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.
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
He’s bringing ‘Sophie’ back, yeah. Goodshirt’s ‘Sophie’ music video is one of the most instantly recognisable New Zealand music videos of all time. Featuring a woman listening to the song on headphones while her entire house is burgled behind her, the video won the New Zealand music award for Best ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University A year ago, the AUKUS agreement was formally announced between Australian and UK Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden. The agreement mapped out the “optimal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Helwig, Associate Professor, Electro-Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern Queensland SmartS/Shutterstock Steam locomotives clattering along railway tracks. Paddle steamers churning down the Murray. Dreadnought battleships powered by steam engines. Many of us think the age of steam has ended. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carrie Leonetti, Associate Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Victims who experience family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand are treated differently, depending on which part of the justice system they turn to for help. But a new member’s bill ...
[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:
https://thestandard.org.nz/latest-comar-brunton-poll-result/#comment-1424640
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb0Jmy-JYbA
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fi9kuUVbe8
“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