Aussies know for sure now that NZs are a bunch of pussies and they can pinch all our food out of our bowls while we look on. They have got some mongrel in them that is of value to them in getting what they want. We have turned into a bunch of lapdogs, who will lick them to death with just a pat on the head from Oz.
And Shonkey has agreed to take some of their embarrassing domestic political stress off the Oz government and the international condemnation of them on refugee and human rights standards. Yet we have NZ refugees in Oz in hardship, facing ever decreasing living standards and not able to afford a ticket home. And people living and working there that they want to deny modern support to – treating us like a third world country. This is while they scoop up profits from our casino like economy. Not so different from the poor Africans going away to another African country to work in the rich white man’s mines.
A tough politician could have applied some leverage. ‘Well we could think about doing this, it has merit, but first we are very concerned to get your treatment of NZs to match ours to Aussies.’ Instead we make travel easier, when we are so important as frequent tourists to Oz, and vice versa. We could talk about introducing visas – they wouldn’t like that – but it would protect against this strawman argument that most of their expenses in the social welfare field are imported from feckless, free-moving NZs.
The reason: This spy from all accounts, was not just a spy, he was also an agent provocateur.
There is hard evidence that Rob Gilchrist was actively encouraging people to take illegal, and possibly even extreme actions, so that he could report them to his paymasters.
The sort of actions that the police, would use to justify their continuing and repeated requests to parliamentarians over the years for more and greater police powers and weapons rights especially against protesters. Which when taken in total amount to an aggressive campaign by politically motivated senior police commanders against this country’s civil liberties and the right to protest.
To discredit and cripple this county’s proud history of effective protest against injustice, was in effect what Rob Gilchrist was being paid for
The Rob Gilchrist case has implications for a number of ongoing appeal cases against police actions. Not least, the appeal hearings around the so called police Urewera Terror Raids, where it is suspected that agent provocateurs were also used. Possibly even Gilchrist himself.
This is one can of worms that the police definitely won’t want opened.
My bet; This news report is all we will hear on this matter. And the police will make an out of court settlement to buy Gilchrist’s silence.
Hmm, well perhaps his conscience is manifesting as depression.
He may receive compensation but there will be no compensation for Rochelle Rees (and many other with less personal ties) who was used and betrayed for the legitimate campaigning work she did. Rob Gilchrist needs to consider the damage he did and if he does gets paid out maybe he can use some of that cash and begin to make amends.He’s not the only who suffered. He knew full well what he was doing and what the consequences would be.
I can forgive Gilchrist for being a spy. What I find it hard to forgive him for is the hurt and dissent he spread throughout the movement, through spreading lies, rumours and destructive criticism. This polarised much of the Animal Rights movement and made it an unpleasant place to work. Part of the responsiblity for this we must take for ourselves; but if Gilchrist had not been present I think we would have been much more cooperative and productive.
BTW: I do know how to spell my name. I also know about Google searches.
It was quite obvious Gilchrist enjoyed his role. It was like something out of a Boys Own comic to him. It ws also obvious to those of us in Wellington that he was a sleaze. I don’t know why it took his ex-girlfriend so long to work that out. I did not like him much but I never thought he was a spy, because he seemed to have the trust of experienced activists.
While I share the disdain of other posters about the way the police paid useful stooges like Gilchrist to infiltrate protest groups, I have no sympathy for Gilchrist trying to extract money from them. He knew what he was doing, and he chose to be a spy.
On the other hand, it is always good when opponents turn on each other. It means they are spending their resources on internecine conflict instead of on spying.
Kia Ora Michael. I hope that the experience of having a traitor in your midst hasn’t deterred you, or made you feel reluctant or apprehensive to continue the work you do. Big Ups.
Just go and ask Patrick O’Brien, (agent provocateur) how the cops conceal covert operations. It is five years since O’Brien wrote to Chief Justice Elias with his perjury confession and NOTHING has been done by the police to assist O’Brien.
As long as the police think people like O’Brien and Gilchrist cannot touch them the injustice continues for them.
I would like to know how many undercover cops in the 70s, 80s, 90s are still on ACC due to mental injury?
(I do know that the cops can sue for exemplary damages, possibly this is what Gilchrist has done).
It is 36 years this month since Moyle resigned from parliament and the full police evidence is still in lock up. In 1976 it was ordered to be locked away for 25 years. The cops have a lot to answer for due to decades of lies about me.
Exemplary damages
“Sometimes called punitive damages, exemplary damages are not awarded as compensation for the injured person but instead to reform or deter the person who caused the injury, and others, from following the same course of action that caused the injury.”
O’Brien is still languishing out there and will until a COMPETENT person is assigned to address all that he raises, re dirty cops and dirty goverment systems which cause interminable distress to individuals.
The powers that be are probably not going to open that little can of worms. They know that if they put O’Brien up on the stand or whatever, all sorts of crap is going to come out.
Too many high ranking gutless wonders in the NZ Police.
Even though I come across as anti cops I am anti the Office of the Commissioner of Police; the higher you go in the job the more corrupt I find them to be.
In my considered view – if you get people who come from nowhere, with no previous proven track record as activists – who make a beeline for controlling the activist group’s message, or means of getting the activist group’s message out (by controlling the administration of facebook pages /websites etc) BEWARE!!!
Especially if one of their main functions is to spread misinformation, cause in-fighting, and try to discredit those who are actually being effective.
(This has happened to me – to an unprecedented degree – since August 2012…..)
The commonsense thing to – is google their name and see what comes up?
Through ‘Whois’ – you can find out who controls various websites.
It seems that the police agent provocateur who is blackmailing the police for half a million dollars, Rob Gilchrist. Was sending his handlers intimate photos of the activists he was spying on, accompanied with humiliating sexist comments. Photos heavy with the potential for blackmail.
In the same sordid vein the police agent after gaining their confidence, got some of the activists he was spying on to pose with weapons, weapons supplied by him from an alleged personal arsenal he maintained with the full knowledge of the police.
This raises the question.
If Gilchrist’s cover hadn’t have been blown:
What would have become of these pictures?
Would those who appeared in them have been caught up in the so called police terror raids?
Of course the big question is, will Gilchrist’s police police handlers give in to their paid blackmailer, who has now turned on them, to cover up their sordid acquiring of staged evidence of leftist terrorists with guns, or will it come before a court?
My money is still, on the police paying out.
Though if I was Rob Gilchrist I would be worried that our police commanders might feel threatened and desperate enough to resort to more tried and true methods of ensuring their blackmailers silence.
Whatever outcome, results. Either way, I expect that we will never hear from Rob Gilchrist again.
Rob Gilchrist also had photographs on his computer he had taken of the previously mentioned 16 year old girl, and another 16 year old female activist, taken seperately, with them posing with his guns. This included shots of one of the said girls posing with one of Rob’s guns pointed to her head, and in her mouth. The photographs showed these girls in various outfits, including full camoflague, and some of one of them with a towel in her hair, clearly having just got out of the shower.
A rather large pornography collection with some disturbing videos and images was also present on Rob Gilchrist’s computer.
Whether Rob Gilchrist winds up in a deck chair in the South of France, or in concrete gumboots in the Waitemata. I suppose, is one of those things that we will probably never know.
Of course every movie needs an ending, and as we will never know the end to this story. The screen writers will have to invent one.
Personally I prefer a movie ending with the anti-hero, we all love to hate, ending up in a holdiday resort with all the money, far from the reach of his employers whom he double crossed.
He was doing his job – the one the POLICE employed him to do. You are all entitled to your opinions and make no mistake I have my own but remember that he has family and a teenage daughter that can read these forums. He’s not innocent by any stretch of the imagination and you all seem to think you are such victims – the only victim here is the young girl who has to grow up with this and try to live her life. What you post will be here forever, think before you say things that might cause another innocent person to suffer.
….but remember that he has family and a teenage daughter that can read these forums. He’s not innocent by any stretch of the imagination and you all seem to think you are such victims – the only victim here is the young girl
More informed than you know
So who is playing the victim here, again?
When the powerful and corrupt start playing the victim, everyone else better get out of the way.
While Mityk asks us to consider the family of Rob Gilchrist, he makes no mention of the families of those Rob Gilchrist and his handlers manipulated, humiliated and betrayed.
The one thing I like about these sites is the anonymity that sometimes tempts those who speak for the authorities and the police to occasionally make an anonymous comment to justify and defend at least in their own minds their behavior.
Whether they are police themselves doesn’t really matter they speak in that unmistakable voice that reveals that they they think that the powerful and the authorities must always be obeyed.
The voice of More informed than you know has that feel.
So to you Mityk keep coming back. While I find your views not exactly refreshing, I think that it is worthwhile that you put them up. You show that you are a bit of the rebel yourself by commenting here. Is that scary for you? I hope so.
John Tamihere will attempt to stack the Waitakere Brances and fix the selection convention.
“While the chance of a tilt at the “train wreck” Maori Party in the Tamaki Makaurau Maori seat appeals, it seems more likely Tamihere will persuade Labour Maori members to switch electoral rolls into the Waitakere seat, giving him enough clout to win selection and, he hopes, beat Bennett.”
Stop him and the fools inside Labour who are helping him.
I love the way poor old Tamihere cries “what’s the matter with telling the truth?”…..
It is the clearest sign yet of his lack of self-awareness, and hence awareness of others, that he has to ask what the problem is that people have with him.
quite the clueless chappie. should stick to his knitting
Just heard Williams and Hooton talking up Tamihere on the Nine-to-Noon slot. Hooton reckons JT has Shearer’s backing. If that is true, I will not refrain from being highly critical of Team Shearer & JT. It is a slap in the face to women and LGBT people. Disgraceful.
Not really, Elizabeth. But I am disgusted. I voted against Tamihere as mayor for Waitakere, and I had thankfully thought we’d seen the end of him. But, re-the hatin’ on the left thread: I already am unhappy with the right wing leadership of our potential Labour government – if Labour MPs want us to stop criticising them, they are not giving me any reason to not criticise them. The caucus is blokey enough already.
Not saying there isn’t an element of truth in it, but beware anything Hooton says. It’s likely at best to be ‘out of context’ or misrepresented altogether.
Sorry, off topic here but can someone please refresh my memory
What is the name of the govt agency you report a scam too?
Some time ago I reported a rash of phone calls I received from someone saying there was something wrong with my computer and that they could fix it for me. Smelt fishy so reported it and it did turn out to be a scam, based in India. I just can’t remember who I reported it to now.
This time I have received emails from a stack of people known to me – some of whom I’ve had nothing to do with for up to seven years. Some are from ex workmates, one is from an old landlord and there a few from businesses I have dealt with. I find it hard to beleive that some of these people would have fallen for such a con “City Mom earns $6,795…etc”. Looks like a dodgy pyramid sceme. It doesn’t add up that some of the smarter people on the list would be involved.
I checked Anthony’s article yesterday in case other commenters had experienced weirdness. Looks like they had, but not of this sort.
I had a load of those “there’s a problem with your computer” phone calls last year. I complained to my phone provider who said I needed to record the time of each call several times. That became too much hassle as my usual response was to stop answering and let the voice-mail take all calls to be sure it was someone I wanted to talk to. The scammers didn’t leave messages.
Hi Karol. The scam you mention was apparently widespread through out NZ. A few weeks after I reported it to what ever govt agency that I did I heard about it on the news. They must have received alot of complaints about it. Unfortunately hundreds of people got suckered in and were parted from their money.
Today I received an email apparently from my lawyer linking to a get rich scheme. I phoned my lawyer who hooted at the scheme and wished he had one that worked.
It was a scam and nothing to do with my law man.
Thanks ianmac. Probably the same scam. I was just about to contact one of the senders of these emails but was apprehensive about insulting their intelligence. I will go ahead and contact the commerce commission because we are a nation of suckers and I’m sad to say I know folks that will think its for real and loose money. They need to be warned. If its the same scam it requests you to send money as an “admin fee”.
Re the phone calls saying your computer has a problem, this is a worldwide one that has been going for years. They are virtually impossible for phone companies etc to trace but most are based in India
I had almost daily calls for a year and still get the occasional one.
. Scamwatch and other agencies say to simply hang up. I use them as an opportunity to air all my frustrations and let off a string of profanity that would make a sailor blush. A cheap whistle from a $2 shop blown down the phone also works wonders ….
Re the emails, Xtra has had a problem over the last few days that may be related.
Hi veutoviper. Thanks for that info. As it happens I’ve been to the consumer affairs website which then reffered on to Netsafe. Spoke with a person there who was well aware of the content of the email. They had lots of complaints.I have just read this article
Not a great idea veutoviper “A cheap whistle from a $2 shop blown down the phone also works wonders ….”
They already have your number.
You have to ask yourself ‘what could happen next”. Most scam callers will move onto the next call (done automatically for them), but one individual with a burst eardrum could organise a number of random 3am calls to you as a repayment.
They have you number as starting point you have nothing. Be careful.
Try this
Them – their speech on a virus on my PC
Me – what computer
Them – your PC has a virus
Me – I don’t have a PC/What is a Microsoft computer etc or some bland reply
Them – hang up
Me – smile on my face
or
Them – can I speak to XYZ
Me – why do you want to speak to XYZ
Them – about a virus on their PC
Me – XYZ is 4 years old
Them – hang up
Me – smile on my face – I win
I suppose you could have some fun stringing them along. “You’re right! I’ve an HAL 9000 and it keeps telling me that the AE35 antenna unit is about to fail – and then when I try to shut it down, it sings ‘Daisy’!”
I do have sympathy for the people making the calls actually – they’re poor people whose work in a call centre is their only – and very meagre – source of income.
The first rule of phone communications from any large organisation is that the person speaking to you is not the one to blame. They’re punch-clock villains at worst.
Had a talk with a person at the WINZ call centre this morning. Ages spent waiting through the muzak and then a very nice, competent person answers. Much as I hate WINZ and what it represents, I haven’t had a bad experience with anyone working for it in decades. Of course I’m never going to meet Paula Bennett and David Shearer, despite his threat in the last Shearer Sayszzzzzzz, is never going to drop by for a chat (lucky for them).
Basic rules:
The people phishing are ordinary people in shitty positions. Hating them is a waste of energy. You’ll never get to speak to the real villains, so just brush them off. I’ve heard about people who devote incredible amounts of energy to stringing them along, expressing interest and staging weird accidents in the background and so on, but really, these aren’t the people to blame, so you’re not even subverting the system. Don’t waste your time.
If anyone wants personal information, then they’ll do it by verifiable means, so that you can query and follow up. Never reply online via email if personal information is asked for. If they claim to be your ISP and you are genuinely concerned, then contact them by another, already-known channel. Nothing will get shut down immediately, so don’t worry.
If something arrives in the mail or by any means – and I’ve seen many in multiple media, that the more official it looks, the more likely it is to be a hoax. By that I mean, look to see if they’re trying too hard. Signs of this are:
– Claims that if you don’t act, the consequences are catastrophic.
– You could win something amazing if you act promptly. Currently it’s iPads.
– Lots of things that look like seals and fancy borders. You don’t have to waste energy looking up these supposed organisations and offices that support the scammer – the very fact that they start listing them is a giveaway. Moreover, real modern organisations use modern graphic design, so patterns that look “official” because they’re old-fashioned are obvious frauds.
– There are assurances of veracity all over the place and funny code numbers and barcodes in the margins that, surely, must mean something, right?
They’re just like Reader’s Digest. That could be a punchline, but actually it’s what’s called “inertia marketing”. You’re made an offer, and you get a promise or maybe even a reward… but always you will be told that there’s MUCH more to come and you have to proceed to the next stage… rather like Scientology too, come to think of it.
On the other hand, “It’s just a trifle, there’s no great risk, and if I lose, it’s not much… this is kinda fun… oh look, maybe I could be in the draw to win more if I register… OK, I’ve started filling out the form, so I might as well continue.”
No. Instead…
You’ll never speak to Doctor Evil, so don’t waste energy thinking that you are.
If they want you to act immediately, then you can be 100% certain that it’s a scam. If there’s a competition, then there’s plenty of time to enter and there’ll be a massive publicity campaign. If you’re behind in your power bill, then you will get a warning letter and a bigger bill next time if you don’t pay. They want you to continue subscribing.
Real organisations want your money in regular monthly payments for a continuing service, so they will do their very best not to scare or threaten you. They’ll be bastards in other ways.
No one legitimate will ask for security-related information that they should already have and your bank account/password number is not proof of your identity, so they shouldn’t ask for it.
The moment someone says “There’s more, if…” shut up, hang up, log off.
If there’s a special offer, then it’s part of a service you’re already subscribing to. If it looks that way, then it will be advertised through other channels as well.
The more “official” it looks, the less official it is.
Most of all, the principal rule:
If it looks to good to be true, then it is.
Or, unleash your inner Mustrum Ridcully: if someone’s jabbering excitedly in your ear, then ignore them. If they go away after a few minutes, then it wasn’t important. If they’re still there, turn around and tell them to deal with it.
Yes, most people here know all this, but just in case… really, some of the emails I’ve had have really worried me for a while until I’ve researched them a bit.
Thanks watcher for the comment re the whistle and bursting someones eardrum. And Thanks Rhinocrates for your thoughtful communications. Incidentially I had wondered at the time last year when I got the “your PC is broken but I can fix it for you” call, and knowing it was a scam, who exactly makes the phone call.Is it the group of scammers themselves or do they hire workers to undertake the task? If I figure its workers I’d never vent on them.
I’m happy to report scams. I know some really daft people who are easily suckered and would fall for the free ipad! Win a holiday house! make $1000 a day! Free wrinkle treatment! scams, so need to be warned via a media release from consumer affairs etc.
Yesterdays one did have me scratching my head though as it was from an ex landlord who does do weird things in order to obtain money (Then she lost it all at the beginning of the recession and had to sell the house we were living in dammit)However once a pile of the same emails turned up first thing this morning, from folks that would know better I clicked something was up.
Just to set the record straight, I realise that the people making the calls are just poor workers trying to make a living. The only times I have used the whistle has been when (a) I have asked the worker to put me onto their supervisor; (b) I have warned the supervisor that I know it is a scam etc etc and what I am about to do and the possible consequences (eg to the eardrum).
As I said, I had almost daily calls for over a year. Sometimes I played them along; other times I hung up; other times they got the profanity treatment. Thankfully, the calls are now few and far between. However, reporting each time became out of the question; and nothing ever came of doing so anyway due to the size of the scam worldwide and the difficulty for the agencies etc to trace the calls.
You should see the hilarity that arises at our household when people call and ask for Lyn(n). That really confuses the hell out of many callers. It usually takes a bit of questioning by us to find out which person they’re after. The conversations usually stay on the correct path after that.
But we don’t get telemarketers. I dropped off the white pages about 20 years ago for a unlisted number and these days I’m VOIP’ing anyway. So this is usually people calling to speak to Lyn. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t answer unknown phone numbers because talking to people does nasty things to the coding part of my brain.
Good Luck
Oh and if I get the “you have a virus” people on the phone I suddenly forget all I know about computers and run them around for hours if I am bored.
Or you could tell them you are running Ubuntu.
New Zealanders are getting royally shafted up the arse by this government. From the rear until red-raw. A few smacks across the back of the head for good measure and then shoved into the ditch, laughing with their ugly mates .
This government is the most mean, nasty and ugly government we have ever suffered. They are evil, they are liars and they smack the less fortunate around the head every week.
Another bad day at the office for Rachel Smalley
TV3 Firstline, Monday 11 February 2013
This morning after the 7 A.M. news, Rachel Smalley interviewed Gary Poole of the Refugee Council. It soon became clear that he was very upset by her indolent and thoughtless repetition of government talking points. He was especially incensed by Smalley’s continual repetition of the nonsensical claim that the paltry number of refugees taken by New Zealand and Australia constituted a problem. Turkey, he pointed out, took more than two hundred thousand refugees last year.
At the end of the interview, Gary Poole turned his back on Smalley. He could not have expressed his contempt for her any more plainly.
Visibly shaken, Smalley turned to Patrick Gower who, disappointingly, also repeated the cruel government line that refugees are “queue-jumping”.
Thanks for that, Andre. Check the link at about the 3:20 mark; Smalley foolishly quotes talkback radio bigotry as if it’s somehow representative of public opinion, which clearly angers Mr. Poole. It’s about then that he loses all respect for her.
Pleasing to see that there are people now beginning to discuss this issue!
Damn sad to see the same language noe being used here too (“illegals”, “queue jumpers”, and so on).
When Key & Co held that little ‘training episode’ a few months back in the event NZ might be flooded by asylum seekers, I’m sure he had it in his mind THEN that he was going to use it as a suckup/brownee point earning mission with OZ.
Gillard’s never gotten over the High Court pointing out a few home truths over her proposed “Malaysian Solution”, nor has she got it in her to admit that she’s fucked up royally over asylum seekers.
This dolt John Key is damaging NZ’s reputation internationally – if it weren’t for the fact we are just a pimple on the arse of Earth as far as our profile is concerned internationally, we’d already be a laughing stock. 100% pure, respect for our obligations under U.N treaties, egalitarian, our respect for human rights (especially with regard to the indigenous population and women)…..
I’d call the guy evil IF it wasn’t for the fact that he’s just basically ignorant and simply driven by ego and what my mother would have described as be “a social climbing wanker”.
Helen Kelly of the CTU will today launch a campaign targeting a ‘living wage’ for all low paid workers in NZ,
Here’s why the Slippery lead National Government runs a Depression economy with high numbers of unemployed creating novel means of whipping these unemployed out into the economy to seek work along with sickness and DPB beneficiaries,
”The labour market isn’t at the right point where i think unskilled workers could apply a lot of pressure,(for higher wages),because there’s still a lot of competition for those jobs”, unquote- Gail Pacheco AUT University Economist…
“”The labour market isn’t at the right point where i think unskilled workers could apply a lot of pressure,(for higher wages),because there’s still a lot of competition for those jobs”, unquote- Gail Pacheco AUT University Economist…”
The base labour market should not be subject to competition for the simple reason that people are not commodities, like undies and cans of spaghetti.
That this truth does not even enter the mind of people like Gail Pacheco speaks entirely to their shortcomings and debases the rest of their ideas.
Gail is spot on though. Workers from the Philipines, from throughout South America, imported into NZ to work for sweet FA. Heavy government regulation of the labour market is the only way to go, precisely for the reasons you state: “The base labour market should not be subject to competition for the simple reason that people are not commodities, like undies and cans of spaghetti.”
Again, something like the UBI could be used to put a floor up against the minimum wage.
Don’t shoot the messenger here, vto. A short quote in a newspaper piece describing how the market is currently operating is no basis for your disparaging comment about “people like Gail Pacheco.” As it happens, Gail is a leading member of the AUT Work Research Institute which is organising and sponsoring the two day symposium on precarious work being held this Thursday and Friday at AUT in compunction with the CTU, SFWU and First Union.
Ok, fair enough. As you say though “a short quote” out of context perhaps …
The short quote does highlight the issue of commodification of human beings. Hey …. isn’t that what they used to with slavery? Advertise them like they were undies or cans of spaghetti? … Yes, they did.
Saw those articles about the living wage in the Herald this morning.
Note that Foodstuffs are turning their drivers into owner-drivers. I wonder if they’ll end up having to buy their gear from TradeMe like the VisionStream telecomms workers did. Stinks really. I wont be buying from New World/PakNSave again…
Foodstuffs try to outsource their work as much as they can. Instead of having employees stocking shelves they have armies of merchandisers do this for them. The merchandisers are contractors, not employees, of the supermarket supplier companies. Their role is to go instore take the order and return after the order has been shipped to unload and stack it. Merchandisers usually have to use their own vehicle and cell phone. From their pay they have to cover their own ACC, holiday pay, sick pay and tax. If they actually do this then often their pay works out as less than the minimum rate.
Foodstuffs will favour companies who can provide a merchandiser for them, so suppliers are often forced to take on the cost of a merchandiser themselves, if they want to retain business with the chain. Its a win for the supermarket and a lose for the supplier and the worker. The worker loses the opportunity for secure work conditions and secure pay.
All those specials we pick up at the supermarket? Those costs are absorbed by the supplier, not the supermarket.
Progressive Enterprises also do business this way but for what I’ve wistnessed, it doesn’t seem to be as wide spread and entrenched as Foodstuff’s.
Hi Karol. It’s a tricky one. The practice of using merchandisers has been going on for over a decade now. I always try to support NZ owned business over foreign ones such as Progressive. At the same time Progessive has a collective agreement with acceptable pay scales and from what I’ve witnessed, albeit several years ago, one particular lower north island P&S has actively engaged in Union bashing and has tried to block workers from organising. And to swing back to another pro’s and con’s point. Foodstuffs do stock more NZ made product than Progressive, who import alot from Australian manufacturers.
One of the reasons I shop at NW is so I can support NZ manufacturers. You can often buy good products from small suppliers that Progressive won’t look at because their distribution chanels and marketing doesn’t suit their purposes.
Each NW store or P&S is owner-operated unlike Progressive who have store managers. You can get NW owners who are real bastards and those who really decent. Luckily the one I shop at dosn’t attempt to block Union membership and the owner is a good person in general. Its these kinds of stores that have the variety of locally made product. The bastard stores have the run of the mill type product unless they have particularly demanding customers they are trying to keep happy.
I seem to remember that a few years ago the piss-weak Commerce Commission began, or was asked to begin an inquiry into the two chains’ anti-competitive behaviour. It’s good to know that PnS & NW (because they’re individually owned and just franchisees – if I understand you correctly), have the ability to carry the produce of small businesses/producers.
At the time, what I understood might have been happening was that the 2 chains would purchase from small producers on condition that they were the ONLY buyer, and often also on condition that they had to supply a certain bulk amount – sometimes beyond their capability.
(In the nature of what’s apparently known as a monopsony). It’d be a difficult thing to investigate – a small business/producer could become totally dependent on the whims of the big buggers and reluctant to bite the hand that fed them.
I’m of the opinion that one of the worst barriers to ‘a market on a level playing field’ is the manner in which large businesses/corporates are allowed to vertically integrate.
I’d rather (for example) see Telcos banned from also being ISPs.
In solidarity with the Wellington’s’SAY NO TO ASSET SALES’ rally:
WHEN: Wednesday 13 February 2013 at 6pm,
WHERE: Frank Kitts Park,
The Auckland Switch Off Mercury Energy Group has organised the following:
PROTEST (1)
WHEN: Wednesday 13 February 2013, from 12 noon – 2pm
WHERE: Outside Mighty River Power corporate office
ANZ building, 23 – 29 Albert St, Auckland City
LET’S THROW A REAL SPANNER INTO JOHN KEY’S MINORITY NATIONAL GOVERNMENT’S PRIVATISATION AGENDA!
SWITCH OFF MERCURY ENERGY!
IT’S PEOPLE POWER TIME!!!
Mercury Energy is 100% owned by Mighty River Power – the first of the electricity State Owned Enterprises up for ‘partial privatisation’ under the recently passed Mixed Ownership Model Act (for which this minority National Government – with only 59 out of 121 MPs – was dependent on the vote of John Banks – ACT MP for Epsom and Peter Dunne – United Future MP for Ohariu).
We are calling on Maori and Pakeha – ALL New Zealanders, to UNITE and to STOP the sale of Mighty River Power by ‘switching off Mercury Energy’!
One way to disrupt the Government’s asset sale agenda is to make it unattractive to investors.
How can you help? The value of a company is based on potential profits. Losing customers makes Mighty River Power (Mercury Energy) an unappealing investment.
Why switch off Mercury Energy?
Mercury Energy is the main retail arm or Mighty River Power. Switching away from Mercury to another electricity company will cut the profit of Mighty River Power, and therefore its future share value..
This was proven in 2008, when Contact Energy lost more than 40,000 customers in six months after they doubled its directors fees and increased power prices 12%. As a result their profit was cut in half!
How will it help?
Mighty River Power is the first publicly-owned State Asset the current minority National-led Government is putting up for sale
WE CAN STOP THEM!
Mighty River Power’s share value is driven mainly by the prospect of future profits. Any real threat to profits or share value will make Mighty River a risky investment, even before the share value actually drops. Investors won’t want to buy if there’s a risk the share value will fall instead of rise, as happened with Facebook shares recently.
If the Government doesn’t get a high enough sale price, then there will be huge pressure for them to NOT sell Mighty River Power and it will raise serious questions about the ability of the Government to privatise or sell other publicly owned assets.
The ‘Switch Off Mercury Energy’ campaign was officially launched in Auckland on July 14 with the following 3 resolutions.
1: Calling for a nation-wide boycott of Mercury Energy, Tiny Mighty Power & Bosco.
2: Declaring that Mighty River Power is an unethical investment.
3. Getting people to make commitment NOT to buy Mighty River Power shares.
PLEASE HELP US TO HELP TO HELP OURSELVES!
This is YOUR CHANCE to say NO!
Forwarded by Penny Bright (A Spokesperson for the Switch Off Mercury Energy group)
Cameron Slater on Whaleoil with a post Charlie Stross on the Beige Dictatorship.
This hits the nail on the head with a big part of what is wrong with the current system and the lack of any real democracy within it.
He was just happy that he’d remembered a briefing and wanted to dispel rumours that his memory was failing after the DotCom GCSB fiasco. Either that or the intelligence agencies cooked something up to suit their political masters in Canberra and Washington.
He is more befuddled than ever, the tired little boy.
He said that Australian Intelligence (?) reporter that a ship full of refugees was headed to NZ and that it had been detained or intercepted…..,
Which?
There is a huge operational differance between the two scenarios!!!i know!!
My intuition says he was lying. The images that each scenario concocts are very different.
I’ve met men who habitually fib. Key is Fibbing!
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
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If he likes it so much, why doesn’t he move there?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8285075/Key-beats-Australian-drum-softly
Because we are not that lucky. Anyway he lives Hawaii. He only visits NZ to screw up the economy a little more.
51st state?
No, just one of the
conqueredouter villages that gives tribute to the emperor.Aussies know for sure now that NZs are a bunch of pussies and they can pinch all our food out of our bowls while we look on. They have got some mongrel in them that is of value to them in getting what they want. We have turned into a bunch of lapdogs, who will lick them to death with just a pat on the head from Oz.
And Shonkey has agreed to take some of their embarrassing domestic political stress off the Oz government and the international condemnation of them on refugee and human rights standards. Yet we have NZ refugees in Oz in hardship, facing ever decreasing living standards and not able to afford a ticket home. And people living and working there that they want to deny modern support to – treating us like a third world country. This is while they scoop up profits from our casino like economy. Not so different from the poor Africans going away to another African country to work in the rich white man’s mines.
A tough politician could have applied some leverage. ‘Well we could think about doing this, it has merit, but first we are very concerned to get your treatment of NZs to match ours to Aussies.’ Instead we make travel easier, when we are so important as frequent tourists to Oz, and vice versa. We could talk about introducing visas – they wouldn’t like that – but it would protect against this strawman argument that most of their expenses in the social welfare field are imported from feckless, free-moving NZs.
The chickens come home to roost.
Former spy demands $550,000 from the police.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8285326/Police-spy-sues-for-mental-pain
My advice to the police: Pay up
The reason: This spy from all accounts, was not just a spy, he was also an agent provocateur.
There is hard evidence that Rob Gilchrist was actively encouraging people to take illegal, and possibly even extreme actions, so that he could report them to his paymasters.
The sort of actions that the police, would use to justify their continuing and repeated requests to parliamentarians over the years for more and greater police powers and weapons rights especially against protesters. Which when taken in total amount to an aggressive campaign by politically motivated senior police commanders against this country’s civil liberties and the right to protest.
To discredit and cripple this county’s proud history of effective protest against injustice, was in effect what Rob Gilchrist was being paid for
The Rob Gilchrist case has implications for a number of ongoing appeal cases against police actions. Not least, the appeal hearings around the so called police Urewera Terror Raids, where it is suspected that agent provocateurs were also used. Possibly even Gilchrist himself.
This is one can of worms that the police definitely won’t want opened.
My bet; This news report is all we will hear on this matter. And the police will make an out of court settlement to buy Gilchrist’s silence.
Hmm, well perhaps his conscience is manifesting as depression.
He may receive compensation but there will be no compensation for Rochelle Rees (and many other with less personal ties) who was used and betrayed for the legitimate campaigning work she did. Rob Gilchrist needs to consider the damage he did and if he does gets paid out maybe he can use some of that cash and begin to make amends.He’s not the only who suffered. He knew full well what he was doing and what the consequences would be.
I can forgive Gilchrist for being a spy. What I find it hard to forgive him for is the hurt and dissent he spread throughout the movement, through spreading lies, rumours and destructive criticism. This polarised much of the Animal Rights movement and made it an unpleasant place to work. Part of the responsiblity for this we must take for ourselves; but if Gilchrist had not been present I think we would have been much more cooperative and productive.
BTW: I do know how to spell my name. I also know about Google searches.
It was quite obvious Gilchrist enjoyed his role. It was like something out of a Boys Own comic to him. It ws also obvious to those of us in Wellington that he was a sleaze. I don’t know why it took his ex-girlfriend so long to work that out. I did not like him much but I never thought he was a spy, because he seemed to have the trust of experienced activists.
While I share the disdain of other posters about the way the police paid useful stooges like Gilchrist to infiltrate protest groups, I have no sympathy for Gilchrist trying to extract money from them. He knew what he was doing, and he chose to be a spy.
On the other hand, it is always good when opponents turn on each other. It means they are spending their resources on internecine conflict instead of on spying.
Kia Ora Michael. I hope that the experience of having a traitor in your midst hasn’t deterred you, or made you feel reluctant or apprehensive to continue the work you do. Big Ups.
Just go and ask Patrick O’Brien, (agent provocateur) how the cops conceal covert operations. It is five years since O’Brien wrote to Chief Justice Elias with his perjury confession and NOTHING has been done by the police to assist O’Brien.
As long as the police think people like O’Brien and Gilchrist cannot touch them the injustice continues for them.
I would like to know how many undercover cops in the 70s, 80s, 90s are still on ACC due to mental injury?
(I do know that the cops can sue for exemplary damages, possibly this is what Gilchrist has done).
It is 36 years this month since Moyle resigned from parliament and the full police evidence is still in lock up. In 1976 it was ordered to be locked away for 25 years. The cops have a lot to answer for due to decades of lies about me.
Exemplary damages
“Sometimes called punitive damages, exemplary damages are not awarded as compensation for the injured person but instead to reform or deter the person who caused the injury, and others, from following the same course of action that caused the injury.”
http://www.acc.co.nz/about-acc/glossary-of-acc-terms/PRD_CTRB103826
This is one of the few ways that you can get some justice in being abused/mentally injured/violated by covert police operations.
O’Brien is still languishing out there and will until a COMPETENT person is assigned to address all that he raises, re dirty cops and dirty goverment systems which cause interminable distress to individuals.
http://obrien.wordpress.com/legal/ombudsmen/
The powers that be are probably not going to open that little can of worms. They know that if they put O’Brien up on the stand or whatever, all sorts of crap is going to come out.
Too many high ranking gutless wonders in the NZ Police.
Even though I come across as anti cops I am anti the Office of the Commissioner of Police; the higher you go in the job the more corrupt I find them to be.
Did you read O’ Brien’s letter to the Queen?
You see folks – you can get people who infiltrate activist groups – pretending to be activists – who are actually working for the Police?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8285326/Police-spy-sues-for-mental-pain
In my considered view – if you get people who come from nowhere, with no previous proven track record as activists – who make a beeline for controlling the activist group’s message, or means of getting the activist group’s message out (by controlling the administration of facebook pages /websites etc) BEWARE!!!
Especially if one of their main functions is to spread misinformation, cause in-fighting, and try to discredit those who are actually being effective.
(This has happened to me – to an unprecedented degree – since August 2012…..)
The commonsense thing to – is google their name and see what comes up?
Through ‘Whois’ – you can find out who controls various websites.
Guess it’s called ‘due diligence’ – as it were?
You may be interested in this?
http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz/?page_id=104
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
what is dreadful- the infiltration and spying upon welfare and poverty activism (leave the door right open).
If anyone should receive payment, it should be the organisations the scumbag infiltrated and spied on. He deserves less than nothing.
It seems that the police agent provocateur who is blackmailing the police for half a million dollars, Rob Gilchrist. Was sending his handlers intimate photos of the activists he was spying on, accompanied with humiliating sexist comments. Photos heavy with the potential for blackmail.
In the same sordid vein the police agent after gaining their confidence, got some of the activists he was spying on to pose with weapons, weapons supplied by him from an alleged personal arsenal he maintained with the full knowledge of the police.
This raises the question.
If Gilchrist’s cover hadn’t have been blown:
What would have become of these pictures?
Would those who appeared in them have been caught up in the so called police terror raids?
Of course the big question is, will Gilchrist’s police police handlers give in to their paid blackmailer, who has now turned on them, to cover up their sordid acquiring of staged evidence of leftist terrorists with guns, or will it come before a court?
My money is still, on the police paying out.
Though if I was Rob Gilchrist I would be worried that our police commanders might feel threatened and desperate enough to resort to more tried and true methods of ensuring their blackmailers silence.
Whatever outcome, results. Either way, I expect that we will never hear from Rob Gilchrist again.
Whether Rob Gilchrist winds up in a deck chair in the South of France, or in concrete gumboots in the Waitemata. I suppose, is one of those things that we will probably never know.
I can’t wait for the screen play.
Of course every movie needs an ending, and as we will never know the end to this story. The screen writers will have to invent one.
Personally I prefer a movie ending with the anti-hero, we all love to hate, ending up in a holdiday resort with all the money, far from the reach of his employers whom he double crossed.
He was doing his job – the one the POLICE employed him to do. You are all entitled to your opinions and make no mistake I have my own but remember that he has family and a teenage daughter that can read these forums. He’s not innocent by any stretch of the imagination and you all seem to think you are such victims – the only victim here is the young girl who has to grow up with this and try to live her life. What you post will be here forever, think before you say things that might cause another innocent person to suffer.
Let the tirade begin …
So who is playing the victim here, again?
When the powerful and corrupt start playing the victim, everyone else better get out of the way.
The merciless ask for mercy
While Mityk asks us to consider the family of Rob Gilchrist, he makes no mention of the families of those Rob Gilchrist and his handlers manipulated, humiliated and betrayed.
The one thing I like about these sites is the anonymity that sometimes tempts those who speak for the authorities and the police to occasionally make an anonymous comment to justify and defend at least in their own minds their behavior.
Whether they are police themselves doesn’t really matter they speak in that unmistakable voice that reveals that they they think that the powerful and the authorities must always be obeyed.
The voice of More informed than you know has that feel.
So to you Mityk keep coming back. While I find your views not exactly refreshing, I think that it is worthwhile that you put them up. You show that you are a bit of the rebel yourself by commenting here. Is that scary for you? I hope so.
So who’d play rocky?
I’d be honoured.
Anne Hathaway
John Tamihere will attempt to stack the Waitakere Brances and fix the selection convention.
“While the chance of a tilt at the “train wreck” Maori Party in the Tamaki Makaurau Maori seat appeals, it seems more likely Tamihere will persuade Labour Maori members to switch electoral rolls into the Waitakere seat, giving him enough clout to win selection and, he hopes, beat Bennett.”
Stop him and the fools inside Labour who are helping him.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8279775/Tamihere-wants-to-return-to-politics
JT’s saddled back up as he’s in sweet with the mallarfia, these are the fools running Labour into the minor party ranks.
I love the way poor old Tamihere cries “what’s the matter with telling the truth?”…..
It is the clearest sign yet of his lack of self-awareness, and hence awareness of others, that he has to ask what the problem is that people have with him.
quite the clueless chappie. should stick to his knitting
Maybe mr T should start a united bigot party . As the manifesto of this party would be honest.
IMO, the faster Labour becomes a minor party the better.
Just heard Williams and Hooton talking up Tamihere on the Nine-to-Noon slot. Hooton reckons JT has Shearer’s backing. If that is true, I will not refrain from being highly critical of Team Shearer & JT. It is a slap in the face to women and LGBT people. Disgraceful.
Surely you not Surprised Karol?
Tamihere’s application to the NZ Council was strongly pushed by conservatives in the party.
Not really, Elizabeth. But I am disgusted. I voted against Tamihere as mayor for Waitakere, and I had thankfully thought we’d seen the end of him. But, re-the hatin’ on the left thread: I already am unhappy with the right wing leadership of our potential Labour government – if Labour MPs want us to stop criticising them, they are not giving me any reason to not criticise them. The caucus is blokey enough already.
Hooton reckons JT has Shearer’s backing.
Not saying there isn’t an element of truth in it, but beware anything Hooton says. It’s likely at best to be ‘out of context’ or misrepresented altogether.
Gilliard’s dog whistling for her election:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/127725/boat-people-deal-seen-as-unfair-to-others
Sorry, off topic here but can someone please refresh my memory
What is the name of the govt agency you report a scam too?
Some time ago I reported a rash of phone calls I received from someone saying there was something wrong with my computer and that they could fix it for me. Smelt fishy so reported it and it did turn out to be a scam, based in India. I just can’t remember who I reported it to now.
This time I have received emails from a stack of people known to me – some of whom I’ve had nothing to do with for up to seven years. Some are from ex workmates, one is from an old landlord and there a few from businesses I have dealt with. I find it hard to beleive that some of these people would have fallen for such a con “City Mom earns $6,795…etc”. Looks like a dodgy pyramid sceme. It doesn’t add up that some of the smarter people on the list would be involved.
I checked Anthony’s article yesterday in case other commenters had experienced weirdness. Looks like they had, but not of this sort.
I had a load of those “there’s a problem with your computer” phone calls last year. I complained to my phone provider who said I needed to record the time of each call several times. That became too much hassle as my usual response was to stop answering and let the voice-mail take all calls to be sure it was someone I wanted to talk to. The scammers didn’t leave messages.
Hi Karol. The scam you mention was apparently widespread through out NZ. A few weeks after I reported it to what ever govt agency that I did I heard about it on the news. They must have received alot of complaints about it. Unfortunately hundreds of people got suckered in and were parted from their money.
Today I received an email apparently from my lawyer linking to a get rich scheme. I phoned my lawyer who hooted at the scheme and wished he had one that worked.
It was a scam and nothing to do with my law man.
Thanks ianmac. Probably the same scam. I was just about to contact one of the senders of these emails but was apprehensive about insulting their intelligence. I will go ahead and contact the commerce commission because we are a nation of suckers and I’m sad to say I know folks that will think its for real and loose money. They need to be warned. If its the same scam it requests you to send money as an “admin fee”.
Commerce Commission is ya answer.
Duh! Of course! Cheers Copperhead.
Hi Rosie
Here is the link to Scamwatch for reporting scams and finding out about them
http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/scamwatch/
Re the phone calls saying your computer has a problem, this is a worldwide one that has been going for years. They are virtually impossible for phone companies etc to trace but most are based in India
I had almost daily calls for a year and still get the occasional one.
. Scamwatch and other agencies say to simply hang up. I use them as an opportunity to air all my frustrations and let off a string of profanity that would make a sailor blush. A cheap whistle from a $2 shop blown down the phone also works wonders ….
Re the emails, Xtra has had a problem over the last few days that may be related.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=10864612
Hi veutoviper. Thanks for that info. As it happens I’ve been to the consumer affairs website which then reffered on to Netsafe. Spoke with a person there who was well aware of the content of the email. They had lots of complaints.I have just read this article
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/8287236/Spam-attack-on-Kiwi-email
and have seen that you have linked an article about the same issue. Mystery solved.
Like your whistle idea………………
Not a great idea veutoviper “A cheap whistle from a $2 shop blown down the phone also works wonders ….”
They already have your number.
You have to ask yourself ‘what could happen next”. Most scam callers will move onto the next call (done automatically for them), but one individual with a burst eardrum could organise a number of random 3am calls to you as a repayment.
They have you number as starting point you have nothing. Be careful.
Try this
Them – their speech on a virus on my PC
Me – what computer
Them – your PC has a virus
Me – I don’t have a PC/What is a Microsoft computer etc or some bland reply
Them – hang up
Me – smile on my face
or
Them – can I speak to XYZ
Me – why do you want to speak to XYZ
Them – about a virus on their PC
Me – XYZ is 4 years old
Them – hang up
Me – smile on my face – I win
Had a few myself, get one every couple of weeks.
I suppose you could have some fun stringing them along. “You’re right! I’ve an HAL 9000 and it keeps telling me that the AE35 antenna unit is about to fail – and then when I try to shut it down, it sings ‘Daisy’!”
I do have sympathy for the people making the calls actually – they’re poor people whose work in a call centre is their only – and very meagre – source of income.
The first rule of phone communications from any large organisation is that the person speaking to you is not the one to blame. They’re punch-clock villains at worst.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PunchClockVillain
(Warning: Tvtropes will consume your life.)
Had a talk with a person at the WINZ call centre this morning. Ages spent waiting through the muzak and then a very nice, competent person answers. Much as I hate WINZ and what it represents, I haven’t had a bad experience with anyone working for it in decades. Of course I’m never going to meet Paula Bennett and David Shearer, despite his threat in the last Shearer Sayszzzzzzz, is never going to drop by for a chat (lucky for them).
Basic rules:
The people phishing are ordinary people in shitty positions. Hating them is a waste of energy. You’ll never get to speak to the real villains, so just brush them off. I’ve heard about people who devote incredible amounts of energy to stringing them along, expressing interest and staging weird accidents in the background and so on, but really, these aren’t the people to blame, so you’re not even subverting the system. Don’t waste your time.
If anyone wants personal information, then they’ll do it by verifiable means, so that you can query and follow up. Never reply online via email if personal information is asked for. If they claim to be your ISP and you are genuinely concerned, then contact them by another, already-known channel. Nothing will get shut down immediately, so don’t worry.
If something arrives in the mail or by any means – and I’ve seen many in multiple media, that the more official it looks, the more likely it is to be a hoax. By that I mean, look to see if they’re trying too hard. Signs of this are:
– Claims that if you don’t act, the consequences are catastrophic.
– You could win something amazing if you act promptly. Currently it’s iPads.
– Lots of things that look like seals and fancy borders. You don’t have to waste energy looking up these supposed organisations and offices that support the scammer – the very fact that they start listing them is a giveaway. Moreover, real modern organisations use modern graphic design, so patterns that look “official” because they’re old-fashioned are obvious frauds.
– There are assurances of veracity all over the place and funny code numbers and barcodes in the margins that, surely, must mean something, right?
They’re just like Reader’s Digest. That could be a punchline, but actually it’s what’s called “inertia marketing”. You’re made an offer, and you get a promise or maybe even a reward… but always you will be told that there’s MUCH more to come and you have to proceed to the next stage… rather like Scientology too, come to think of it.
On the other hand, “It’s just a trifle, there’s no great risk, and if I lose, it’s not much… this is kinda fun… oh look, maybe I could be in the draw to win more if I register… OK, I’ve started filling out the form, so I might as well continue.”
No. Instead…
You’ll never speak to Doctor Evil, so don’t waste energy thinking that you are.
If they want you to act immediately, then you can be 100% certain that it’s a scam. If there’s a competition, then there’s plenty of time to enter and there’ll be a massive publicity campaign. If you’re behind in your power bill, then you will get a warning letter and a bigger bill next time if you don’t pay. They want you to continue subscribing.
Real organisations want your money in regular monthly payments for a continuing service, so they will do their very best not to scare or threaten you. They’ll be bastards in other ways.
No one legitimate will ask for security-related information that they should already have and your bank account/password number is not proof of your identity, so they shouldn’t ask for it.
The moment someone says “There’s more, if…” shut up, hang up, log off.
If there’s a special offer, then it’s part of a service you’re already subscribing to. If it looks that way, then it will be advertised through other channels as well.
The more “official” it looks, the less official it is.
Most of all, the principal rule:
If it looks to good to be true, then it is.
Or, unleash your inner Mustrum Ridcully: if someone’s jabbering excitedly in your ear, then ignore them. If they go away after a few minutes, then it wasn’t important. If they’re still there, turn around and tell them to deal with it.
Yes, most people here know all this, but just in case… really, some of the emails I’ve had have really worried me for a while until I’ve researched them a bit.
Actually, I’ve just described modern capitalism…
Thanks watcher for the comment re the whistle and bursting someones eardrum. And Thanks Rhinocrates for your thoughtful communications. Incidentially I had wondered at the time last year when I got the “your PC is broken but I can fix it for you” call, and knowing it was a scam, who exactly makes the phone call.Is it the group of scammers themselves or do they hire workers to undertake the task? If I figure its workers I’d never vent on them.
I’m happy to report scams. I know some really daft people who are easily suckered and would fall for the free ipad! Win a holiday house! make $1000 a day! Free wrinkle treatment! scams, so need to be warned via a media release from consumer affairs etc.
Yesterdays one did have me scratching my head though as it was from an ex landlord who does do weird things in order to obtain money (Then she lost it all at the beginning of the recession and had to sell the house we were living in dammit)However once a pile of the same emails turned up first thing this morning, from folks that would know better I clicked something was up.
All resolved now and the politzi know about it.
Just to set the record straight, I realise that the people making the calls are just poor workers trying to make a living. The only times I have used the whistle has been when (a) I have asked the worker to put me onto their supervisor; (b) I have warned the supervisor that I know it is a scam etc etc and what I am about to do and the possible consequences (eg to the eardrum).
As I said, I had almost daily calls for over a year. Sometimes I played them along; other times I hung up; other times they got the profanity treatment. Thankfully, the calls are now few and far between. However, reporting each time became out of the question; and nothing ever came of doing so anyway due to the size of the scam worldwide and the difficulty for the agencies etc to trace the calls.
The best reason I’ve encountered so far for not taking Mr QoT’s surname?
Telemarketer: Could I speak to Mrs Hislastname?
Me: I’m sorry, there’s no Mrs Hislastname at this address.
It’s amazing how many of them will end the call themselves at that point. Non-normative relationships must confuse their systems too much.
You should see the hilarity that arises at our household when people call and ask for Lyn(n). That really confuses the hell out of many callers. It usually takes a bit of questioning by us to find out which person they’re after. The conversations usually stay on the correct path after that.
But we don’t get telemarketers. I dropped off the white pages about 20 years ago for a unlisted number and these days I’m VOIP’ing anyway. So this is usually people calling to speak to Lyn. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t answer unknown phone numbers because talking to people does nasty things to the coding part of my brain.
You could try these Rosie
http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/scams
http://www.dia.govt.nz/Services-Anti-Spam-Reported-Scams
http://www.police.govt.nz/safety/internet.scams.html
Good Luck
Oh and if I get the “you have a virus” people on the phone I suddenly forget all I know about computers and run them around for hours if I am bored.
Or you could tell them you are running Ubuntu.
The phone calls have stopped..
.
New Zealanders are getting royally shafted up the arse by this government. From the rear until red-raw. A few smacks across the back of the head for good measure and then shoved into the ditch, laughing with their ugly mates .
This government is the most mean, nasty and ugly government we have ever suffered. They are evil, they are liars and they smack the less fortunate around the head every week.
They deserve nothing but scorn and spittle.
or a third term possible the way Labour’s going
Another bad day at the office for Rachel Smalley
TV3 Firstline, Monday 11 February 2013
This morning after the 7 A.M. news, Rachel Smalley interviewed Gary Poole of the Refugee Council. It soon became clear that he was very upset by her indolent and thoughtless repetition of government talking points. He was especially incensed by Smalley’s continual repetition of the nonsensical claim that the paltry number of refugees taken by New Zealand and Australia constituted a problem. Turkey, he pointed out, took more than two hundred thousand refugees last year.
At the end of the interview, Gary Poole turned his back on Smalley. He could not have expressed his contempt for her any more plainly.
Visibly shaken, Smalley turned to Patrick Gower who, disappointingly, also repeated the cruel government line that refugees are “queue-jumping”.
http://t.co/pJtdqFZE link firstline
Thanks for that, Andre. Check the link at about the 3:20 mark; Smalley foolishly quotes talkback radio bigotry as if it’s somehow representative of public opinion, which clearly angers Mr. Poole. It’s about then that he loses all respect for her.
We do have to consider how many people we can sustain.
There is always Palm Sunday in a Roma’ Province
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/horse-meat-found-in-british-supermarkets-may-be-donkey-8489030.html
I once had hopes for Smalley. But earlier today I unfollowed her from twitter. She tweets too much for my liking, and often not very edifying.
Pleasing to see that there are people now beginning to discuss this issue!
Damn sad to see the same language noe being used here too (“illegals”, “queue jumpers”, and so on).
When Key & Co held that little ‘training episode’ a few months back in the event NZ might be flooded by asylum seekers, I’m sure he had it in his mind THEN that he was going to use it as a suckup/brownee point earning mission with OZ.
Gillard’s never gotten over the High Court pointing out a few home truths over her proposed “Malaysian Solution”, nor has she got it in her to admit that she’s fucked up royally over asylum seekers.
This dolt John Key is damaging NZ’s reputation internationally – if it weren’t for the fact we are just a pimple on the arse of Earth as far as our profile is concerned internationally, we’d already be a laughing stock. 100% pure, respect for our obligations under U.N treaties, egalitarian, our respect for human rights (especially with regard to the indigenous population and women)…..
I’d call the guy evil IF it wasn’t for the fact that he’s just basically ignorant and simply driven by ego and what my mother would have described as be “a social climbing wanker”.
Helen Kelly of the CTU will today launch a campaign targeting a ‘living wage’ for all low paid workers in NZ,
Here’s why the Slippery lead National Government runs a Depression economy with high numbers of unemployed creating novel means of whipping these unemployed out into the economy to seek work along with sickness and DPB beneficiaries,
”The labour market isn’t at the right point where i think unskilled workers could apply a lot of pressure,(for higher wages),because there’s still a lot of competition for those jobs”, unquote- Gail Pacheco AUT University Economist…
“”The labour market isn’t at the right point where i think unskilled workers could apply a lot of pressure,(for higher wages),because there’s still a lot of competition for those jobs”, unquote- Gail Pacheco AUT University Economist…”
The base labour market should not be subject to competition for the simple reason that people are not commodities, like undies and cans of spaghetti.
That this truth does not even enter the mind of people like Gail Pacheco speaks entirely to their shortcomings and debases the rest of their ideas.
Gail is spot on though. Workers from the Philipines, from throughout South America, imported into NZ to work for sweet FA. Heavy government regulation of the labour market is the only way to go, precisely for the reasons you state: “The base labour market should not be subject to competition for the simple reason that people are not commodities, like undies and cans of spaghetti.”
Again, something like the UBI could be used to put a floor up against the minimum wage.
Don’t shoot the messenger here, vto. A short quote in a newspaper piece describing how the market is currently operating is no basis for your disparaging comment about “people like Gail Pacheco.” As it happens, Gail is a leading member of the AUT Work Research Institute which is organising and sponsoring the two day symposium on precarious work being held this Thursday and Friday at AUT in compunction with the CTU, SFWU and First Union.
Ok, fair enough. As you say though “a short quote” out of context perhaps …
The short quote does highlight the issue of commodification of human beings. Hey …. isn’t that what they used to with slavery? Advertise them like they were undies or cans of spaghetti? … Yes, they did.
Saw those articles about the living wage in the Herald this morning.
Note that Foodstuffs are turning their drivers into owner-drivers. I wonder if they’ll end up having to buy their gear from TradeMe like the VisionStream telecomms workers did. Stinks really. I wont be buying from New World/PakNSave again…
Foodstuffs proud to be 100% NZ owned
Foodstuffs try to outsource their work as much as they can. Instead of having employees stocking shelves they have armies of merchandisers do this for them. The merchandisers are contractors, not employees, of the supermarket supplier companies. Their role is to go instore take the order and return after the order has been shipped to unload and stack it. Merchandisers usually have to use their own vehicle and cell phone. From their pay they have to cover their own ACC, holiday pay, sick pay and tax. If they actually do this then often their pay works out as less than the minimum rate.
Foodstuffs will favour companies who can provide a merchandiser for them, so suppliers are often forced to take on the cost of a merchandiser themselves, if they want to retain business with the chain. Its a win for the supermarket and a lose for the supplier and the worker. The worker loses the opportunity for secure work conditions and secure pay.
All those specials we pick up at the supermarket? Those costs are absorbed by the supplier, not the supermarket.
Progressive Enterprises also do business this way but for what I’ve wistnessed, it doesn’t seem to be as wide spread and entrenched as Foodstuff’s.
OK. Thanks. Time to switch my supermarket then, even though PnS is cheaper.
Hi Karol. It’s a tricky one. The practice of using merchandisers has been going on for over a decade now. I always try to support NZ owned business over foreign ones such as Progressive. At the same time Progessive has a collective agreement with acceptable pay scales and from what I’ve witnessed, albeit several years ago, one particular lower north island P&S has actively engaged in Union bashing and has tried to block workers from organising. And to swing back to another pro’s and con’s point. Foodstuffs do stock more NZ made product than Progressive, who import alot from Australian manufacturers.
One of the reasons I shop at NW is so I can support NZ manufacturers. You can often buy good products from small suppliers that Progressive won’t look at because their distribution chanels and marketing doesn’t suit their purposes.
Each NW store or P&S is owner-operated unlike Progressive who have store managers. You can get NW owners who are real bastards and those who really decent. Luckily the one I shop at dosn’t attempt to block Union membership and the owner is a good person in general. Its these kinds of stores that have the variety of locally made product. The bastard stores have the run of the mill type product unless they have particularly demanding customers they are trying to keep happy.
I seem to remember that a few years ago the piss-weak Commerce Commission began, or was asked to begin an inquiry into the two chains’ anti-competitive behaviour. It’s good to know that PnS & NW (because they’re individually owned and just franchisees – if I understand you correctly), have the ability to carry the produce of small businesses/producers.
At the time, what I understood might have been happening was that the 2 chains would purchase from small producers on condition that they were the ONLY buyer, and often also on condition that they had to supply a certain bulk amount – sometimes beyond their capability.
(In the nature of what’s apparently known as a monopsony). It’d be a difficult thing to investigate – a small business/producer could become totally dependent on the whims of the big buggers and reluctant to bite the hand that fed them.
I’m of the opinion that one of the worst barriers to ‘a market on a level playing field’ is the manner in which large businesses/corporates are allowed to vertically integrate.
I’d rather (for example) see Telcos banned from also being ISPs.
URGENT! UPCOMING PROTESTS IN AUCKLAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE WELLINGTON “SAY NO TO ASSET SALES’ RALLY – WEDNESDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2013!
http://www.facebook.com/events/199999046811276/
We STILL don’t want to sell what we own!
In solidarity with the Wellington’s’SAY NO TO ASSET SALES’ rally:
WHEN: Wednesday 13 February 2013 at 6pm,
WHERE: Frank Kitts Park,
The Auckland Switch Off Mercury Energy Group has organised the following:
PROTEST (1)
WHEN: Wednesday 13 February 2013, from 12 noon – 2pm
WHERE: Outside Mighty River Power corporate office
ANZ building, 23 – 29 Albert St, Auckland City
MAP: https://maps.google.co.nz/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=mighty+river+power+auckland&fb=1&gl=nz&hq=mighty+river+power&hnear=0x6d0d47fb5a9ce6fb%3A0x500ef6143a29917%2CAuckland&cid=0%2C0%2C14661661492653781907&ei=Iu-EUM-0La6higfJyoG4Dg&ved=0CGYQ_BIwAQ
PROTEST (2)
WHEN: Wednesday 13 February 2013, from 3.30 – 5.30pm
WHERE: Outside Mercury Energy office
602 Great South Rd, Ellerslie. Auckland.
MAP:
http://www.zoomin.co.nz/map/nz/auckland/ellerslie/great+south+road/602/-mercury+energy/
LET’S THROW A REAL SPANNER INTO JOHN KEY’S MINORITY NATIONAL GOVERNMENT’S PRIVATISATION AGENDA!
SWITCH OFF MERCURY ENERGY!
IT’S PEOPLE POWER TIME!!!
Mercury Energy is 100% owned by Mighty River Power – the first of the electricity State Owned Enterprises up for ‘partial privatisation’ under the recently passed Mixed Ownership Model Act (for which this minority National Government – with only 59 out of 121 MPs – was dependent on the vote of John Banks – ACT MP for Epsom and Peter Dunne – United Future MP for Ohariu).
We are calling on Maori and Pakeha – ALL New Zealanders, to UNITE and to STOP the sale of Mighty River Power by ‘switching off Mercury Energy’!
One way to disrupt the Government’s asset sale agenda is to make it unattractive to investors.
How can you help? The value of a company is based on potential profits. Losing customers makes Mighty River Power (Mercury Energy) an unappealing investment.
Why switch off Mercury Energy?
Mercury Energy is the main retail arm or Mighty River Power. Switching away from Mercury to another electricity company will cut the profit of Mighty River Power, and therefore its future share value..
This was proven in 2008, when Contact Energy lost more than 40,000 customers in six months after they doubled its directors fees and increased power prices 12%. As a result their profit was cut in half!
How will it help?
Mighty River Power is the first publicly-owned State Asset the current minority National-led Government is putting up for sale
WE CAN STOP THEM!
Mighty River Power’s share value is driven mainly by the prospect of future profits. Any real threat to profits or share value will make Mighty River a risky investment, even before the share value actually drops. Investors won’t want to buy if there’s a risk the share value will fall instead of rise, as happened with Facebook shares recently.
If the Government doesn’t get a high enough sale price, then there will be huge pressure for them to NOT sell Mighty River Power and it will raise serious questions about the ability of the Government to privatise or sell other publicly owned assets.
The ‘Switch Off Mercury Energy’ campaign was officially launched in Auckland on July 14 with the following 3 resolutions.
1: Calling for a nation-wide boycott of Mercury Energy, Tiny Mighty Power & Bosco.
2: Declaring that Mighty River Power is an unethical investment.
3. Getting people to make commitment NOT to buy Mighty River Power shares.
PLEASE HELP US TO HELP TO HELP OURSELVES!
This is YOUR CHANCE to say NO!
Forwarded by Penny Bright (A Spokesperson for the Switch Off Mercury Energy group)
http://www.facebook.com/SwitchOffMercuryEnergy?fref=ts
Penny,
have you paid your rates arrears yet?
Sincerely
Auckland Ratepayer
Cameron Slater on Whaleoil with a post Charlie Stross on the Beige Dictatorship.
This hits the nail on the head with a big part of what is wrong with the current system and the lack of any real democracy within it.
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2013/02/the-beige-dictatorship/#disqus_thread
Snap!.
See, if you read TS you wouldn’t have had to visit the hate monger and there’d be no need to have a shower.
Yet interestingly that piece was on Whaleoil and not here where I would have expected it.
Too funny.
Oh LOL at you Fox! Getting it right 112% of the time.
curiouser and curiouser…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-said-to-be-target-of-massive-cyber-espionage-campaign/2013/02/10/7b4687d8-6fc1-11e2-aa58-243de81040ba_story.html
oops, the above advertisement has actually been brought to you by HermeshUmerusManservantElisha 🙂
Should the Prime Minister be disclosing the contents of his intelligence reports to the media? I would imagine such information would have a security classification under the Cabinet Guide. (cf. NZSIS Security in the Government Sector and The Cabinet Manual.) And don’t forget, wrongful communication carries with it a maximum prison term of 3 years.
He was just happy that he’d remembered a briefing and wanted to dispel rumours that his memory was failing after the DotCom GCSB fiasco. Either that or the intelligence agencies cooked something up to suit their political masters in Canberra and Washington.
He is more befuddled than ever, the tired little boy.
He said that Australian Intelligence (?) reporter that a ship full of refugees was headed to NZ and that it had been detained or intercepted…..,
Which?
There is a huge operational differance between the two scenarios!!!i know!!
My intuition says he was lying. The images that each scenario concocts are very different.
I’ve met men who habitually fib. Key is Fibbing!
Yes, looked clear Key was lying. Just a pity Labour staffers don’t know how to use the OIA.
Steve Keen Kickstarter – Minsky
Donate a few dollars to help advance the economic debate, and show mathematically the role Banks, Money and Private Debt play in our system.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2123355930/minsky-reforming-economics-with-visual-monetary-mo