch any western media, white western lives and most especially white American lives have a lot more value than any other lives around the world….so as we are force feed a serious amount of air time around the USA's 9/11, for a bit of balance here is a bit of historical context as to why most of the world see the USA as the biggest threat to world peace….here is Chile's own 9/11 which through direct US intervention brought in a reign of terror, death, torture, rape ..which of course is never remembered by western media…but as I said they are not white westerners..so who cares.
Chile’s🇨🇱 9/11: The Augusto Pinochet Coup- How The USA Brought Neoliberal Fascism To Chile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NP0mmEbQk0
A little of respect for nature, and to see how wonderful and enterprising Bruce is. Brought a smile in this current time when a smile can make wonders to someones state of mind.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/disabled-kea-at-willowbank-wildlife-reserve-uses-stone-to-preen-himself/V6A24KRMK6ZZE7SA3ZQMVOR5GE/
"Just months earlier, Shaakir drove to the maximum-security Auckland Prison. After weaving through a labyrinth of guard posts and gates, he was led into a special unit for prisoners of “extreme risk” – a unit originally built to house the gunman behind the Christchurch terror attack.
In a secure meeting room, Shaakir sat face-to-face with [the Lynnmall attacker], a 31-year-old obsessed with violent, terror-inspired content. From behind a solid pane of glass, Shaakir tried to make a connection.
“Although he didn’t know me from a bar of soap, he was really excited to sit with me. He was very calm, and we had a good discussion. I tried to get inside his mind to understand how he had been radicalised, and how I could assist and rehabilitate him.”
Shaakir wasn’t the only Muslim leader who believed [S] needed help to rewrite his radical beliefs. Three years earlier, Auckland barrister Aarif Rasheed tried to persuade authorities to do exactly that.
“They had characterised [S] as a terrorist sympathiser,” says Rasheed. “However, he was the first to admit his lack of Islamic knowledge, and he was willing to learn. With the right support, we had the chance to get this guy on the right path.”
…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/126332093/the-makings-of-a-terrorist–and-the-people-who-tried-to-help-him
…
Superb article, & lots of information about the LynnMall attacker & his situation. One hopes the latest teenager who's been charged with making statements about wanting to kill non-Muslims can be assisted by Imam Shakir & that work can be done to develop and integrate a proper personal plan for de-radicalisation with the Courts, Corrections, Police & Muslim community working together.
interesting read, for sure
This sounds like a lot of submissions – something like 2% of the population. Though a lot of them may be cut and paste sock puppets. Anyone here know the usual amount of submissions to an NZ government ?
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/300403159/hate-shame-and-redemption-the-road-back-from-conversion-therapy
That seems to me to be a lot. The abortion law reform bill got around 25,000. The same sex marriage bill got about 22,000.
I would think they would have been among the higher numbers, considering their contentiousness
The NZ Christian Network was urging its members to respond in their own words, not copy and paste. This concern about government overreach was widespread among the churches of Aotearoa. The Govt is seeking to privilege one particular ethic above others and enforce its view. It is antithetical to a secular, tolerant society.
https://amongtraditions.wordpress.com/2021/09/02/recognising-the-hostility-of-the-powers/
Bomber’s rant was good too
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/09/10/mediawatch-faafoi-ardern-hate-speech-burn-so-bad-it-sizzles/
"I just wanna talk about the response to the attacks, the War on Terror and that kind of stuff."
A.M. Show, Newshub, TV3, Friday 10 September 2021, 7:15 a.m.
Ryan Bridge, Amanda Gillies, Mark Richardson
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2021/09/9-11-anniversary-new-york-firefighters-describe-moment-towers-collapsed-impact-of-attacks-20-years-on.html
The dreary ritual of politicians and media figures looking and sounding sad about the attacks on 11 Sept. 2001, and ignoring any political explanations for them, began in earnest yesterday morning. On TVNZ1, John Campbell interviewed an ex-Clinton staffer who looked mournful and said that today she would be reflecting on the power of memory. Campbell mirrored her sad expression and thanked her profusely for talking to him.
On TV3, the special guests were two former New York firefighters, Captain Peter Hayden and his deputy Jay Jones. Following are the highlights of Ryan Bridge's interview with them—if "highlights" is the word for such a dire few minutes.
Along the bottom of the screen the chyron informs viewers: "PETER AND JAY WALKED OUT OF THE RUBBLE TOGETHER."
DEPUTY CHIEF JAY JONAS: Today is always going to be tied to, uh, ahhh, grief and bereavement.
(Almost instantaneously the chyron at the bottom of the screen changes. "JONAS: TODAY IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE TIED TO GRIEF AND BEREAVEMENT.")
The two ex-firefighters speak at length about the horror they experienced. Then it's time for Ryan Bridge to move the interview along a bit…
RYAN BRIDGE: Jay, I just wanna talk about the response to the attacks, the War on Terror and that kind of stuff. How do you feel about the response George Bush made?
DEPUTY CHIEF JAY JONAS: Uh, I don't know that I'm qualified to comment on that. I'm a firefighter. But I was happy to see the aggressive response to this horrible event.
……
RYAN BRIDGE: It was incredible, absolutely incredible. I was thirteen at the time and I don't have much to say.
(Twenty minutes later, it's time to ask another guest to reflect on the events of Sept. 11th.)
RYAN BRIDGE: It's one of those occasions isn't it where you always remember where you were. Helen Clark joins us for her take next…
(A commercial break ensues, and then the screen is filled with the grave mien of the former prime minister, beaming in via Skype from Paeroa.)
RYAN BRIDGE: It's the evilness you feel, isn't it.
HELEN CLARK: Yes, and evil is the appropriate word.
RYAN BRIDGE: And of course the world changed forever. How do you feel about the response, Helen?
HELEN CLARK: [pause] I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing. …. Iraq distracted attention away from Afghanistan, which needed long term investment. There was some indication that the Taliban were amenable to a political solution, but this was completely rejected by the Americans. [snickers]
(Then the sports guy decides, unwisely, to speak.)
MARK RICHARDSON: There have been no more attacks on American soil by Islamic militants. So the Americans would say it was a success. Do you agree?
HELEN CLARK: No. No I don't.
(Ryan Bridge and Amanda Gillies visibly squirm in embarrassment.)
ad nauseam….
"Ryan is a truly exciting broadcaster who is perfectly suited to a dynamic morning show. He flawlessly pivots from conducting hard-hitting interviews to sharing engaging and entertaining anecdotes, driven by his innate curiosity and genuine desire to connect with his audiences."—SARAH BRISTOW, Newshub "Director of News"
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2021/09/ryan-bridge-confirmed-as-new-host-of-the-am-show.html
Do you have a point you want to make? Spit it out.
Sure. The point is that Ryan Bridge is a shallow and ill-informed person and is not fit to front a television discussion about such a serious event.
In other words, he's almost a carbon copy of his horrible predecessor, Duncan "Vyshinsky" Garner.
Agreed, Morrissey.
Your transcript, as ever, demonstrates how ill-informed significant sections of our media are.
By comparison, Double Down News actually adds context to the event.
In this 12 minute clip ‘ The One Thing They Don’t Tell You About Terrorism’ Mark Curtis provides the context that we rarely hear. The video refers to the US and the UK’s actions in Iran and Egypt back in the 1950s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0lRwxHvGWQ
Best of all is Adam Curtis’s ‘The Power of Nightmares.’ if you have the time. Brilliant documentary with an outstanding soundtrack and amazing footage.
Thank you for that, Ed. I endorse your opinion of that excellent site.
Another superb analyst of contemporary politics is Mark Curtis. Interestingly, he is rigorously excluded from British state media.
http://markcurtis.info/
The DDN news reporter is Mark Curtis.
I suggest you will have to look and hard in the official narratives from New Zealand, the US and the UK to hear about World Trade Centre 7 Building.
It is predictable to see what detail is omitted in the reporting.
Interesting & very good. I know all this stuff already. It hasn't really dawned on me how important it is that most people, and politicians, in NZ don't.
Even when we get an ideal opportunity for the media here – like the 9/11 anniversary, the Lynnmall attack, & the stunning but potentially catastrophic victory of the Taliban – to post that video in an in-depth news article, or show something like that documentary on the Sunday tv1 programme, (which is about the only documentary programme we seem to have that takes offshore media content of any length) instead our media are focussed on often comparatively trivial, magazine-style content & purely local issues.
It's a good way of instructing the wider population where these these attacks have come from & why their aftermaths really happen. We need to steer clear of engaging with these kinds of enterprises.
This covert & sometimes overt US & NATO support for certain Islamic extremist or fundamentalist groups against others, or less than wholesome regimes expriencing insurrections that could undermine US & EU investments, I believe is still going on in places like Libya & other countries.
Our MSM media have been exceptionally restrained on 9/11 today.
New Zealand certainly does have specific commentary to add on terrorist acts within our country. If it felt inclined to do so.
ATM they are largely confining themselves to the Christchurch ceremony with our firefighters that helped in the recovery effort.
Our MSM media have been exceptionally restrained on 9/11 today.
Agreed. Although, unfortunately for aficionados of the bizarre, Ryan Bridge's dullness and Mark Richardson's stupidity are no substitute for the full-blown madness of the Saatchi headman Kevin Roberts when he made his notorious appearance on a TV3 chat show twenty years ago.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-04122016/#comment-1269709
Quite right Morrisey. One right wing Puppet walks away from the am show, and the the bloke who takes his place is, and you've guessed it is. just another right wing Puppet. Newshub the voice of the National Party.
And for today's good news story
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2021/09/stan-walker-shares-emotional-look-at-his-wedding-day-in-music-video-for-new-te-reo-m-ori-song-matemateaone.html
All the best to them. Stan has fought some fights in his young life – I truly hope he has found happiness.
New Covid-19 community cases reported today in New Zealand and Australia.
Auckland: 23
NSW: 1,599
Victoria: 450
ACT: 15
Queensland: 5
Tasmania: 0
SA and WA not yet reported.
It will be interesting to see the direction Queensland go in, because they experienced their Delta spike around a month before us. They have a population around 3x the size of Auckland, have had lower daily case numbers than Auckland over the spike, and their current daily numbers are lower.
Queensland has used the same elimination techniques as NZ for each Covid outbreak to date, including the 2 recent Delta outbreaks. (so did Victoria and ACT, but lockdown weariness/lack of compliance has affected Victoria much more than Qld). So far, so good, but Qld has a long border with NSW which is intent on "living with Covid" at levels of vaccination, the wisdom of which is disputed by different "experts." Its hard to see how Qld can keep Delta out for much longer and as elsewhere the race is on to vaccinate as many people as possible and do what can be done to control any leakages.
Sorry for the odd post. But it has defuddled me a bit, as still don't quite believe it.
I was in the supermarket yesterday. Was looking at tomatoes.
You know those plastic tray things you buy with about 8 in for $3.99 ish?
$10 *****ing dollars. I mean WTF?
Possibly a seasonal thing. Our warm damp Autumn wiped my total crop out in less than a week, probably wasn,t the only one. Also guess what same thing happened in Switzerland this year – most of the early summer commercial tomato crops wipe out by fungus too !
Will Auckland stay at level 4 for another week?
The answer; 'Unfortunately' is, Yes.*
*(That is if the government doesn't abandon their elimination strategy. And I can't see that happening.)
This unfortunately will mean more hardship for many small businesses and retailers and householders.
Let us hope that at Monday’s presser the PM will be able to announce some new relief strategies.
I am hoping for a rent and mortgage moratorium. (Let the banksters share some of the pain).
Correction; I should have said "weeks" not "week".
Auckland's Mayor is right to invoke the memory of the Great Depression and the World War.
The government is spilling red ink all over the place, record numbers of Auckland families are queuing for food parcels. In the midst of this crisis, the banksters are still transfering hundreds of millions out of our pockets, and out of the country in the form of mortgage payments. (We all pay mortgages, renters are just paying someone else's).
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff compares the experience of our Grandparents generation during the World War and the Great Depression to the current crisis and hardship being experienced by this generation due to the Covid crisis.
Of course there are many differences, one of the biggest difference between then and now, is how little of the current hardship is being shouldered by the top end of town. During the war, in line with the Labour Government policy of conscripting wealth as well as Labour, the top tax rate on the richest New Zealanders was set at 90%.
During the Great Depression, to ease the burden of the crisis on ordinary New Zealanders, a moratorium on mortgages was enacted.
To ease the burden of the lockdown on ordinary New Zealanders, (especially if it neccessary to go on for much longer) the Current Labour Government can look back to the precedents of the past and declare a nationwide Mortgage Moratorium. (We all pay mortgages, renters just pay someone else's). Just as it was in the pass the Mortgage Moratorium legislation would be mandated, that landlords pass on mortgage relief to their tenants.
If there was anything could earn this goverrnment the love of farmers, and undercut farmers support for the right wing Groundswell movement, and the National Party, it would be mortgage relief.
All politics is pressure.
This last ammendment to the Mortgage Moratorium, that it be extended to lessees, (tenants), may have been due to the work of the powerful 'Anti Eviction Committee'.
A Mortgage Moratorium, to make Auckland's level 4 lockdown bearable until there are Zero community transmission of untraceable infections.
It is not like our big foreign owned banks can't afford it, they take $3.5 billion off shore from us every year.
If the banksters dare bitch and moan, we need to quote Mayor Goff's words at them.
“We're getting a small taste of what our grandparents and parents went through during World War II and the Depression, so try not to just complain…..
this is what it is and if we work together we will get through it.” Auckland Mayor, Phil Goff.
Let us beat this pandemic.
Let's do all it takes.
The alternative is the needless deaths, and an overwhelmed public health system.
10 minutes says the manor in question is likely connected to a dement[ed] unit.
https://twitter.com/nz_voter/status/1436529365030821890
Jesus – front, side, and backward effects, huh. The poor bastards have me surrounded!
edit: I have a certain shocked admiration for the idea the vaccine causes infections in the unvaccinated. So getting covid would be the result of exposure to vaccinated people, not actually covid.
They've checked themselves with their own lunacy and now it's double down on the absurd, or bust.
Lock the pricks up.
As of September 11, Savor Group has been paid $226,856.00 in wage subsidy for August 2021.
Newshub spoke to four employees who say they are among many left desperate to receive the full amounts of the wage subsidies after the company had made applications under their names, but were only paid based on their minimum contracted hours of three hours each.
[…]
When New Zealand went into lockdown, she expected to qualify for the 'part-time' wage subsidy at the very least – but instead, Davison has been receiving just $40 weekly for her contracted three hours work.
This is despite Savor Group applying for a wage subsidy under 'part-time' work in her name for $359, a Ministry of Social Development (MSD) document sent to Newshub confirms.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/09/savor-group-staff-paid-3-hours-a-week-in-lockdown-despite-bosses-claiming-wage-subsidies-upwards-of-20-hours-work.html