Remember, it was the Greens’ choice to be in a confidence and supply agreement, not NZF. There’s no indications thus far that a three-way coalition is off the cards.
In a US survey they asked men and women what they most feared when going on a date. Men were most likely to say it was being laughed at, women were most likely to say being raped and murdered.
In the Dunedin longitudinal study it was found that female assaults male was more common than male assaults female
[please link and provide cut and pastes to back that up as well as provide the context e.g. how assault was measured. You are free to argue what you want here (within the limits of the Policy) but on something like DV you have to make some attempt to do so in ways that don’t mislead – weka]
OAB
I note that it should be colmar?… poll. But that isn’t about an idiot and
the link didn’t take me to a comment, just to the post, which is surprising.
[please reread the moderation note. Links on their own aren’t enough. You need to demonstrate what you are saying onsite here without expecting people to read a whole article and figure out what you mean. Also, this moderator doesn’t have the time so I suggest making it easier rather than harder. – weka]
Thanks VTO. Informative. I wonder if the difference is that male violence is more likely to inflict greater damage?
I do know of women who slap and/or scratch their partners when angry. I know a male who has learned to never turn his back when she is angry.
It’s a given that women can be violent towards men, but as you point out there are very real and important differences.
The problem with vto’s MRA-like position is that he’s misleading by trying to make out that DV isn’t gendered. I’d really welcome men here talking about all aspects of violence and how it affects them, but it’s not ok to have that conversation in the context of ‘women are just as bad as men’ because of how that impacts on women and the politics of violence.
Ms Balakrishnan said both studies used a wide definition of “violence”.
“Most people would consider it family violence where there is physical violence, where there is fear, where you are afraid for your safety,” she said.
She pointed to a national Justice Ministry survey of 5300 households in 2001 which found that 21.2 per cent of women, but only 14.4 per cent of men, said they had ever had a partner who “used force or violence on you, such as deliberately hit, kicked, pushed, grabbed or shoved you, or deliberately hit you with something, in a way that could have hurt you”.
Police statistics also show that men dominate the worst cases of family violence, including 31 out of 35 family homicides last year.
Professor Fergusson agreed that the homicide figures showed that the worst family violence was perpetrated by men. But that was such a small group that it did not show up in his sample of 1003 people.
And domestic violence does not cover all kinds of sexual violence or assault.
Far and away, most sexual assaults and sexual violence are perpetrated by men, and typically arise within asymmetrical power dynamics, where the perpetrator occupies a more powerful or dominant position in relation to the victim.
…
These men have what their victims, who are in less powerful positions, want and need: a job, good grades, a promotion, a recommendation, an audition, a role in a movie, a place close to the center of power. They confuse and control by dangling enticements with one hand and wielding threats, implied or explicit, with the other.
Thinking that part of the definition is kind of crucial – where there is fear, where you are afraid for your safety.
In adulthood, I’ve been assaulted* – physically, verbally, psychologically – mostly by women…actually. overwhelmingly so. But as I sit here, I can’t bring up an instance when I felt afraid for my safety.
But if I take the same overt expressions of assault* but reverse the roles, then I reckon I would have felt fearful on a number of those occasions because of the surrounding or broader cultural environment and how it had previously and continuously played out on me. (That make sense?)
* based on what I’m going to term ‘facile’ definitions – ie, any strike or blow or any verbal or psychological exchange intended to inflict harm.
Yep. Any “assault” or violence, needs to be considered in terms of it’s impact – and in terms of the power dynamics, and wider social, cultural, political and economic context.
At which point, and by “necessity” as it were, it all becomes subjective beyond very broad brush strokes that may or may not be useful in any given or particular instance.
And that can lead to all types of tangled messes where outsiders apply “accepted” social, cultural, political and economic contexts, with presumptions around the affects those have in a routine or matter of course way to every instance of “assault”…with the aim to then judge, condemn or excuse in light of…well, in light of their own bias.
I think I might not be being so clear any more 🙂
There are possible affects or even likely effects of social, cultural etc contexts,. But there are also individual psychologies and states of mind coming in at it from a different angle.
Putting the two together in an attempt to construct a “universal” framework to ‘guide’ behaviours, as some busy-body self appointed morally superior outsiders might be tempted to do? Yeah…nah.
All these studies downplaying violence against women using studies that define a scratch the same as a broken arm. They need to use data where the violence also includes severity of injury hospitalisation and death to get the real statistics.
Saying that, scarily, apparently violence is growing amongst young women not sure if violence is growing amongst young men.
There is also the situation where the perpetrator and the victim are of the same gender. I was covertly stalked and criminally targeted on and off for years by an insane woman.
Let’s remember, too, that the Dunedin study was focusing specifically on violence between partners in long term relationships. I would suggest that violence inflicted in other relationships or when there is no relationship as such is more likely to be male on female.
intentionally engages in conduct that, or omits to discharge or perform any legal duty the omission of which, is likely to cause suffering, injury, adverse effects to health, or any mental disorder or disability to a child or vulnerable adult (the victim) if the conduct engaged in, or the omission to perform the legal duty, is a major departure from the standard of care to be expected of a reasonable person.
Seems to cover verbal, physical and social violence (what’s that last one?) against children.
Assault also covers threat of force, not just use of force, so takes out a chunk of the verbal violence, too. And that’s just the crimes act.
Every one is justified in using such force as is necessary to suppress a riot, if the force used is not disproportionate to the danger to be apprehended from the continuance of the riot.
Rioting: it’s violence, and we’re doing it together.
Baby steps: other sections cover other situations. Like social violence (see above).
Perhaps if you could just articulate which sections you want to add or amend, that might save a lot of time. And energy. And hassle. And me having to look it all up for you.
I did not ignore that fact, I explicitly mentioned it.
BTW, Summary Offences Act includes intimidation.
FWIW, I’m not arguing the law is perfect, it could always do with improvement. But much of what you want seems to be already covered, or is redundant (how is “verbal violence” not “psychological violence” or “social violence”?). How would you draft a couple of example sections?
Yes, they are. To illustrate my point, you cannot articulate the answer to the question what sections will you add to the Crimes Act and how shall they be worded?
As you cannot define the crimes you want to outlaw, you are incapable of knowing whether they are covered by the Crimes Act.
Now’s your chance to prove me wrong: define them, say what new crimes you want to outlaw.
…intentionally engages in conduct that, or omits to discharge or perform any legal duty the omission of which, is likely to cause suffering, injury, adverse effects to health, or any mental disorder or disability to a child…
Assuming you disagree that this includes ‘smacking’*, how would you amend it to include ‘smacking’?
The Herald reproduces an article which fails to ask any hard question of industrial factory farming in the US.
No questions about animal cruelty or welfare.
No questions about the environmental impact of this form of farming.
No questions about the health impacts of eating dairy.
If my mama lived another 10 years I would have been a suite wearing higher education person and would not need my medicine as there would be no less stress my great grand father went to Te after college and so did his son. but this is fait I would no have the Mana of eco Maori. Corin Dan you were a different person when you appeared on breakfast a few years back what happened????. I’m fighting for equality for all mother earth as well and when I see people pissing on our people that have the same goals as me well I’m not going to be the nice guy any more as equality
And mother nature is to vital to our survival I say this gives me the blessing of mama to take the gloves off SO MSM Be warned. Now with colmar Braunton polls when I see truly independent audits of the process you take to get your figures an this shows no bias to national I will accept your figures. I say before we go and spend billions we should go down the route of minimiseing our use of water and waste water and don’t be like other countries that have gone down that route after exsorsting all other options and have spent billions we need to leave water for our fellow animals to have a humane life it’s there right make a law that everyone has efficient shower heads lets make a kiwi culture of being minimiseing people in every thing as this will save us big time one dollar save is like earning 2 dollars . As for a big company owning /controling most of our water assets is OK but it has to be made a asset of National security and can not be privatetise as national want to do with all our assets. I not a fan of alcohol as a lot of my whano have fallen into a bottle and it causes more damage to our society than other drugs yes alcohol is a drug. Sorry Hillary I did not mean to hurt your M8 but if he goes back to the fair man he was I will take it easy on him to my Maori culture people be proud of our culture and please make us proud as this will lift the Mana of all us Maori. Kia kaha
Protesters hit K Road to fight housing development
Sounds like the undemocratic unitary plan have put a SHA on stolen/confiscated land. As usual not much details from our news agencies but questions should be who is building the houses (aka is it council, government, private hands, private partnership?). Also what is the United Nation’s status on the land with the claim being put in?
No surprises that the environment court and Auckland Council are not recognising the indigenous rights and have taken away the grass roots Māngere Gateway Heritage project. The super city was designed to take away community rights, democracy and special areas.
These people are playing with themselves because I can read there every move lol the Rock keeps a smile on my face and keep the working man pumping. Kia kaha
‘Team NZ is a big business and not necessarily a good business.’
Nice to see someone in the media not falling for Team New Zealand’s bait.
Indeed Rattue’s article includes some truths you never see in the economy section of the paper.
‘The big lie was Rogernomics, the 1980s rush to free enterprise which inferred that health and wealth would trickle down. Ever since, the wealth has been gushing upwards, and real national health has plummeted. The original America’s Cup dream was actually funded by some of these new frontiersmen, a couple of bankers with – in my view – highly questionable attitudes around society values.’
No, when you live in a little country where the head of the local farming cooperative is earning more than $8m a year and gets an increase to give Beauden Barrett’s goalkicking success rate a decent nudge, all those top dogs are fair game. Big business will say anything to get its own way — take all inferences the good ship America’s Cup is vital for the country with a big vat of sea salt.’
This article shows more critical thinking than anything you’d read from Hosking, Soper, du Plessis Allen, Garner, Gower, Murphy, Young, Watkins, Tame, ….
Yes this was written in the sports section and actually shows up the bs we’ve been sold for 35 years,
Chris Rattue’s article is worth a thread.
Just read this section alone…..
‘Philosophy, heart, soul, culture and emotion has been replaced by a fake world in the debilitating efficiency age. This includes the pseudo patriotism that lines up before every test match, hand on heart, face grimacing, team mates clutched closely, anthem turned up loud.
But can you tell me again why it is so overwhelmingly important to beat Australia, when I don’t actually feel like that anymore?’
or this part….
‘(For instance, in the real world I believe all this fawning over the rich and famous may increase feelings of alienation in many people. This could nullify any alleged economic benefit.)
Mr Rattue would be a mo re useful read if he actually showed how much of a contributor sport is to New Zealand overall.
If a sport opinion-writer is going to slag off the economic contribution of sport, but then says it’s too hard to calculate, he would better to stop interviewing his keyboard and go talk to some actual sports economists.
It’s an opinion piece and a bloody good one. He does mention many obvious social trends but (horrors!) failed to cite references to academic literature.
My thoughts too. I was shocked but not surprised. Shocked because that shouldn’t be happening and depending on what is going on might be a bad sign in terms of GP kaupapa. Not surprised because I get the impression they are really stretched on a number of levels going into govt.
Although, again MSM, we don’t know the whole letter/context, or where it came from.
I assume the letter is from one disgruntled employee yet the article claims “however the letter reveals staff are unhappy”. Can’t see how they can make that claim based on the opinion of one staff member.
The article says the letter is from “staff” not just one staff member.
And the GP does need to elect a new co-leader as soon as. That will also indicate the future direction of the party – Genter or Davidson – indicates which direction the members want to go.
On the second I don’t think the direction of the party is dependent on who the leaders are. Unlike other parties the Greens don’t allow the leaders to determine policy. It will more come down to the personal qualities on offer.
Both main contenders have a strong raft of qualities.
The results will be tipped in the direction of which particular qualities the members tend to most value: Genter, strong on environment, transport, statistical analysis, gender issues, etc. Davidson strong on community engagement, Maori and Pacific engagement and supporting ethnic diversity, anti-poverty, gender….
Probably other things I haven’t included.
But the selection will indicate where the majority of members see the GP heading in future.
I was referring to personal qualities. You have responded with portfolio areas.
They are quite different people and I think the membership will look at who would be the best person for the job. This is what happened when James was elected. His leadership has not changed policy.
From the RNZ report:
“However the letter reveals staff are unhappy with the way they’ve been treated SINCE the party has become part of the government.” (my capitalisation)
I have to say that I began to notice something was beginning to change (morale-wise) at Garrett Street among the people slaving their arses off BEFORE they became ‘part of gubbamint’.
I think they know what they need to do though – and it probably isn’t calling in talking-head, political commentator, bullshit-artsist, media knob-head-friendly types as consultants. JAG would probably be a more reliable route, and probably a few more equipped with the baubles associated with oestrogen rather than testosterone.
Probably you won’t understand what I mean, but so be it – there’ll be a few super-tuff trolls along soon to explain what I DON’T mean
There are others @Weka, but my initial thoughts were her because she actually does give a shit, she doesn’t suffer from corporate taint (though she’s well familiar with it), and is intelligent and astute.
But as I say – there are others.
Marama for one. I’m just concerned others will open themselves up to vicious media onslaught from the likes of the Garner type blokes.
James does need help though, and toot sweat.
In six months the Green Party have have not one strong and positive media story.
This little one is definitely Beltway Lacrosse, but it was a deliberate leak making yet another reason for parliamentary and Wellington-based reporters to form more negative stories.
The Otago Daily Times has picked up on the RNZ story here:
The Greens need to start the New Year with an outstanding plan for delivering on their portfolios, electing a new Co-Leader, and having the internal capacity to sustain three years of attacks.
The irony there is that you seem incapable of talking about what they’re getting right and most of what I see in your comments is knocking them. That’s not the Green Party’s fault, it’s about how you choose to comment.
The impression I have is that you don’t like some of the GP politics and/or kaupapa. I also note that you are overwhelmingly critical of them. I think those things might be related.
Your analysis above is that the GP should enable the media to present more positive stories about them. But you’re not willing to make positive comments about them. Yes the Greens make mistakes and that’s not your responsibility. But that you focus almost solely on the faults to the exclusion of what they do well and good is *your choice, nothing to do with the GP.
I am critical of politicians who blame everyone else for their own mistakes.
I am well and truly soft on them compare to the rest of the MSM, and indeed every other political blog in NZ writing about them.
Still, their consistent lack of performance and litany of mistakes could simply be a complete mistunderstanding, which only the Green MPs (as distinct even from their own staff) understand, and it’s actually the rest of the world that is in the real chaos.
Helpfully, you are siding with the Green MPs against the Green staff.
I am critical of politicians who blame everyone else for their own mistakes.
Where have the Green MPs being doing that? Be specific.
Helpfully, you are siding with the Green MPs against the Green staff.
So we know where you stand Weka.
Solidarity forever.
And yet I haven’t expressed support for the Green MPs over the staff (my first comment about sorting their shit out was because of the impact on staff). You’re an idiot who appears to be making shit up.
My comments in this subthread are basically pointing out that while you expect other people to be perfect and take responsibility for everything bad that happens, you seem incapable of being honest about your own inability to say anything nice about the Greens and instead use most opportunities to pull them down.
THere’s nothing wrong with having a personal opinion based on dislike or whatever, I’d just prefer some criticism of the Greens that was based on evidence (seriously, it’s not that hard, I do it all the time). For instance, you claimed that there’d been no positive press coverage of a GP story in 6 months. I gave you some links that demonstrate otherwise.
You talk about accountability, but that’s not the same as slagging off.
Ad, I’ve seen plenty of positive commentary about James Shaw’s leadership, and about the allocation of portfolios playing to the Greens’s strengths.
They, like Labour, are still setting up their staff, reading all the documents that they didn’t get to see in opposition, settling in to the role of government. Back off a bit, eh?
What we need to see from the Greens, and others, is evidence that policy is being processed into legislation. But give them a chance to get moving.
Martyn Bradbury takes it far further than I did, and didn’t even list half the litany of mistakes since the election:
“The audacity of the Green Party tactics team complaining about the leadership needing to bring in talent from outside the Wellington clique is hilarious when you consider it was the total lack of anyone gaming out the damage from Metiria’s confession that cost the Greens half their vote.
This total lack of tactics has seen the Greens spend 3 years misstepping and being held hostage by the Wellington Twitteratti. The fact they almost fucked up the last election is utterly denied by everyone concerned.
The grim truth seems to be that no one inside there sees the opportunity of policy they could actually get through if they targeted specific Labour MPs and NZ First MPs for legislative gains.
The madness behind their Waka jumping legislation ‘strategy’ showed a level of incompetence that is bewildering.
Every time I see the Greens in the news headlines now it feels like the nervousness you get when the kids take the car out for a drive. You know it’s going to come back written off with a whole bunch of excuses and explanations that it was someone else’s fault.
The Greens don’t know if they are Arthur or Martha, and if they did it take a 6 month committee meeting to decide on pronouns.
The only hope now is that Marama Davidson is elected co-Leader and she can bring some stability to a Party that desperately needs to ask itself if it wants to wield real political power for real change or just be an exclusive club that makes those who are members feel special by their exclusion of others.
That it’s come to this is extremely embarrassing.”
The Greens were still right about the welfare announcement, even though they paid a big cost. That analysis is beyond the macho politics crowd I think.
The prevailing thought by the Greens is likely that they are misunderstood, and they are trying to be above the mangle of the politics, stay a bit aside rather than above, and get on with the kaupapa that the other parties overlook while they jockey for position.
If that is the case, and they give out the feeling that they are too good, of finer stuff, from the rest of their age group if middle aged, then they won’t be able to capitalise and inform the younger middle class though they weill probably connect with the strugglers and self-driven.
The Greens in the older age group may be a bit distant from the younger ones’ pressing problems of trying to make lives and relationships, get a living, get a house, and preoccupied with that plus the problems of CC and bad political management. The Greens may not be able to capitalise on their place in parliament, and get that wider and continuing support with a practical edge that is needed. Older members are probably better off and they need to keep close and be supportive and not spend too much time walking in the mountains, visiting Europe etc and be part of supporting the political scene here and not absent so much or thinking more of the community than their nearest family and friends.
You mean feed the media the info about what is going on with the Greens, of a positive sort, not leave it to the journos to lurk and like sparrows gang up, and peck holes in our lettuces!
“That was pretty positive wasn’t it”.
Given what the jobs are it is only positive for the wellbeing of the people getting them.
The only one that could have any power is Minister of Conservation. She may be able to do something, which is more than any of the others will be able to do. The others aren’t worth a tin of beans.
None of them were allowed into Cabinet, on Winston’s say if rumours I have heard are to be believed, and they don’t get any say in the overall Government strategy.
Associate Minister is the worst job of the lot. You only get assigned tasks that the Minister doesn’t want to touch. Then you catch the flak.
“James Shaw is going to oversee the production of information”.
That means precisely nothing. The Government Statistician has statutory independence and the Minister, or the Prime Minister for that matter have absolutely no power over what is in the material that is produced.
The Statistician tends to get very unhappy at the slightest hint that they may be subject to any control from the Government of the day. Have a look at this slap at Robertson last year when he suggested that the Government were making her produce particular results to order. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952737
The Minister can instruct the Statistician to produce, or stop producing, particular types of statistics. The cannot however tell them how to go about gathering the information needed, analysing it, nor how it is to be presented.
Ministers are likely to be extremely cautious about such instructions of course. The Statistician can, and almost certainly will, make such instructions public.
Of course he can.
He will just have to accept whatever they find though.
That could turn out to embarrassing to him, and worse, to the Labour Party.
H2 would have his balls if the Government Statistician came out with something embarrassing. It is very hard to say he (or she at the moment) doesn’t know what they are talking about.
I don’t really understand what you mean by the last sentence.
The Minister can instruct the Statistician to produce, or stop producing, particular types of statistics.
Indeed. And having stopped certain types of statistics, the Minister can get up in the House and quack on about it being impossible to measure poverty, homelessness, or whatever else it might be inconvenient to have information about. Which is exactly why having James Shaw as Minister of Statistics is one motherfucker of an improvement.
We can’t go on forever with suspicious minds Weka.
Can you name a strong and positive media story that the Greens have managed to get into the MSM in the last six months? Go right ahead.
I am sure you can give them all the rope they need, but at some point you need to apply the same level of accountability that you do to anyone running the country and expect them to sort their actual shit out and perform, just like the others.
“I am sure you can give them all the rope they need, but at some point you need to apply the same level of accountability that you do to anyone running the country and expect them to sort their actual shit out and perform, just like the others.”
Sure. I just said in this thread that I think if they have staffing problems of the kind in the RNZ piece then they need to sort their shit out pronto.
yep another media beat up. if you are looking for low morale look at National at the moment….well behind Lab/Gr in the radionz poll of polls since the election and Jacinda well ahead of Bill in preferred PM stakes…Bill will be gone in March
Oh my, my, my….I’m envisioning certain staunch and consistently outspoken former Green MPs and and how much more they could have achieved had they been occupying government benches.
Those older and bolder heads should be right in there, right now, with the good oil to calm these troubled waters.
I agree with you Rosemary McDonald. Personally feel it would have been good for some of the new Green MP’s to be placed lower in the list and then have had at least one election of campaigning to get the feel of it and used to the amount of work and what is involved. I believe in working your way upwards is fairer.
Greens had a new co leader and a resigned co leader and Marama is fairly new too so having so many inexperienced people as well as new people with their own branding has not been good.
Yes up to the Green members for the placement, but how much was influenced by Metro articles, MSM and fluff. Obviously all worked out for the MSM in the end when they saw the votes for the Greens. For whatever reason whatever happened took a lot of Green talent out of parliament.
I’m not a member of the Greens but did party vote them and have donated to the party. If I was a member I’d be voting Eugenie Sage as co leader because she’s the only one who seems to have any lengthy conservation experience left and has an air of Jeanette Fitzsimons. But I don’t think she’s the type to step forward for promotion. Pity.
I strongly doubt that the younger MPs in the Green Party would be able to speak…largely off the cuff since this Bill was rushed through the House under extreme urgency…with such authority and conviction.
The other issue, is in the age of dirty politics how many Green members are there and how many members could be faked or actually members of other parties to influence the list, opinion polls and party leader? We all know that governments have infiltrated Greenpeace, spied on Keith Locke and other social groups. We know from dirty politics that Mark Mitchell allegedly paid Slater to help increase his chances and smear the other’s in the running.
In the 21st century influencing politics seems to be just another way to keep the profits coming in and stop change. Are the Greens voting systems robust enough in the age of dirty politics?
Labour give unions voting rights for example for their party leader which might be why the leaders are still more left wing than many of the Labour MP’s – much to the MSM and Natz disgust.
If that was leaked by staff, then they aren’t suitable for continued employment with a political party and the MPs were perhaps right to be seeking external staff for certain key roles.
There is much to be done in adjusting to being in govt and having fewer MPs, but as a Green supporter I have been dismayed in the naivety of much that has happened and can’t help thinking they need far better advisors toot sweet.
How so?He has followed the process and it doesn’t sound fair at face value.Duke has been a big success in retail,turned Briscoes around and made himself a fortune.
Yep, at the end of the day if the council has given other’s 6 landings a week and he gets half not really fair. (if that is true). Anyway I think great they will all be making such a din with all the helicopter landings to each other – each to themselves.
“It’s just going to be a family residence. It’s going to be ready about August next year. I’m taking out external and internal walls and the roof and leaving the piles and floors. Everything else will change,” he said last year of the new home.
That, by the way, means that he doesn’t need to get consent because it’s a ‘renovation’, and not a new house despite the fact that it will be a new house.
On the issue, one wonders why we’re letting helicopters taking off and landing over a residential area. How are they doing traffic control?
“That, by the way, means that he doesn’t need to get consent because it’s a ‘renovation’, and not a new house despite the fact that it will be a new house”
that is inaccurate – he will still need consent for that.
“On the issue, one wonders why we’re letting helicopters taking off and landing over a residential area. How are they doing traffic control?”
Same way they do it now – they call into the nearest traffic control centre.
indeed – but Ed has made a couple of accusations this morning – as usual nothing to back them up, in fact his own link points to quite the opposite of Eds statements.
So is it not fair that if all the evidence provided points to Ed not telling the truth, then its fair to call him a liar?
To be fair, it does seem like the richlister is indeed staying within the rules – using every inch of them, and being able to afford to challenge them, but still within them.
Twice a day, and all that.
Lol, the desire for petty point scoring is turning james into quite the custodian of decency and accuracy in others 🙂
that is inaccurate – he will still need consent for that.
A family member is a builder and thus he actually knows the building code. Leave the floor and a wall or two standing and it becomes a renovation rather than a new house.
They’ll probably have to get some consents – moving plumbing requires consent for example – but it won’t be to the level of a new house despite it being an actual new house. This is a rather glaring injustice within the law.
Same way they do it now – they call into the nearest traffic control centre.
Seems that they’re flying under VFR so no control centre involved.
Yes have to say, I’d have a few safety concerns with all the helicopters being in a residential area. Helicopters have a higher failure rate than planes.
The wealth that James, BM and Indiana worship is created by exploiting workers.
It is by paying them peanuts and himself a fortune he can afford luxurious properties, helicopters and membership of exclusive golf courses.
2014.
‘Employees from the Briscoe Group, speaking anonymously, say the starting wage there is 30 cents above the minimum rate, and most sales assistants’ wages are between $14.55 and $16 an hour, even with long service.
At the other end of the spectrum, Briscoe chief executive Rod Duke’s salary has almost doubled over the past five years. The company’s latest annual report shows Duke was paid $891,000 for the year ending January 2014. In 2009, his pay was $458,000.’
“the rich is getting richer, so why we ain’t richer?
could it be we still thinking like niggas?
educate yourselves, make your world view bigger
visualize wealth and put yourselves in the picture!”
‘”From time to time, I have got a golf membership up the coast. I don’t want to have to drive to Onehunga,” he said referring to Advanced Flight’s base there.’
The tasty blocks of land on Sarsfield, Herne Bay drop off into the Waitemata Harbour. I recall something about approaches/departures from an approved H site over water having different CAA requirements than over dwellings.
I’ve never done particularly well with slagging rich people for being rich, changes squat. I’d rather lobby the council to allow Rod to irritate the bejesus out of his neighbours whenever he wants and in return he installs a min wage at Briscoes of $17 per hour.
I think there are already too many helicopters flying over Auckland. I’m not near the landing sites, but they do drown out any audio I am listening to at home. Some days in the evening, there are several fly overhead – often early evening.
I do think the number flying over Auckland in the future need to be regulated.
I don’t know what the limit should be for any individual, but surely there will need to be flight course regulations in the future?
Hmmm, he wants six helicopter flights a week. He wants to turn a boatshed into a major entertainment venue. Sounds like he’s planning to be a somewhat noxious neighbour. Considering what kind of people are likely to be his neighbours on Sarsfield St, surely that’s something to chuckle about while quietly wishing him luck.
The rich neoliberal class care about no-one else than themselves.
They read Atlas Shruggged and believed its sociopathic message.
They think they are John Galt
Every day you spit on rich people. I get it, but it draws us no closer to a more favourable outcome.
I think we’re robbing ourselves of ammunition if it is our belief that the wealthy give a rats about nobody but themselves. Even if they don’t, many think they do, that’s what matters.
All of the wealthy and successful business people I’ve ever met have a few things in common. They love ‘The Deal’. They’re good at it. I have to go home, make phone calls, play with a whiteboard, before I’m remotely content with my SWOT analysis. These people run them in their heads in 10 seconds flat.
That’s their language, put any proposition on the table and that’s what they’re doing. Strengths: ‘How will going ahead with this make us stronger?’ Weaknesses: ‘What adverse effects will going ahead have on what we have now?’ Opportunities: ‘What roads open up for us if we go ahead?’ Threats: ‘How will going ahead leave us exposed to competitors?’
The best way to get Neo liberals to grow a more enhanced social conscious is to pitch our better way in manner they know and understand.
When we put on this cap other avenues start opening up.
We could look at winding the accom supplement down if share dividends started to replace it.
What would happen if our government approached Fletchers and said ‘We’d like to look at subsidising the purchase of Fletcher shares for Fletcher workers.’
Hands up everyone that wants to manage state housing.
The people that have such a poor history with paying their rent, nobody in the private sector wants to know them. The people with 8 pig dogs that are in actual fact ‘family’. The guy with ‘The Mob’ emblazoned across his face. Just got out after smashing 22 people over the head with a cricket bat, he needs a home, he’s yours.
If I was in government I’d be looking to chuck that hot potato ASAP.
Unlike the UK which has strict planning laws so that their 60 million people can live in a country similar size to NZ with reasonable harmony. In NZ planning however the developers and councils and resource pillagers, have struck out pretty much all amenity clauses like privacy, noise, light, height to boundary, nuisance clauses etc. You can even try to steal 1km of harbour without a resource consent or steal public water for private bottling across conservation land.
Planning does not rely on fairness or practicality in NZ, it’s all about some 100 page report from consultants voicing that anything will be of only minor effect. So as long as you have money, employ the right consultants or know someone at the council you are sweet as to do what ever obnoxious behaviour and steal as much resources as you want, in New Zealand. Anything goes.
This is what happens if you have to rely on private provision for old age, and user pays. There is likely to be to be a bad fit between the needs of people and what a company is willing to offer. Health insurance is a good example.
11/Dec/2017 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11957252
And when you as a human are just a bit of business product, there is no feeling from the company that they should make some change to meet the need and include the desire to be fair as well as profitable. There is an insurance advocate I think, certainly some sort of change should be able to be made, a limited liability for the insurance company against a hefty total payment.
I am paying for funeral cover myself and was interested in whether it would be paid if I chose managed demise (euthanasia) which would be regarded as suicide. I think that I would have to wait for two years or something. It isn’t a definite thing for me but that could prove a need for me in the near future.
Hal Crawford, Chief News Officer Newshub said: “Paddy is one of the best communicators I have ever worked with – his new role as national correspondent will see him unleashed on the whole of NZ, something I’m looking forward to immensely.
It means (from the blurb) that he gets to report on “stories of national significance” that will “play a key part in the Newshub Live at 6pm bulletin”.
Who decides what’s significant and what to ignore is an open question. But I can’t see Paddy having only a limited input into those decisions.
edit – and to reiterate what I’ve thought for quite a while, Paddy is Grant’s man.
Obviously saw which way the wind was blowing and Goodbye Gower. Never mind, I believe Joyce was following his career closely – I’m sure Gower will be well looked after.
Is he going back to the Herald? OR maybe he’s got a job with Fox, or more likely a job in political party spin doctoring or a gubbamint department/quango PR team.
Dunk’s probably thinking Christ! do I have to start training another little protege in the art of hand movements and camera positioning.
Actually that’s “Incredibly explosive, volatile and telling, and dramatic and devastating”. I’m in grief. Oh God I can’t cope!
What will we do?
Fascinating insight to trends in the Public Service versus Ministers:
“Newsroom- Political and public administration academics Chris Eichbaum and Richard Shaw researched the freeness and frankness of New Zealand’s public servants in 2005 and 2017.
One Respondent wrote:
“Ministers are welcome to have political advisers who play a minor role in ‘separately’ providing politically oriented advice. The problem is when they act as an intermediary between the Minister and public servants, who are trying to provide free, frank and politically neutral policy advice. They frequently filter what policy advice goes to the Minister, actively argue against policy advice in officials’ meetings and work hard to influence the topics and content of advice….” https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/12/10/66596/not-as-frank-and-free-as-we-thought
Some years back I was driven to email the late Tony Ryall as he spouted about the impending fiscal apocalypse that would come on the back of the Appeal Court ruling for Atkinson v MOH.
Apologies for not providing a link…but Ryall was banging on about the dire consequences of paying family carers and how if it extended to ACC ‘you can see how the costs would just go up and up…’. He did that hand over hand thing to demonstrate for the cameras.
NOTE…ACC had nothing to do with the Atkinson case other that to provide evidence to the Tribunal in 2008 that paying family carers did not result in shit care or isolation or any other of ‘the sky is falling’ scenarios put forward by the Ministry of Health and Crown Law. ACC had been paying family carers for years…
Clearly he had been given the wrong advice and information from some fwit or other in his orbit, and my email went along the lines of ‘the advice you’re getting is wrong and making you look like an idiot..’.
My partner and I went to Welly and set ourselves up outside the Big House and let Ryall office know we were there should he or one of his staff like to get a truer picture of the issue.
Three days later we got to see a staffer and yes, you guessed it, a senior adviser on disability issues from the Misery of Health. This senior adviser had already distinguished themselves in our eyes as being… how can I put this…less than well informed on basic disability issues.
And the ballsup of a new family carers policy we ended up with…we’re going back to court on the issue again.
Still not sure who is the dog and who is the tail and which wags what.
I was curious about the WaPo anecdote about @GOPChairwoman dropping her middle name at Trump's request. Check out her Twitter name in December vs. May. "Romney" was dropped. pic.twitter.com/QRAOWDXEjK— andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) December 10, 2017
‘Open Letter’ / OIA to Auckland Transport CEO Shane Ellison re:Transdev public subsidies and corruption risk assessment.
Dear Shane,
Can you please provide the following information:
1) How much have PRIVATE transport provider Transdev received in PUBLIC subsidies from Auckland Transport, on an annual basis since Transdev were awarded the AT rail contract to run Auckland urban passenger trains.
2) How much have PRIVATE transport provider Transdev received in PUBLIC subsidies from New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) on an annual basis since Transdev were awarded the AT rail contract to run Auckland urban passenger trains.
3) How much money have you, Shane Ellison, as new CEO of AT, the delegated authority to spend on awarding contracts.
4) A copy of Auckland Transport’s ‘corruption risk assessment’ – (or the like) regarding your appointment as CEO of Auckland Transport (AT), given that you have just left the employment of Transdev (Australia), and Transdev have the AT contract to run Auckland urban passenger trains.
“In a first, Shane was selected in an exemplar of a collaborative approach between a CCO and the Mayor, with the Mayor, AT Deputy Chairman, Wayne Donnelly and myself fully involved in the selection process from the outset.
Pippa Coom (Chair of the Waitemata Local Board) and Renata Blair (Member of the Independent Maori Statutory Board) were both involved in the final selection panel.
….”
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption whistle-blower’.
Attendee: 2009 Australia Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2010 Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2013 Australia Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2014 G20 Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2015 Australia Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2017 Transparency International Australia Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2017 Australia Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2017 World Justice Project International Rule of Law Forum – The Hague.
It was a surprise to find the glossy Natz pamphlet telling me doctors visits were free to under 13 yo but when I went to the doctor I think is was over $40 for a child. They forgot to put in SOME doctors visits were free in their leaflet.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon may be feeling glum about his poll ratings, but he could be tapping into a rich political vein in describing the current state of education as “alarming”. Luxon said educational achievement has been declining, with a recent NCEA pilot exposing just how far it has ...
Way Beyond Reform: Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have no more interest in remaining permanent members of “New Zealand’s” House of Representatives than did Lenin and Trotsky in remaining permanent members of Tsar Nicolas II’s “democratically-elected” Duma. Like the Bolsheviks, Te Pāti Māori is a party of revolutionaries – not reformists.THE CROWN ...
Buzz from the Beehive Auckland was wiped off the map, when Education Minister Jan Tinetti delivered her speech of welcome as host of the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers “here in Tāmaki Makaurau”. But – fair to say – a reference was made later in the speech to a ...
Morning mate, how you going?Well, I was watching the news last night and they announced this scientific report on Climate Change. But before they got to it they had a story about the new All Blacks coach.Sounds like important news. It’s a bit of a worry really.Yeah, they were talking ...
Always a bailout: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Government would fully guarantee all savers in all smaller US banks if needed. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: No wonder an entire generation of investors are used to ‘buying the dip’ and ‘holding on for dear life’. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ...
Wealthy vested interests have an oversized influence on political decisions in New Zealand. Partly that’s due to their use of corporate lobbyists. Fortunately, the influence lobbyists can have on decisions made by politicians is currently under scrutiny in Guyon Espiner’s in-depth series published by RNZ. Two of Espiner’s research exposés ...
Yesterday afternoon it rained and traffic around the region ground to a halt, once again highlighting why it is so important that our city gets on with improving the alternatives to driving. For additional irony, this happened on the same day the IPCC synthesis report landed, putting the focus on ...
The Beginning: Anti-Co-Governance agitator, Julian Batchelor, addresses the Dargaville stop of his travelling roadshow across New Zealand . Fascism almost always starts small. Sadly, it doesn’t always stay that way. Especially when the Left helps it to grow.THERE IS A DREADFUL LOGIC to the growth of fascism. To begin with, it ...
Hi,From an incredibly rainy day in Los Angeles, I just wanted to check in. I guess this is the day Trump may or may not end up in cuffs? I’m attempting a somewhat slower, less frenzied week. I’ve had Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s new record on non-stop, and it’s been a ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
RNZ has been shining their torch into corners where lobbyists lurk and asking such questions as: Do we like the look of this?and Is this as democratic as it could be?These are most certainly questions worth asking, and every bit as valid as, say:Are weshortchanged democratically by the way ...
RNZ has continued its look at the role of lobbyists by taking a closer look at the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Andrew Kirton. He used to work for liquor companies, opposing (among other things) a container refund scheme which would have required them to take responsibility for their own ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has left for Beijing for the first ministerial visit to China since 2019. Mahuta is to meet China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang where she might have to call on all the diplomatic skills at her command. Almost certainly she will face questions on what role ...
TL;DR:The Opportunities Party’s Leader Raf Manji is hopeful the party’s new Teal Card, a type of Gold card for under 30s, will be popular with students, and not just in his Ilam electorate where students make up more than a quarter of the voters and where Manji is confident ...
When I was a kid New Zealand was actually pretty green. We didn’t really have plastic. The fruit and veges came in a cardboard box, the meat was wrapped in paper, milk came in a glass bottle, and even rubbish sacks were made of paper. Today if you sit down ...
Looking back through the names of our Police Ministers down the years, the job has either been done by once or future party Bigfoots – Syd Holland, Richard Prebble, Juduth Collins, Chris Hipkins – or by far lesser lights like Keith Allen, Frank Gill, Ben Couch, Allen McCready, Clem Simich, ...
Chris Trotter writes – The Crown is a fickle friend. Any political movement deemed to be colourful but inconsequential is generally permitted to go about its business unmolested. The Crown’s media, RNZ and TVNZ, may even “celebrate” its existence (presumably as proof of Democracy’s broad-minded acceptance of diversity). ...
Four out of the five people who have held the top role of Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff since 2017 have been lobbyists. That’s a fact that should worry anyone who believes vested interests shouldn’t have a place at the centre of decision making. Chris Hipkins’ newly appointed Chief of ...
Feedback on Auckland Council’s draft 2023/24 budget closes on March 28th. You can read the consultation document here, and provide feedback here. Auckland Council is currently consulting on what is one of its most important ever Annual Plans – the ‘budget’ of what it will spend money on between July ...
by Molten Moira from Motueka If you want to be a woman let me tell you what to do Get a piece of paper and a biro tooWrite down your new identification And boom! You’re now a woman of this nationSpelled W O M A Na real trans woman that isAs opposed ...
Buzz from the Beehive New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti is hosting the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers for three days from today, welcoming Education Ministers and senior officials from 18 Pacific Island countries and territories, and from Australia. Here’s hoping they have brought translators with them – or ...
Let’s say you’ve come all the way from His Majesty’s United Kingdom to share with the folk of Australia and New Zealand your antipathy towards certain other human beings. And let’s say you call yourself a women’s rights activist.And let’s say 99 out of 100 people who listen to you ...
James Shaw gave the Green party's annual "state of the planet" address over the weekend, in which he expressed frustration with Labour for not doing enough on climate change. His solution is to elect more Green MPs, so they have more power within any government arrangement, and can hold Labour ...
RNZ this morning has the first story another investigative series by Guyon Espiner, this time into political lobbying. The first story focuses on lobbying by government agencies, specifically transpower, Pharmac, and assorted universities, and how they use lobbyists to manipulate public opinion and gather intelligence on the Ministers who oversee ...
Nick Matzke writes – Dear NZ Herald, I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. I teach evolutionary biology, but I also have long experience in science education and (especially) political attempts to insert pseudoscience into science curricula in ...
James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
Buzz from the Beehive The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
Thomas Cranmer writesLike it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Human Destabilisers: Russia now has a new strategic weapon – migratory waves of unwelcome human-beings. Desperate people with different coloured skins and different religious beliefs arriving at, or actually breaching, the national borders of Russia’s enemies can wreak as much havoc, culturally and politically, as a hypersonic missile exploding in the ...
Hi,After Webworm contributor Hayden Donnell wrote his latest piece, ‘RIP to Millennials Killing Everything’, he delivered this exciting and important bonus content.It will make more sense if you’ve read his piece.David. Read more ...
Hi,Before we get to Hayden’s column — RIP to Millennials Killing Everything — a quick observation.There was a day last week where it had suddenly reached 10pm and I hadn’t eaten all day. Hunger had suddenly gripped me with a panicky all-consuming force, so I jumped onto Uber Eats and ...
We add some of the CMIP6 models to the updateable MSU comparisons. After my annual update, I was pointed to some MSU-related diagnostics for many of the CMIP6 models (24 of them at least) from Po-Chedley et al. (2022) courtesy of Ben Santer. These are slightly different to what ...
In a memorable Pulp Fiction scene, Vincent inadvertently shoots their backseat passenger in the head. This leads our heroes Jules and Vincent to express alarm about their predicament.We're on a city street in broad daylight here!says Vincent. We gotta get this car off the roads. You know cops tend to ...
Primary, secondary and kindergarten teachers are all on strike today, demanding higher pay and an end to systematic understaffing. While the former is important - wages should at least keep up with inflation - its the latter which is the real issue. As with the health system, teachers have been ...
So the teachers are on strike, marching across Aotearoa today to press their demands for better pay and working conditions.Children remained in bed this brisk morning, many no doubt quite pleased about a day off school. Parents perhaps taking the day off to look after the kids, or working from ...
After the Cold War the consensus among Western military strategists was that the era of Big Wars, defined as peer conflict between large states with full spectrum military technologies, was at an end, at least for the foreseeable future. The … Continue reading → ...
Dairy giant Fonterra has posted a 50% lift in net profit to $546m, doubled its interim dividend, and is proposing a return of capital of 50c a share, injecting a note of optimism into the nation’s dairy industry. Fonterra’s strong performance is against a backdrop of market volatility. It ...
Buzz from the Beehive The bothersome economic news today is that New Zealand’s GDP fell by 0.6% in the December quarter, weaker than market forecasts of a fall of around 0.2% and much weaker than the Reserve Bank’s assumption of a 0.7% rise. This followed the even-more-bothersome news yesterday that ...
Ouch: Hipkins’ policy bonfire has resulted in an expensive self-administered removal of a Budgetary foot with an explosive device. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Bonfires can be dangerous things when they get out of control. They also create a lot of smoke and heat and burn the grass. ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – I teach a first-year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we ...
I teach a first year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we have recently witnessed with Rob ...
An issue of integrity has claimed the first ministerial scalp in Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ premiership. Police Minister Stuart Nash lasted mere weeks in the role after admitting in a radio interview this morning that he had called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to ask him if police were going to ...
For some time now we’ve known that the cost and completion timeframe for the City Rail Link would increase. Yesterday we finally learned by just how much. Costs City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) today confirms it has submitted a formal funding request to its Sponsors – the Crown and ...
The Government’s decision to back peddle on lowering speed limits is hitting potholes. At this stage, although it is part of the Government’s reprioritisation efforts to free up money to alleviate cost of living increases, the speed limit change looks unlikely to do that. And it appears that it ...
The University of Otago – the oldest university in New Zealand – towers over my home city of Dunedin. When classes are on, something like a fifth of Dunedin’s population are university students. It is also the largest employer in the South Island. To say that this is a ...
Last weekend brought the latest instalment in Stuff’s bravura satirical series Of course you can afford a house! Just dig deeper!I love how much their appreciation of humour has evolved in just a few short years since the days when I would get to produce, for a few meagre dollars, ...
Australia’s move to strengthen its defence capability with five nuclear-powered attack submarines underlines how relatively defenceless New Zealand is in the Pacific. Kiwis may gasp that the Labor government in Australia recognises it must outlay $400bn on the nuclear subs, but this ensures that Australia is not exposed ...
Ironically, a repurposed Auckland Ratepayers Alliance placard (with a demand for climate action on the front) featured at the recent climate march. Voting ratepayers don’t want ‘bureaucrats in cushy council jobs’ borrowing or increasing rates, even when the need for investment is becoming increasingly obvious. So is council cost-cutting a ...
The quarterly ETS auction was held today. In the past, these have seen collusion by big players to game the price and force a dump of extra credits from the cost-containment reserve (essentially, trying to pick stuff up cheap now in the belief that it will be more valuable later). ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
This year has seen a series of extreme weather events, unparalleled in New Zealand’s recent history. From Cape Reinga in the far north down to the Tararua Ranges, families and businesses across the country have suffered enormous loss and hardship. While the severe weather hasn’t directly affected every part of ...
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
The Government via the Cyclone Taskforce is working with local government and insurance companies to build a picture of high-risk areas following Cyclone Gabrielle and January floods. “The Taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, has been working with insurance companies to undertake an assessment of high-risk areas so we can ...
E te huia kaimanawa, ko Ngāpuhi e whakahari ana i tau aupikinga ki te tihi o te maunga. Ko te Ao Māori hoki e whakanui ana i a koe te whakaihu waka o te reo Māori i roto i te Ao Ture. (To the prized treasure, it is Ngāpuhi who ...
113,400 exits into work in the year to June 2022 Young people are moving off Benefit faster than after the Global Financial Crisis Two reports released today by the Ministry of Social Development show the Government’s investment in the COVID-19 response helped drive record numbers of people off Benefits and ...
The Government’s priority to keep New Zealand at the cutting edge of food production and lift our sustainability credentials continues by backing the next steps of a hi-tech vertical farming venture that uses up to 95 per cent less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visited ...
E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou kātoa. Warm Pacific greetings to all. It is an honour to host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Aotearoa is delighted to be hosting you ...
The new renal unit at Taranaki Base Hospital has been officially opened by the Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this afternoon. Te Huhi Raupō received around $13 million in government funding as part of Project Maunga Stage 2, the redevelopment of the Taranaki Base Hospital campus. “It’s an honour ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the country’s second P-8A Poseidon aircraft alongside personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base at Ohakea today. “With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in ...
Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further humanitarian support to those seriously affected by last month’s deadly earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. “The 6 February earthquakes have had devastating consequences, with almost 18 million people affected. More than 53,000 people have died and tens of thousands more ...
Migrant communities across New Zealand are represented in the new Migrant Community Reference Group that will help shape immigration policy going forward, Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced today. “Since becoming Minister, a reoccurring message I have heard from migrants is the feeling their voice has often been missing around policy ...
Construction has begun on major works that will deliver significant safety improvements on State Highway 3 from Waitara to Bell Block, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan announced today. “This is an important route for communities, freight and visitors to Taranaki but too many people have lost their lives or ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
The Government continues to invest in New Zealand’s burgeoning space industry, today announcing five scholarships for Kiwi Students to undertake internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash congratulated Michaela Dobson (University of Auckland), Leah Albrow (University of Canterbury) and Jack Naish, Celine Jane ...
The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
A Pacific elder and former secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum says Pacific leaders need to sit up and pay closer attention to AUKUS and the Indo-Pacific strategy and China’s response to them. Speaking from Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Dame Meg Taylor said Pacific leaders were being sidelined ...
The government says it should have details on which weather-hit areas are high risk within three weeks, and can then make decisions about rebuilding. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carly Tozer, Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO Dean Lewins/AAPLa Niña and El Niño are well-known terms in Australia these days. Linked to them are certain expectations: we expect wet conditions in La Niña and dry conditions in El Niño. These ...
Counter-protests are planned for this weekend as a controversial anti-trans campaigner speaks in two New Zealand cities. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull will be allowed into the country after Immigration NZ said the threshold to stop her had not been reached. In a tweet, Rainbow Greens, the group that released an open letter ...
We asked workers at some of our favourite food establishments to show us what they eat when the rush is over.This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter The Boil Up. Last week was Work Week on The Spinoff, dedicated to unpacking our relationship with the world ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Who will drain Wellington’s lobbying swamp? Wealthy vested interests have an oversized influence on political decisions in New Zealand. Partly that’s due to their use of corporate lobbyists. Fortunately, the influence lobbyists can have on decisions made by politicians is currently under scrutiny in ...
65 percent of Kiwis surveyed admit they would have no idea what to do if their identity was stolen Norton, a leading consumer Cyber Safety brand of Gen, today announced the New Zealand launch of Norton™ 360 Platinum, which leverages the company's ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Getty Images There might have been pragmatic political reasons behind the government throwing voting-age legislation onto its recent policy bonfire, but it remains a sadly wasted opportunity. The announcement reversed former ...
ANALYSIS:By Bevin Veale, Massey University The impending arrival of Kelly-Jean Keen-Minshull — aka Posie Parker — has put the spotlight on the tension between free speech and protecting vulnerable communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. In particular, it raises questions about Immigration New Zealand’s role in limiting who can visit ...
Wairoa has ready-to-go projects that could be accelerated to quickly get people back into homes following Cyclone Gabrielle, Minister Willie Jackson was told on a visit to Wairoa today. Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa is seeking a Government commitment ...
A new report published by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union exposes the bad decision-making that led to a 61% cost blowout in Auckland’s City Rail Link and shows that the costs of the project now significantly outweigh any benefits. ‘The City Rail Link: ...
Immigration NZ has today confirmed that the controversial anti-trans campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull will be allowed into New Zealand for her speaking events this week. You can read our report here – and the full statement from Immigration NZ’s Richard Owen to the media is below: “I can confirm that ...
Immigration NZ says it knows some people will be unhappy, but ultimately the threshold to bar Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull from New Zealand hasn’t been reached.The British anti-transgender campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, will be allowed into New Zealand this weekend, Immigration NZ has confirmed.Keen-Minshull’s ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Stevens, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Adelaide Antarctica is an icy place today, but the ice extended even further during past ice ages. The question of how and where life survived on land in the icy continent, through the ages, has ...
Like a Tongan Cool Runnings, with trumpets instead of bobsleds, Red, White & Brass is a feel-good movie based on an incredible true story. First-time film producer Halaifonua Finau tells Sela Jane Hopgood how he got it made.In 2016, promising new Tongan producer Halaifonua Finau was sitting in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Thomas Gleeson, Doctoral Candidate, Australian National University Luz Rovira / Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND In the 19th century, Charles Darwin was one of the first to notice something interesting about domesticated animals: different species often developed similar changes when compared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Kemp, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney New research reveals serious privacy flaws in fertility apps used by Australian consumers – emphasising the need for urgent reform of the Privacy Act. Fertility apps provide a number ...
The Fiji Times “The University of the South Pacific (USP) has been and continues to be a bedrock for regionalism. A resource owned by the region; for the region and a precious institution that needs to be protected in line with the vision of our forebearers.” This was the message ...
By Claudia Tally in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinean family who have been renting a property from the National Housing Corporation for the past 46 years have been served with a 24-hour eviction notice by a different owner who had obtained an eviction notice from the Port Moresby District ...
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown’s plans to cut back on spending could see the council quit Local Government NZ, the group that represents councils across the country. Stuff’s Todd Niall has reported that $400,000 would be saved by the move, with mayor Brown reportedly wanting to direct that money into other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frederic Gachon, Associate Professor, Physiology of Circadian Rhythms, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland Gregory Pappas/Unsplash Some of us love to be tucked up in bed by a particular time every night, ensuring a certain number of hours ...
The government has launched campaign to help young people navigate break-ups with the long-term aim of preventing family violence, believed to be the first of its kind. ...
Sports can be hugely beneficial for children but there are still many barriers for trans kids wanting to play, writes researcher Julia de Bres.There’s been a lot of talk recently about trans athletes in high performance sport, much of which derives from a broader anti-trans project rather than a ...
A new documentary follows Amber Clyde, skateboarder and founder of Girls Skate NZ, as she works to rebuild her confidence in the sport while juggling solo motherhood.Amber Clyde remembers being bullied as the only girl at the skate park in Birkenhead – but these days all the same bullies ...
After dedicating years to helping young women find their confidence in skateboarding, Amber Clyde must teach herself how to get back on the board after the birth of her second child. But balancing the realities of being a solo Mum with running her own business means that her time is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arthur Immanuel Crichton, PhD candidate, Flinders University Relative of _Chunia pledgei_ named _Ektopodon serratus_ (top left), with _Wakaleo oldfieldi_.Reconstruction of the early Miocene Kutjumarpu faunal assemblage by Peter Schouten, CC BY-SA Imagine a vast, lush forest dominated by giant flightless birds ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is urging its 27,000 members and subscribers to have a say on Auckland Council’s proposed 2022/23 annual budget. Last week, the Ratepayers’ Alliance launched a new website to encourage public feedback. Backtobasics.co.nz ...
New Zealand distance runner Zane Robertson has been banned from all sport for eight years due to doping. Robertson, who is the holder of six national distance running records and a Commonwealth Games bronze medal, was tested at the UK’s Great Manchester Run in May last year. His sample returned ...
Alex Casey asks a psychologist why she was too chicken shit to wear a mask during the flight that probably gave her Covid-19. In the live action replay in my head, I can basically see, frame by frame, the moment that one of those puny little Covid-19 Koosh balls did ...
Social services and health & disability provider Presbyterian Support Northern (PSN) has appointed Joe Waru as its new Kaitohu Matua (General Manager Māori). The appointment will provide PSN with strategic leadership and advice as it seeks to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Veale, Lecturer in Media Studies, part of the Digital Cultures Laboratory in the School of Humanities, Media, and Creative Communication, Massey University Getty Images The impending arrival of Kelly-Jean Keen-Minshull – aka Posie Parker – has put the spotlight ...
Deputy Public Service Commissioner Ms Heather Baggott has today announced the appointment of Mr Andrew Hampton to the position of Director-General of Security and Chief Executive, New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS). The role of the NZSIS is to understand ...
Money isn’t everything. But for most of us, it’s easier to deal with anything else in our lives if we know the bills are getting paid. So when household budgets come under pressure from cost of living increases – especially when that includes the mortgage that keeps a roof over ...
The National Party will announce the first part of its new education policy tomorrow in the prime minister’s own stomping ground of the Hutt. Leader Christopher Luxon said the “Teaching the Basics Brilliantly” policy will see the curriculum totally overhauled, with a direct focus on reading, writing, maths and science. ...
In conjunction with Curia Market Research, the Free Speech Union has distributed a survey on academic freedom to academics across each of the eight universities in New Zealand. Respect for academic freedom is a statutory responsibility for universities, ...
Thirty years ago, after a marathon Parliamentary sitting, the Bolger National government passed the Maritime Transport Act which deregulated coastal shipping by abolishing cabotage. Cabotage was the practice which restricted the operation of sea, air, or ...
New reports out from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) this morning show that in the year to June 2022, 113,400 people came off a benefit, the highest number since electronic records began in 1996. From early 2020, at the start of the pandemic, there was a large increase in the ...
A recent court action by Australia’s financial regulator suggests ‘greenwashing’ claims can expect far greater scrutiny – a situation likely to happen here soon enough, writes Steven Moe.Coal mining can seem like yesterday’s fuel – a relic of the last century, in the coming age of wind farms and ...
Grammy-winning pop star Lizzo will return to New Zealand in July for her first solo show on our shores. The singer, rapper and flautist (yes) will play Spark Arena on July 26 as part of her Special Tour. The last time she was in New Zealand, Lizzo was a festival ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trevor Ireland, Professor, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland MASCOT / DLR / JAXA How did life come about? The answer to this question goes to the very heart of our existence on planet Earth. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Unsplash/Olga Guryanova, CC BY Disturbing reports about botched cosmetic surgeries and injuries in Australia – from breast augmentations causing chronic pain to liposuction leaving patients with lifelong injuries – have sparked concerns in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Zylstra, Adjunct Associate Professor at Curtin University, Research Associate at University of New South Wales, Curtin University Shutterstock Fire management in Australia is approaching crisis point. Seasons such as the Black Summer three years ago showed how our best ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Geary, PhD Student, Deakin University Once abundant, woylies – or brush-tailed bettongs – are now critically endangered. John Gould, CC BY-SA Conserving native wildlife is a challenging task and Australia’s unenviable extinction record shows us we urgently need more sophisticated ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University ThisIsEngineering/Pexels , CC BY-NC Australia continues to grapple with acute skills shortages. Businesses are struggling to find workers with the skills they need. Meanwhile, workers struggle to get jobs because ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robin Eames, History PhD candidate, University of Sydney Portrait of De Lacy Evans and his wife (1870)State Library VictoriaThis article contains references to anti-trans, colonial and institutional violence, and includes information about an Aboriginal person who died in the early ...
The new police minister has defended the government’s approach to dealing with crime, as new figures show just 32% of charges laid against young people last year actually resulted in a sentence. Ginny Andersen was promoted into the police portfolio on Monday after Stuart Nash was sent falling to the ...
The final IPCC report was unequivocal in its call to reduce emissions immediately but the government has no further news on how agricultural emissions charging will work, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Greens say climate change will be integral to the big decision this year. Toby Manhire explores the data. Devastating, global-warming-exacerbatedstorms. A new IPCC report laying outthe calamitous fireball hurtling our way. And a prime minister jettisoninga host of climate-aligned policies. There is plenty of material for James ...
Medsafe has approved applications for Ozempic to be used in New Zealand. How does this new drug work and why is everyone talking about it? What just happened? Last Thursday, New Zealand’s medical regulatory body Medsafe gave consent for Ozempic to be prescribed in New Zealand. The approval is for ...
An author on the death of a baby and "a calm respectful grace" The normal world was out there. The clocks and the jobs and the traffic and the mortgages and the death. Especially the death. Death in suburbia means funerals with piped fake Celtic music despite the fact ...
One of New Zealand’s brightest young netball talents, Paris Lokotui has returned to the court 10 months after a knee reconstruction. Now she hopes her tough journey back paves a better way for other Māori and Pasifika players. Paris Lokotui remembers the moment time stood still. The 21-year-old was playing ...
A month on from Cyclone Gabrielle, many residents in Muriwai are still living in limbo, unable to return to their homes "I can't look back because it's too sad. I can't look forward because it is too daunting." Kat Corbett's Muriwai home remains out-of-bounds more than a month after ...
The Climate Change Commission's chair says the Government's decisions to ignore its advice could weaken the country's most important climate policy. ...
Coconut plantations are far from being ‘natural’ environments, coconut oil is high in saturated fats, and, despite the advertising, most of the global supply of coconut oil doesn’t come from the Pacific Islands eitherOpinion: Coconut oil has gained a halo as a natural health product, with claims it can ...
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By Hamish Cardwell, RNZ News senior journalist There is “is much to win by trying” to take action on climate change — that is a key finding in a major new international climate report the UN chief is calling a “survival guide for humanity”. It is something of a mic ...
A pōwhiri, a pie, and a grilling from primary school kids: Today was the day the boy from the Hutt who grew up to be prime minister went home for a visit. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Australia’s decision to buy three nuclear-powered submarines and build another eight is so expensive that, for the A$268 billion to $368 billion price tag, we could give a million dollars ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Denniss, Adjunct Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Australia has 116 new coal, oil and gas projects in the pipeline. If they all proceed as planned, an extra 1.4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases would be released into ...
Figures unearthed by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union reveal that the growth in public sector managers is almost twice that of frontline social, health and education workers. Since 2017, the frontline workforce for social services, health and education ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic O’Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University A referendum will be held later this year to enshrine a First Nations’ Voice to Parliament into the Australian constitution. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Haoyang Zhai, PhD Candidate, The University of Melbourne Alexander Schimmeck/Unsplash Since its inception in 1921, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has officially promoted an atheist and materialist ideology. But belief systems in China are making a comeback – and ...
Scott Robertson has been announced successor to Ian Foster as head coach of the All Blacks, completing a controversial and highly idiosyncratic appointment process. He will assume the role in 2024, following the world cup at the end of this year. The contract for the breakdancing current coach of the ...
Multicultural New Zealand (MNZ) has expressed concern about events scheduled to take place in Auckland and Wellington on March 25th and 26th, respectively. The events will feature British anti-transgender activist, Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull. MNZ is ...
[deleted]
[permanent ban – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Remember, it was the Greens’ choice to be in a confidence and supply agreement, not NZF. There’s no indications thus far that a three-way coalition is off the cards.
“2 Smart 2 be Blocked” – well looking at the Bold – you might want a new name.
The idiot only had nine days of ban left anyway 😆
A suggestion to change our society’s punitive culture, which some wrongly keep pointing the finger exclusively at men over…
1. Legislate to criminalise verbal violence.
2. Legislate to criminalise psychological violence.
3. Legislate to criminalise social violence.
Section 195 of the Crimes Act.
Nope
Yep.
Unless you can actually be bothered to articulate exactly what you’re talking about, that is, but I expect it’s simply more monomania.
Come on, what sections will you add to the Crimes Act and how shall they be worded? This is your chance.
In a US survey they asked men and women what they most feared when going on a date. Men were most likely to say it was being laughed at, women were most likely to say being raped and murdered.
Vto lives in a world where eg: this prosecution didn’t happen. I’m pretty sure he blames mothers for the rapes and murders their sons commit too.
Attributed to Margaret Atwood.
edit:
http://people.com/crime/cruise-ship-woman-allegedly-killed-husband-not-stop-laughing-at-me/?
In the Dunedin longitudinal study it was found that female assaults male was more common than male assaults female
[please link and provide cut and pastes to back that up as well as provide the context e.g. how assault was measured. You are free to argue what you want here (within the limits of the Policy) but on something like DV you have to make some attempt to do so in ways that don’t mislead – weka]
please respond to moderator note above.
.https://thestandard.org.nz/thank-you-golriz/#comment-1420195
You might also want to do something about this idiot’s reappearance:
Thanks, that was very helpfully done.
OAB
I note that it should be colmar?… poll. But that isn’t about an idiot and
the link didn’t take me to a comment, just to the post, which is surprising.
I suspect the link was to a comment that has been moderated out, therefore defaults to the post itself.
Ah ha. Thanks McFlock.
It’s at the top of today’s Open Mike – deleted by a Mod with a perma-ban attached. “The Real Matthew” won’t be around anymore.
Okay all good.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/81025573/domestic-violence-study-presents-challenging-picture
[please reread the moderation note. Links on their own aren’t enough. You need to demonstrate what you are saying onsite here without expecting people to read a whole article and figure out what you mean. Also, this moderator doesn’t have the time so I suggest making it easier rather than harder. – weka]
another moderation note to respond to.
Thanks VTO. Informative. I wonder if the difference is that male violence is more likely to inflict greater damage?
I do know of women who slap and/or scratch their partners when angry. I know a male who has learned to never turn his back when she is angry.
It’s a given that women can be violent towards men, but as you point out there are very real and important differences.
The problem with vto’s MRA-like position is that he’s misleading by trying to make out that DV isn’t gendered. I’d really welcome men here talking about all aspects of violence and how it affects them, but it’s not ok to have that conversation in the context of ‘women are just as bad as men’ because of how that impacts on women and the politics of violence.
And this article where the results of the Dunedin study are disputed.
And domestic violence does not cover all kinds of sexual violence or assault.
And the Dunedin study does not examine the findings to investigate issues of gender and power.
Thanks Carolyn.
Separating sexual violence from other kinds of physical violence is odd.
Thinking that part of the definition is kind of crucial – where there is fear, where you are afraid for your safety.
In adulthood, I’ve been assaulted* – physically, verbally, psychologically – mostly by women…actually. overwhelmingly so. But as I sit here, I can’t bring up an instance when I felt afraid for my safety.
But if I take the same overt expressions of assault* but reverse the roles, then I reckon I would have felt fearful on a number of those occasions because of the surrounding or broader cultural environment and how it had previously and continuously played out on me. (That make sense?)
* based on what I’m going to term ‘facile’ definitions – ie, any strike or blow or any verbal or psychological exchange intended to inflict harm.
Yep. Any “assault” or violence, needs to be considered in terms of it’s impact – and in terms of the power dynamics, and wider social, cultural, political and economic context.
At which point, and by “necessity” as it were, it all becomes subjective beyond very broad brush strokes that may or may not be useful in any given or particular instance.
And that can lead to all types of tangled messes where outsiders apply “accepted” social, cultural, political and economic contexts, with presumptions around the affects those have in a routine or matter of course way to every instance of “assault”…with the aim to then judge, condemn or excuse in light of…well, in light of their own bias.
I think I might not be being so clear any more 🙂
There are possible affects or even likely effects of social, cultural etc contexts,. But there are also individual psychologies and states of mind coming in at it from a different angle.
Putting the two together in an attempt to construct a “universal” framework to ‘guide’ behaviours, as some busy-body self appointed morally superior outsiders might be tempted to do? Yeah…nah.
All these studies downplaying violence against women using studies that define a scratch the same as a broken arm. They need to use data where the violence also includes severity of injury hospitalisation and death to get the real statistics.
Saying that, scarily, apparently violence is growing amongst young women not sure if violence is growing amongst young men.
Especially when they spend the rest of their time trying to prove how tuff they are
There is also the situation where the perpetrator and the victim are of the same gender. I was covertly stalked and criminally targeted on and off for years by an insane woman.
Physical rape, sexual assault and domestic violence most often, if not always, includes verbal, psychological and social violence.
Let’s remember, too, that the Dunedin study was focusing specifically on violence between partners in long term relationships. I would suggest that violence inflicted in other relationships or when there is no relationship as such is more likely to be male on female.
vto
1. Legislate to criminalise verbal violence.
2. Legislate to criminalise psychological violence.
3. Legislate to criminalise social violence.
That sounds like a more punitive culture, but one that suits your beliefs.
All the items on vto’s list are already covered by existing legislation.
No they are not. Here is a link to s.195 of the Crimes Act which you point to above
http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/DLM329384.html
Seems to cover verbal, physical and social violence (what’s that last one?) against children.
Assault also covers threat of force, not just use of force, so takes out a chunk of the verbal violence, too. And that’s just the crimes act.
social violence (what’s that last one?)
See section 43 of the Crimes Act for one example:
Rioting: it’s violence, and we’re doing it together.
You and oab are being deceptive by pretending to ignore the fact s.195 only covers children and vulnerable adults
Baby steps: other sections cover other situations. Like social violence (see above).
Perhaps if you could just articulate which sections you want to add or amend, that might save a lot of time. And energy. And hassle. And me having to look it all up for you.
No they don’t. The rioting one is heavily limited, like s.195. The facts don’t support your points. Stop being deceptive.
Why are you so afraid?
…limited…
Of course it is: that’s the thing with law: it has to be specific, hence we have lots of them, to cover lots of situations.
Why can’t you articulate exactly what sections of the crimes or other acts you would like to see amended or added?
Can you give an example of the behaviour you want to outlaw?
Can you read the Crimes and Summary Offences Acts first? cf: a waste of everyone’s time.
I did not ignore that fact, I explicitly mentioned it.
BTW, Summary Offences Act includes intimidation.
FWIW, I’m not arguing the law is perfect, it could always do with improvement. But much of what you want seems to be already covered, or is redundant (how is “verbal violence” not “psychological violence” or “social violence”?). How would you draft a couple of example sections?
Yes, they are. To illustrate my point, you cannot articulate the answer to the question what sections will you add to the Crimes Act and how shall they be worded?
As you cannot define the crimes you want to outlaw, you are incapable of knowing whether they are covered by the Crimes Act.
Now’s your chance to prove me wrong: define them, say what new crimes you want to outlaw.
There is a fourth legislative action we could take to change the violence culture in our society…
4. Legislate to criminalise smacking children.
Section 195 of the Crimes Act:
Assuming you disagree that this includes ‘smacking’*, how would you amend it to include ‘smacking’?
*it includes ‘smacking’ already.
The smacking legislation was heralded as, among other things, a strong and important signal that society does not tolerate any form of violence.
That work should continue into other forms of violence, as suggested at the top.
So you still can’t actually say which sections of the Crimes Act should be amended or added then.
And I bet you still haven’t actually read it or the Summary Offences Act to find out.
Lazy lazy lazy.
Edit: it occurs to me that you may be the victim of violence. If so, have you made a police complaint?
The Herald reproduces an article which fails to ask any hard question of industrial factory farming in the US.
No questions about animal cruelty or welfare.
No questions about the environmental impact of this form of farming.
No questions about the health impacts of eating dairy.
The Herald.
Owned by the finance industry.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=11948518
Were it independent, it might refer to this instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dliq22gqYQI
If my mama lived another 10 years I would have been a suite wearing higher education person and would not need my medicine as there would be no less stress my great grand father went to Te after college and so did his son. but this is fait I would no have the Mana of eco Maori. Corin Dan you were a different person when you appeared on breakfast a few years back what happened????. I’m fighting for equality for all mother earth as well and when I see people pissing on our people that have the same goals as me well I’m not going to be the nice guy any more as equality
And mother nature is to vital to our survival I say this gives me the blessing of mama to take the gloves off SO MSM Be warned. Now with colmar Braunton polls when I see truly independent audits of the process you take to get your figures an this shows no bias to national I will accept your figures. I say before we go and spend billions we should go down the route of minimiseing our use of water and waste water and don’t be like other countries that have gone down that route after exsorsting all other options and have spent billions we need to leave water for our fellow animals to have a humane life it’s there right make a law that everyone has efficient shower heads lets make a kiwi culture of being minimiseing people in every thing as this will save us big time one dollar save is like earning 2 dollars . As for a big company owning /controling most of our water assets is OK but it has to be made a asset of National security and can not be privatetise as national want to do with all our assets. I not a fan of alcohol as a lot of my whano have fallen into a bottle and it causes more damage to our society than other drugs yes alcohol is a drug. Sorry Hillary I did not mean to hurt your M8 but if he goes back to the fair man he was I will take it easy on him to my Maori culture people be proud of our culture and please make us proud as this will lift the Mana of all us Maori. Kia kaha
Many thanks to the people on the breakfast news show Ka pai
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/12/protesters-hit-k-road-to-fight-housing-development.html
Protesters hit K Road to fight housing development
Sounds like the undemocratic unitary plan have put a SHA on stolen/confiscated land. As usual not much details from our news agencies but questions should be who is building the houses (aka is it council, government, private hands, private partnership?). Also what is the United Nation’s status on the land with the claim being put in?
No surprises that the environment court and Auckland Council are not recognising the indigenous rights and have taken away the grass roots Māngere Gateway Heritage project. The super city was designed to take away community rights, democracy and special areas.
These people are playing with themselves because I can read there every move lol the Rock keeps a smile on my face and keep the working man pumping. Kia kaha
‘Team NZ is a big business and not necessarily a good business.’
Nice to see someone in the media not falling for Team New Zealand’s bait.
Indeed Rattue’s article includes some truths you never see in the economy section of the paper.
‘The big lie was Rogernomics, the 1980s rush to free enterprise which inferred that health and wealth would trickle down. Ever since, the wealth has been gushing upwards, and real national health has plummeted.
The original America’s Cup dream was actually funded by some of these new frontiersmen, a couple of bankers with – in my view – highly questionable attitudes around society values.’
No, when you live in a little country where the head of the local farming cooperative is earning more than $8m a year and gets an increase to give Beauden Barrett’s goalkicking success rate a decent nudge, all those top dogs are fair game.
Big business will say anything to get its own way — take all inferences the good ship America’s Cup is vital for the country with a big vat of sea salt.’
This article shows more critical thinking than anything you’d read from Hosking, Soper, du Plessis Allen, Garner, Gower, Murphy, Young, Watkins, Tame, ….
Yes this was written in the sports section and actually shows up the bs we’ve been sold for 35 years,
Chris Rattue’s article is worth a thread.
Just read this section alone…..
‘Philosophy, heart, soul, culture and emotion has been replaced by a fake world in the debilitating efficiency age. This includes the pseudo patriotism that lines up before every test match, hand on heart, face grimacing, team mates clutched closely, anthem turned up loud.
But can you tell me again why it is so overwhelmingly important to beat Australia, when I don’t actually feel like that anymore?’
or this part….
‘(For instance, in the real world I believe all this fawning over the rich and famous may increase feelings of alienation in many people. This could nullify any alleged economic benefit.)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11956948
Your link is broken: here it is.
Thank you – fixed it.
Rattue’s article is not what you’d expect in the sports pages – a damning critique of neo-liberal capitalism.
“Sport is simply another contributor.”
Mr Rattue would be a mo re useful read if he actually showed how much of a contributor sport is to New Zealand overall.
If a sport opinion-writer is going to slag off the economic contribution of sport, but then says it’s too hard to calculate, he would better to stop interviewing his keyboard and go talk to some actual sports economists.
Hey Mr Rattue, go insert a fact somewhere.
Don’t like it when your ideology is challenged?
Ed
I thought this was a place for discussion. Why get snippy about it when it happens?
Don’t like journalism without facts.
You might want to try it.
Plenty of facts about the negative impacts of neo-liberalism in New Zealand since the 1980s in this documentary.
https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/someone-elses-country-1996
More on Fay Richwhite and their deals……
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3197208
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10446793
Show me where facts were cited in your article by Mr Rattue.
It’s an opinion piece and a bloody good one. He does mention many obvious social trends but (horrors!) failed to cite references to academic literature.
Here’s an old article (can’t find the original online) that I think is relevant. Team NZ values have eroded a long way from the ideal personified by Sir Peter Blake
https://medium.com/@ropata/where-the-new-zealand-experiment-went-wrong-3b41eb53e56c
Seriously, Green Party, sort this shit out….toot sweet.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/345887/greens-letter-reveals-damage-to-staff-morale
Another reason to lament the absence of some of those older, wiser and very possibly greener heads that are no longer present in the Big House.
“sort this shit out….toot sweet.”
My thoughts too. I was shocked but not surprised. Shocked because that shouldn’t be happening and depending on what is going on might be a bad sign in terms of GP kaupapa. Not surprised because I get the impression they are really stretched on a number of levels going into govt.
Although, again MSM, we don’t know the whole letter/context, or where it came from.
I assume the letter is from one disgruntled employee yet the article claims “however the letter reveals staff are unhappy”. Can’t see how they can make that claim based on the opinion of one staff member.
The article says the letter is from “staff” not just one staff member.
And the GP does need to elect a new co-leader as soon as. That will also indicate the future direction of the party – Genter or Davidson – indicates which direction the members want to go.
“A letter from disgruntled Green Party staff to its MPs has revealed complaints of low morale, bad communication and unfair treatment.”
Sounds like plural to me.
Right you are on the first point.
On the second I don’t think the direction of the party is dependent on who the leaders are. Unlike other parties the Greens don’t allow the leaders to determine policy. It will more come down to the personal qualities on offer.
Both main contenders have a strong raft of qualities.
The results will be tipped in the direction of which particular qualities the members tend to most value: Genter, strong on environment, transport, statistical analysis, gender issues, etc. Davidson strong on community engagement, Maori and Pacific engagement and supporting ethnic diversity, anti-poverty, gender….
Probably other things I haven’t included.
But the selection will indicate where the majority of members see the GP heading in future.
I was referring to personal qualities. You have responded with portfolio areas.
They are quite different people and I think the membership will look at who would be the best person for the job. This is what happened when James was elected. His leadership has not changed policy.
Yep. That was pretty much what I was thinking. No one I’ve met in the party has seem disgruntled in any way.
From the RNZ report:
“However the letter reveals staff are unhappy with the way they’ve been treated SINCE the party has become part of the government.” (my capitalisation)
I have to say that I began to notice something was beginning to change (morale-wise) at Garrett Street among the people slaving their arses off BEFORE they became ‘part of gubbamint’.
I think they know what they need to do though – and it probably isn’t calling in talking-head, political commentator, bullshit-artsist, media knob-head-friendly types as consultants. JAG would probably be a more reliable route, and probably a few more equipped with the baubles associated with oestrogen rather than testosterone.
Probably you won’t understand what I mean, but so be it – there’ll be a few super-tuff trolls along soon to explain what I DON’T mean
Why would JAG be a more reliable route?
There are others @Weka, but my initial thoughts were her because she actually does give a shit, she doesn’t suffer from corporate taint (though she’s well familiar with it), and is intelligent and astute.
But as I say – there are others.
Marama for one. I’m just concerned others will open themselves up to vicious media onslaught from the likes of the Garner type blokes.
James does need help though, and toot sweat.
In six months the Green Party have have not one strong and positive media story.
This little one is definitely Beltway Lacrosse, but it was a deliberate leak making yet another reason for parliamentary and Wellington-based reporters to form more negative stories.
The Otago Daily Times has picked up on the RNZ story here:
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/rnz/greens-letter-reveals-damage-staff-morale
The Greens need to start the New Year with an outstanding plan for delivering on their portfolios, electing a new Co-Leader, and having the internal capacity to sustain three years of attacks.
Ad
Do you want the reporters to form more positive stories, not negative?
I want the Green Party to enable the media to generate more positive stories for the government.
It’s not a disaster because the polling looks solid for them.
On the other hand the Greens need to show that they are an actual part of government, not a reason to be consistently unpicked by the media.
The irony there is that you seem incapable of talking about what they’re getting right and most of what I see in your comments is knocking them. That’s not the Green Party’s fault, it’s about how you choose to comment.
Yeah it’s my fault they keep fucking up. Consistently.
Top work there.
The media have an agenda.
Which I sense you share.
The impression I have is that you don’t like some of the GP politics and/or kaupapa. I also note that you are overwhelmingly critical of them. I think those things might be related.
Your analysis above is that the GP should enable the media to present more positive stories about them. But you’re not willing to make positive comments about them. Yes the Greens make mistakes and that’s not your responsibility. But that you focus almost solely on the faults to the exclusion of what they do well and good is *your choice, nothing to do with the GP.
I am critical of politicians who don’t perform.
I am critical of politicians who blame everyone else for their own mistakes.
I am well and truly soft on them compare to the rest of the MSM, and indeed every other political blog in NZ writing about them.
Still, their consistent lack of performance and litany of mistakes could simply be a complete mistunderstanding, which only the Green MPs (as distinct even from their own staff) understand, and it’s actually the rest of the world that is in the real chaos.
Helpfully, you are siding with the Green MPs against the Green staff.
So we know where you stand Weka.
Solidarity forever.
a complete mistunderstanding [sic 😆 ]
Nah, they look more like malicious weasel words to me. A bit beige, if you know what I mean.
So we know where you
standkneel, Ad.I am critical of politicians who blame everyone else for their own mistakes.
Where have the Green MPs being doing that? Be specific.
Helpfully, you are siding with the Green MPs against the Green staff.
So we know where you stand Weka.
Solidarity forever.
And yet I haven’t expressed support for the Green MPs over the staff (my first comment about sorting their shit out was because of the impact on staff). You’re an idiot who appears to be making shit up.
My comments in this subthread are basically pointing out that while you expect other people to be perfect and take responsibility for everything bad that happens, you seem incapable of being honest about your own inability to say anything nice about the Greens and instead use most opportunities to pull them down.
THere’s nothing wrong with having a personal opinion based on dislike or whatever, I’d just prefer some criticism of the Greens that was based on evidence (seriously, it’s not that hard, I do it all the time). For instance, you claimed that there’d been no positive press coverage of a GP story in 6 months. I gave you some links that demonstrate otherwise.
You talk about accountability, but that’s not the same as slagging off.
Ad, I’ve seen plenty of positive commentary about James Shaw’s leadership, and about the allocation of portfolios playing to the Greens’s strengths.
They, like Labour, are still setting up their staff, reading all the documents that they didn’t get to see in opposition, settling in to the role of government. Back off a bit, eh?
What we need to see from the Greens, and others, is evidence that policy is being processed into legislation. But give them a chance to get moving.
Martyn Bradbury takes it far further than I did, and didn’t even list half the litany of mistakes since the election:
“The audacity of the Green Party tactics team complaining about the leadership needing to bring in talent from outside the Wellington clique is hilarious when you consider it was the total lack of anyone gaming out the damage from Metiria’s confession that cost the Greens half their vote.
This total lack of tactics has seen the Greens spend 3 years misstepping and being held hostage by the Wellington Twitteratti. The fact they almost fucked up the last election is utterly denied by everyone concerned.
The grim truth seems to be that no one inside there sees the opportunity of policy they could actually get through if they targeted specific Labour MPs and NZ First MPs for legislative gains.
The madness behind their Waka jumping legislation ‘strategy’ showed a level of incompetence that is bewildering.
Every time I see the Greens in the news headlines now it feels like the nervousness you get when the kids take the car out for a drive. You know it’s going to come back written off with a whole bunch of excuses and explanations that it was someone else’s fault.
The Greens don’t know if they are Arthur or Martha, and if they did it take a 6 month committee meeting to decide on pronouns.
The only hope now is that Marama Davidson is elected co-Leader and she can bring some stability to a Party that desperately needs to ask itself if it wants to wield real political power for real change or just be an exclusive club that makes those who are members feel special by their exclusion of others.
That it’s come to this is extremely embarrassing.”
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/12/11/audacity-of-green-party-staff-complaining/
Lovely line there about “…the nervousness you get when the kids take the car out for a drive.”
If Martyn Bradbury jumped off a cliff* would you “do it too”?
*Edit: that metaphor’s in poor taste. It’s insensitive and ill-considered. Mea culpa. D’oh!
Bradbury has been anti the GP for a long time now.
He seems to have jumped onto the Willie Jackson/Labour Party wagon.
Pretty much.
The Greens were still right about the welfare announcement, even though they paid a big cost. That analysis is beyond the macho politics crowd I think.
The prevailing thought by the Greens is likely that they are misunderstood, and they are trying to be above the mangle of the politics, stay a bit aside rather than above, and get on with the kaupapa that the other parties overlook while they jockey for position.
If that is the case, and they give out the feeling that they are too good, of finer stuff, from the rest of their age group if middle aged, then they won’t be able to capitalise and inform the younger middle class though they weill probably connect with the strugglers and self-driven.
The Greens in the older age group may be a bit distant from the younger ones’ pressing problems of trying to make lives and relationships, get a living, get a house, and preoccupied with that plus the problems of CC and bad political management. The Greens may not be able to capitalise on their place in parliament, and get that wider and continuing support with a practical edge that is needed. Older members are probably better off and they need to keep close and be supportive and not spend too much time walking in the mountains, visiting Europe etc and be part of supporting the political scene here and not absent so much or thinking more of the community than their nearest family and friends.
You mean feed the media the info about what is going on with the Greens, of a positive sort, not leave it to the journos to lurk and like sparrows gang up, and peck holes in our lettuces!
“In six months the Green Party have have not one strong and positive media story.”
I suspect your bias affects what you are seeing.
Yeah ummm they got ministerial roles didn’t they ad? That was pretty positive wasn’t it.
“That was pretty positive wasn’t it”.
Given what the jobs are it is only positive for the wellbeing of the people getting them.
The only one that could have any power is Minister of Conservation. She may be able to do something, which is more than any of the others will be able to do. The others aren’t worth a tin of beans.
None of them were allowed into Cabinet, on Winston’s say if rumours I have heard are to be believed, and they don’t get any say in the overall Government strategy.
Associate Minister is the worst job of the lot. You only get assigned tasks that the Minister doesn’t want to touch. Then you catch the flak.
Pretty sure Hekia Parata and Anne Tolley got all their associate minister’s ‘flak’.
LINZ and Stats have no power? Are you sure the deficit isn’t your imagination?
James Shaw is going to oversee the production of information. Nothing to see here 😆
“James Shaw is going to oversee the production of information”.
That means precisely nothing. The Government Statistician has statutory independence and the Minister, or the Prime Minister for that matter have absolutely no power over what is in the material that is produced.
The Statistician tends to get very unhappy at the slightest hint that they may be subject to any control from the Government of the day. Have a look at this slap at Robertson last year when he suggested that the Government were making her produce particular results to order.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11952737
The Minister can instruct the Statistician to produce, or stop producing, particular types of statistics. The cannot however tell them how to go about gathering the information needed, analysing it, nor how it is to be presented.
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1975/0001/latest/DLM430776.html
Ministers are likely to be extremely cautious about such instructions of course. The Statistician can, and almost certainly will, make such instructions public.
A list of things he can’t do will not avail you.
He can ask them to measure poverty and a whole host of other items National wasn’t too keen to know about. Under-employment, for example.
He can also affect the transparency of information.
Of course he can.
He will just have to accept whatever they find though.
That could turn out to embarrassing to him, and worse, to the Labour Party.
H2 would have his balls if the Government Statistician came out with something embarrassing. It is very hard to say he (or she at the moment) doesn’t know what they are talking about.
I don’t really understand what you mean by the last sentence.
Funny how your authoritarian leader-worship shines out when you think you’re being erudite and knowledgeable.
Heather Simpson would not be so stupid as to risk Labour’s C&S arrangement, whether you project National’s no-mates ethics or not.
The Minister can instruct the Statistician to produce, or stop producing, particular types of statistics.
Indeed. And having stopped certain types of statistics, the Minister can get up in the House and quack on about it being impossible to measure poverty, homelessness, or whatever else it might be inconvenient to have information about. Which is exactly why having James Shaw as Minister of Statistics is one motherfucker of an improvement.
Good that you agree with me alwyn. Sure as hell better than not having those roles. But just in cake you want to trifle more with this, think.
What on earth does this comment mean?
Did you have a long lunch?
We can’t go on forever with suspicious minds Weka.
Can you name a strong and positive media story that the Greens have managed to get into the MSM in the last six months? Go right ahead.
I am sure you can give them all the rope they need, but at some point you need to apply the same level of accountability that you do to anyone running the country and expect them to sort their actual shit out and perform, just like the others.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11945026
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/10/an-historic-moment-for-the-green-party-james-shaw.html
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/09/21/49179/the-party-that-came-back-from-the-dead
“I am sure you can give them all the rope they need, but at some point you need to apply the same level of accountability that you do to anyone running the country and expect them to sort their actual shit out and perform, just like the others.”
Sure. I just said in this thread that I think if they have staffing problems of the kind in the RNZ piece then they need to sort their shit out pronto.
AHHHH! That proves it. ELVIS ISN’T DEAD!
He’s alive and well posting on The Standard as ~Ad~, with an enterage of fans.
Whoar! check out the side ‘burns’ and the chorus. One of them could be a teenage Jonathan Coleman
I knew someone would get it. 🙂
Not good.
However, be aware of the agenda of the finance owned media.
They have an agenda.
yep another media beat up. if you are looking for low morale look at National at the moment….well behind Lab/Gr in the radionz poll of polls since the election and Jacinda well ahead of Bill in preferred PM stakes…Bill will be gone in March
+ 1 yep always bound to be challenging. I hope they can navigate these rapids, they must do so because we need them there, aligned and in strength.
I hope also that the election is being analysed seriously from a Green perspective. Maybe get some ex MPs to be in on that.
“Maybe get some ex MPs to be in on that.”
Oh my, my, my….I’m envisioning certain staunch and consistently outspoken former Green MPs and and how much more they could have achieved had they been occupying government benches.
Those older and bolder heads should be right in there, right now, with the good oil to calm these troubled waters.
Now. Today. Quick.
Good oil is also good in stopping mozzies. It reduces surface tension and they can fly off the pooled water I believe.
I agree with you Rosemary McDonald. Personally feel it would have been good for some of the new Green MP’s to be placed lower in the list and then have had at least one election of campaigning to get the feel of it and used to the amount of work and what is involved. I believe in working your way upwards is fairer.
Greens had a new co leader and a resigned co leader and Marama is fairly new too so having so many inexperienced people as well as new people with their own branding has not been good.
Yes up to the Green members for the placement, but how much was influenced by Metro articles, MSM and fluff. Obviously all worked out for the MSM in the end when they saw the votes for the Greens. For whatever reason whatever happened took a lot of Green talent out of parliament.
I’m not a member of the Greens but did party vote them and have donated to the party. If I was a member I’d be voting Eugenie Sage as co leader because she’s the only one who seems to have any lengthy conservation experience left and has an air of Jeanette Fitzsimons. But I don’t think she’s the type to step forward for promotion. Pity.
I’ve been taking a stroll down Memory Lane this morning. reliving this traumatic day in 2013.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/50HansD_20130517_00000008/new-zealand-public-health-and-disability-amendment-bill
I strongly doubt that the younger MPs in the Green Party would be able to speak…largely off the cuff since this Bill was rushed through the House under extreme urgency…with such authority and conviction.
“I hope also that the election is being analysed seriously from a Green perspective”
There’s a review going on currently that includes the members.
The other issue, is in the age of dirty politics how many Green members are there and how many members could be faked or actually members of other parties to influence the list, opinion polls and party leader? We all know that governments have infiltrated Greenpeace, spied on Keith Locke and other social groups. We know from dirty politics that Mark Mitchell allegedly paid Slater to help increase his chances and smear the other’s in the running.
In the 21st century influencing politics seems to be just another way to keep the profits coming in and stop change. Are the Greens voting systems robust enough in the age of dirty politics?
Labour give unions voting rights for example for their party leader which might be why the leaders are still more left wing than many of the Labour MP’s – much to the MSM and Natz disgust.
If that was leaked by staff, then they aren’t suitable for continued employment with a political party and the MPs were perhaps right to be seeking external staff for certain key roles.
There is much to be done in adjusting to being in govt and having fewer MPs, but as a Green supporter I have been dismayed in the naivety of much that has happened and can’t help thinking they need far better advisors toot sweet.
I was going to do something on the drinking water report from last week, but Gordon Campbell does a useful primer here:
http://werewolf.co.nz/2017/12/gordon-campbell-on-how-the-drinking-water-crisis-has-been-a-failure-of-political-leadership/
The uber rich don’t play by the rules.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11957247
How so?He has followed the process and it doesn’t sound fair at face value.Duke has been a big success in retail,turned Briscoes around and made himself a fortune.
A defender of the 0.01%.
Quite a few here on the Standard nowadays……
I asked how he didn’t abide by the rules.
Ed – It is fair to ask you to back up accusations.
“The uber rich don’t play by the rules.”
What rule is he not playing by? He seems to have done everything correctly so far?
Another stalwart of the neoliberal elite arrives in their defence…….
and another post where you make accusations and cannot or refuse to back them up.
then try and attack people who call you out.
Yep, at the end of the day if the council has given other’s 6 landings a week and he gets half not really fair. (if that is true). Anyway I think great they will all be making such a din with all the helicopter landings to each other – each to themselves.
That, by the way, means that he doesn’t need to get consent because it’s a ‘renovation’, and not a new house despite the fact that it will be a new house.
On the issue, one wonders why we’re letting helicopters taking off and landing over a residential area. How are they doing traffic control?
We allow because we bow down to wealth in this country.
“That, by the way, means that he doesn’t need to get consent because it’s a ‘renovation’, and not a new house despite the fact that it will be a new house”
that is inaccurate – he will still need consent for that.
“On the issue, one wonders why we’re letting helicopters taking off and landing over a residential area. How are they doing traffic control?”
Same way they do it now – they call into the nearest traffic control centre.
Pity you don’t have the energy to advocate for the poor with the same energy you argue for multi- millionaires.
not arguing – just pointing out lies from the likes of yourself.
Careful. You’ve been warned before about these sorts of wild accusations.
indeed – but Ed has made a couple of accusations this morning – as usual nothing to back them up, in fact his own link points to quite the opposite of Eds statements.
So is it not fair that if all the evidence provided points to Ed not telling the truth, then its fair to call him a liar?
Are you a liar?
To be fair, it does seem like the richlister is indeed staying within the rules – using every inch of them, and being able to afford to challenge them, but still within them.
Twice a day, and all that.
Lol, the desire for petty point scoring is turning james into quite the custodian of decency and accuracy in others 🙂
He’s gone all pc and very quick to puff out his chest and scold others. It’s quite a good parody really.
A family member is a builder and thus he actually knows the building code. Leave the floor and a wall or two standing and it becomes a renovation rather than a new house.
They’ll probably have to get some consents – moving plumbing requires consent for example – but it won’t be to the level of a new house despite it being an actual new house. This is a rather glaring injustice within the law.
Seems that they’re flying under VFR so no control centre involved.
Yes have to say, I’d have a few safety concerns with all the helicopters being in a residential area. Helicopters have a higher failure rate than planes.
Couldn’t land on nicer people, I’m sure. Surely someone would give a thought about their safety…
The wealth that James, BM and Indiana worship is created by exploiting workers.
It is by paying them peanuts and himself a fortune he can afford luxurious properties, helicopters and membership of exclusive golf courses.
2014.
‘Employees from the Briscoe Group, speaking anonymously, say the starting wage there is 30 cents above the minimum rate, and most sales assistants’ wages are between $14.55 and $16 an hour, even with long service.
At the other end of the spectrum, Briscoe chief executive Rod Duke’s salary has almost doubled over the past five years. The company’s latest annual report shows Duke was paid $891,000 for the year ending January 2014. In 2009, his pay was $458,000.’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/10054448/So-wheres-the-payoff
2016
Executive directors Rod Duke and Alaister Wall were paid salaries of $972,000 and $465,000 respectively, which was separate to the fee pool.
Duke owns about 78 percent of Briscoe, which delivered him dividends of $24.6 million in the 2016 financial year.
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/krsone/2ndquarterfreethrows.html
“the rich is getting richer, so why we ain’t richer?
could it be we still thinking like niggas?
educate yourselves, make your world view bigger
visualize wealth and put yourselves in the picture!”
Poor man doesn’t to be inconvenienced…
‘”From time to time, I have got a golf membership up the coast. I don’t want to have to drive to Onehunga,” he said referring to Advanced Flight’s base there.’
The tasty blocks of land on Sarsfield, Herne Bay drop off into the Waitemata Harbour. I recall something about approaches/departures from an approved H site over water having different CAA requirements than over dwellings.
I’ve never done particularly well with slagging rich people for being rich, changes squat. I’d rather lobby the council to allow Rod to irritate the bejesus out of his neighbours whenever he wants and in return he installs a min wage at Briscoes of $17 per hour.
I think there are already too many helicopters flying over Auckland. I’m not near the landing sites, but they do drown out any audio I am listening to at home. Some days in the evening, there are several fly overhead – often early evening.
I do think the number flying over Auckland in the future need to be regulated.
I don’t know what the limit should be for any individual, but surely there will need to be flight course regulations in the future?
Hmmm, he wants six helicopter flights a week. He wants to turn a boatshed into a major entertainment venue. Sounds like he’s planning to be a somewhat noxious neighbour. Considering what kind of people are likely to be his neighbours on Sarsfield St, surely that’s something to chuckle about while quietly wishing him luck.
The rich neoliberal class care about no-one else than themselves.
They read Atlas Shruggged and believed its sociopathic message.
They think they are John Galt
+111
Every day you spit on rich people. I get it, but it draws us no closer to a more favourable outcome.
I think we’re robbing ourselves of ammunition if it is our belief that the wealthy give a rats about nobody but themselves. Even if they don’t, many think they do, that’s what matters.
All of the wealthy and successful business people I’ve ever met have a few things in common. They love ‘The Deal’. They’re good at it. I have to go home, make phone calls, play with a whiteboard, before I’m remotely content with my SWOT analysis. These people run them in their heads in 10 seconds flat.
That’s their language, put any proposition on the table and that’s what they’re doing. Strengths: ‘How will going ahead with this make us stronger?’ Weaknesses: ‘What adverse effects will going ahead have on what we have now?’ Opportunities: ‘What roads open up for us if we go ahead?’ Threats: ‘How will going ahead leave us exposed to competitors?’
The best way to get Neo liberals to grow a more enhanced social conscious is to pitch our better way in manner they know and understand.
When we put on this cap other avenues start opening up.
We could look at winding the accom supplement down if share dividends started to replace it.
What would happen if our government approached Fletchers and said ‘We’d like to look at subsidising the purchase of Fletcher shares for Fletcher workers.’
Private ownership of state housing is a much easier pill to swallow when a 40% slice of the operation is owned by the people in the houses.
Watch those gardens bloom.
Hands up everyone that wants to manage state housing.
The people that have such a poor history with paying their rent, nobody in the private sector wants to know them. The people with 8 pig dogs that are in actual fact ‘family’. The guy with ‘The Mob’ emblazoned across his face. Just got out after smashing 22 people over the head with a cricket bat, he needs a home, he’s yours.
If I was in government I’d be looking to chuck that hot potato ASAP.
Unlike the UK which has strict planning laws so that their 60 million people can live in a country similar size to NZ with reasonable harmony. In NZ planning however the developers and councils and resource pillagers, have struck out pretty much all amenity clauses like privacy, noise, light, height to boundary, nuisance clauses etc. You can even try to steal 1km of harbour without a resource consent or steal public water for private bottling across conservation land.
Planning does not rely on fairness or practicality in NZ, it’s all about some 100 page report from consultants voicing that anything will be of only minor effect. So as long as you have money, employ the right consultants or know someone at the council you are sweet as to do what ever obnoxious behaviour and steal as much resources as you want, in New Zealand. Anything goes.
I was… kind of feeling sorry for the neighbours but I like your point Andre @ 11.3 😀
time to boycott Briscoes
Unlikely his neighbour’s shop there:)
This is what happens if you have to rely on private provision for old age, and user pays. There is likely to be to be a bad fit between the needs of people and what a company is willing to offer. Health insurance is a good example.
11/Dec/2017 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11957252
And when you as a human are just a bit of business product, there is no feeling from the company that they should make some change to meet the need and include the desire to be fair as well as profitable. There is an insurance advocate I think, certainly some sort of change should be able to be made, a limited liability for the insurance company against a hefty total payment.
I am paying for funeral cover myself and was interested in whether it would be paid if I chose managed demise (euthanasia) which would be regarded as suicide. I think that I would have to wait for two years or something. It isn’t a definite thing for me but that could prove a need for me in the near future.
The alcohol lobby wins.
Again.
Workers lose.
Again.
Families lose.
Again.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/345914/dunedin-council-says-yes-to-easter-sunday-trading
Voted in my the local council – no mention of any alcohol lobby.
But then Ed seems to be long on accusations and short on facts to back it up.
Just a tad like BM today james ah. If the corporate media don’t mention it then it’s not real.
Interesting point of view, but deeply flawed. Do I need to explain why?
Hey Ed – Please point to where the alcohol lobby has been involved in this. Here let me help:
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/council-online/currently-consulting-on/pre-hearings/local-easter-sunday-shop-trading-policy-pre-engagement-advice
None listed.
Patrick Gower’s leaving.
Any takers for the job?
Hal Crawford, Chief News Officer Newshub said: “Paddy is one of the best communicators I have ever worked with – his new role as national correspondent will see him unleashed on the whole of NZ, something I’m looking forward to immensely.
Christ.
Grant Robertson will be pleased. (That’s not sarcasm btw.)
I think lots of people will be pleased 😆
Way I’m reading it “National Correspondent” has the potential to be much more powerful and influential than a post tied to the Press Gallery.
I don’t know what national correspondent means.
It means (from the blurb) that he gets to report on “stories of national significance” that will “play a key part in the Newshub Live at 6pm bulletin”.
Who decides what’s significant and what to ignore is an open question. But I can’t see Paddy having only a limited input into those decisions.
edit – and to reiterate what I’ve thought for quite a while, Paddy is Grant’s man.
On your last point, I have been thinking that for a while, also.
But Gower also seems anti-GP, or anyone who strays away from the centre left, in a further leftwards direction.
I don’t see any conflict whatsoever between Gower being anti- Green/ anti-left and being Robertson’s man.
I’d have used “and” in lieu of “but” in your comment.
lol, they’re obviously not too bothered with ratings. Gower never seemed to me to be one made for tv.
Obviously saw which way the wind was blowing and Goodbye Gower. Never mind, I believe Joyce was following his career closely – I’m sure Gower will be well looked after.
Is he going back to the Herald? OR maybe he’s got a job with Fox, or more likely a job in political party spin doctoring or a gubbamint department/quango PR team.
Dunk’s probably thinking Christ! do I have to start training another little protege in the art of hand movements and camera positioning.
Actually that’s “Incredibly explosive, volatile and telling, and dramatic and devastating”. I’m in grief. Oh God I can’t cope!
What will we do?
Fascinating insight to trends in the Public Service versus Ministers:
“Newsroom- Political and public administration academics Chris Eichbaum and Richard Shaw researched the freeness and frankness of New Zealand’s public servants in 2005 and 2017.
One Respondent wrote:
“Ministers are welcome to have political advisers who play a minor role in ‘separately’ providing politically oriented advice. The problem is when they act as an intermediary between the Minister and public servants, who are trying to provide free, frank and politically neutral policy advice. They frequently filter what policy advice goes to the Minister, actively argue against policy advice in officials’ meetings and work hard to influence the topics and content of advice….”
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/12/10/66596/not-as-frank-and-free-as-we-thought
Oh god, yes!
Some years back I was driven to email the late Tony Ryall as he spouted about the impending fiscal apocalypse that would come on the back of the Appeal Court ruling for Atkinson v MOH.
Apologies for not providing a link…but Ryall was banging on about the dire consequences of paying family carers and how if it extended to ACC ‘you can see how the costs would just go up and up…’. He did that hand over hand thing to demonstrate for the cameras.
NOTE…ACC had nothing to do with the Atkinson case other that to provide evidence to the Tribunal in 2008 that paying family carers did not result in shit care or isolation or any other of ‘the sky is falling’ scenarios put forward by the Ministry of Health and Crown Law. ACC had been paying family carers for years…
Clearly he had been given the wrong advice and information from some fwit or other in his orbit, and my email went along the lines of ‘the advice you’re getting is wrong and making you look like an idiot..’.
My partner and I went to Welly and set ourselves up outside the Big House and let Ryall office know we were there should he or one of his staff like to get a truer picture of the issue.
Three days later we got to see a staffer and yes, you guessed it, a senior adviser on disability issues from the Misery of Health. This senior adviser had already distinguished themselves in our eyes as being… how can I put this…less than well informed on basic disability issues.
And the ballsup of a new family carers policy we ended up with…we’re going back to court on the issue again.
Still not sure who is the dog and who is the tail and which wags what.
Thanks ianmac for posting that link.
Fragile, petty and easily triggered.
FYI
11 December 2017
CEO
Auckland Transport
Shane Ellison
‘Open Letter’ / OIA to Auckland Transport CEO Shane Ellison re:Transdev public subsidies and corruption risk assessment.
Dear Shane,
Can you please provide the following information:
1) How much have PRIVATE transport provider Transdev received in PUBLIC subsidies from Auckland Transport, on an annual basis since Transdev were awarded the AT rail contract to run Auckland urban passenger trains.
2) How much have PRIVATE transport provider Transdev received in PUBLIC subsidies from New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) on an annual basis since Transdev were awarded the AT rail contract to run Auckland urban passenger trains.
3) How much money have you, Shane Ellison, as new CEO of AT, the delegated authority to spend on awarding contracts.
4) A copy of Auckland Transport’s ‘corruption risk assessment’ – (or the like) regarding your appointment as CEO of Auckland Transport (AT), given that you have just left the employment of Transdev (Australia), and Transdev have the AT contract to run Auckland urban passenger trains.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Auckland Transport appoints new Chief Executive
https://at.govt.nz/about-us/news-events/auckland-transport-appoints-new-chief-executive/
“In a first, Shane was selected in an exemplar of a collaborative approach between a CCO and the Mayor, with the Mayor, AT Deputy Chairman, Wayne Donnelly and myself fully involved in the selection process from the outset.
Pippa Coom (Chair of the Waitemata Local Board) and Renata Blair (Member of the Independent Maori Statutory Board) were both involved in the final selection panel.
….”
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption whistle-blower’.
Attendee: 2009 Australia Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2010 Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2013 Australia Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2014 G20 Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2015 Australia Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2017 Transparency International Australia Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2017 Australia Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.
Attendee: 2017 World Justice Project International Rule of Law Forum – The Hague.
When are cheaper ($8) visits to the doctor coming into effect? Anybody know?
It was a surprise to find the glossy Natz pamphlet telling me doctors visits were free to under 13 yo but when I went to the doctor I think is was over $40 for a child. They forgot to put in SOME doctors visits were free in their leaflet.
Is that right, National misleading voters again.
With the silly season coming upon us, I’m sure emergency departments would welcome it (cheaper doctor visits) sooner rather than later.
Moreover, with hospitals struggling to cope overall, one would assume ensuring cheaper access to GPs would be one of Labour’s top priorities.
I hope this isn’t going to be another policy that won’t take effect till 2021.
Ask Hoskings, he knows everything!
New Zealand’s regions now drier than Australian outback
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/12/new-zealand-s-regions-now-drier-that-australian-outback.html