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!
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
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Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
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Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
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The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
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