The charter school movement has been expelled from Washington state’s public education system, with a Supreme Court ruling late Friday that the privately run schools are not public schools under the state’s constitution…
[seems fair]
…Charter school proponents have three options, all of them “long shots,” said Bill Keim, executive director of the Washington Association of School Administrators. The first would be asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling. The parties have until September 24 to final that motion, before the court ruling becomes final.
The second option was a special legislative session. Third was asking local billionaire Bill Gates, one of the nation’s top charter school benefactors—spending at least $440 million—to write a check to keep the charters open until the legislature acts. “The downside is that would re-enforce that they are private schools,” Keim said.
Mr Gates could always transfer the funds to public schools I guess. But probs the legislative session option will help the private people taking public funds, as always it seems.
No, the Flag Consideration Panel got 4 hours of input from assorted designers.
They will have spent significantly longer than 4 hours to cut the list of 40 down to 4 finalists.
They performed trademark and copyright searches on each of the 40 designs for example, which resulted in 1 of the original 40 shortlisted being ruled invalid and removed from further consideration.
Well, according to the economists it’s all a farce:
Things have not gone to plan. None of the four designs has gripped the public. A fifth design, known as the Red Peak option, composed of triangles and supposed to evoke Maori mythology, has acquired a following on social media. So far the government is having none of it. Mr Key says that he is not going back to Parliament to accommodate the fifth design, though an electoral-law expert has helpfully suggested that all the government need do is substitute it for one of the chosen four.
…and by many voters who find it distasteful that their country is being rebranded like a sagging brand of detergent.
Yeah, I think Key’s ‘bright’ idea of changing the flag probably isn’t bringing him as much joy as he expected it would.
It’s what it says on the tin – contrary to orthodox ‘wisdom’, in the UK, a Labour party that is a real alternative, not an incompetent clone of the tories would resonate with voters. The same is likely true here.
Instead of fuckwits blathering about making the 90-day law “fairer” (for whom?) or getting a TPPA deal that’s “better” (in the way that ebola’s better than leukaemia?), we could have a real Labour Party.
Instead we have frauds like Grant Fucking Robertson who can’t even bring himself to say “socialist” for fear that the Rotarians he sucks up to won’t buy his lattes for him anymore.
Where is the groundswell of support for change within the Labour Party rhino?
Where are the thinkers?
Where are the future leaders?
Do you see any hope of Labour regaining it’s mojo, or do you think it’s fucked, and the Left requires a new political foundation Party to regain government?
The potential groundswell is in exactly the same place as it was in other places prior to quite simple thoughts and ideas being articulated by likely (not certain) future leaders.
NZ Labour has no depth because the legacy of ’84 was break-away parties that ‘died on the vine’….with a little help from ‘liberal’ toxins, courtesy of NZ Labour.
That means that there is no SNP – a major party – capable of occupying ground abandoned by Labour. And there are no Jeremy Corbyn’s who have bided their time on the back benches working for their constituents these past 30 years.
Labour will change – slowly. Mere ‘Johnny come lately’ adopters of what will already have transpired across the left in the English speaking world.
A big part of the problem is capture. If they’re constantly being offered the hospitality of Sky City, then they’re going to feel more of a reflexive concern for Sky City execs than we filthy proles. Sky City knows this and that arsewipe Goff wants their support in his mayoral campaign, so hey-ho, he gets a nice seat in their corporate box to watch allegedly grown adults chase a leather balloon around a field.
Parliament for a lot of MPs is a networking shop where they can scout out positions in corporate boards and their attitude increasingly becomes, to paraphrase JFK, asking not what they can do for you, but what you can do for them.
The filthy proles I guess have to keep buttonholing their representatives at least. Invite them to events and then make sure that instead of treating it as another opportunity for self aggrandisement, make sure they sit down, shut up and listen. Remind them who they work for. Remind them who’s going to be knocking on doors for them come election time – or staying at home. Humiliate them for taking favours. Ask them embarrassing questions and publicise their evasions. Never give them a free pass just because they hum a bar of The Red Flag once a year.
Little at least knows it’s “not a good look” to be seen dining with charter school boards, but he’s been pressured by men in suits into stabbing young workers in the back over 90 days fire at will. Someone needs to elbow their way to the front of the queue and remind him whose party he’s in.
We don’t have money and corporate credit cards, but we can keep the pressure on them, tolerate no bullshit, call it out when it gushes.
Over the last couple of months, Corbyn has emerged as the front-runner not only among Labour members/affiliates but also among both Labour voters and the British electorate as a whole (according to all the polls). That extraordinary wave of Corbymania propelling him from outsider to red hot favourite within a space of just a few weeks. It’s been a remarkable revitalisation of Labour’s core values and brilliant (for those of us opposed to tweedledee / tweedledum politics) to see.
But no one should be under any illusion that if he does win the leadership (and the purging of Corbyn-supporters and non-delivery of 10s of thousands of voting papers continues to concern me on that score), then he will come in for a total shitstorm of smears, abuse and ridicule from the MSM and Blairite/Tory Establishment.
We’ve already seen the hysteria from a series of shell-shocked Blairite Grandees paraded before us by a complicit media. And, of course, the all-too-predictable anti-Semitic smears emanating from Britain’s Israel-Right-or-Wrong Lobby and its fellow-travellers, along with New Labour’s US-Right-or-Wrong ”Atlanticists’ (one of whom, you approvingly cited in yesterdays Open Mike).
But you aint seen nothing yet !
It’ll be relentless and may very well destroy the Corbyn leadership. Quite possibly an initial poll bounce over the first few weeks, followed by an all-out campaign of MSM vitriol that sees Labour support fall, possibly even plummet.
Then, again, I’m not entirely ruling out a backlash against the media from Labour supporters and a reasonable slice of the broader public. Particularly (as the Lord Ashcroft poll cited by rhinocrates suggests), from the Labour-leaning faction of Ukip supporters. It’s clear to me from digging deep through UK polls of the last 2 years that Ukip voters (in stark contrast to the Party leadership) are substantially on the Left in terms of public ownership, anti-austerity. Like most NZF voters here, they’re socially-conservative Left.
It’s also clear that an overwhelming majority of Labour voters (and Greens and more than a few Lib Dems) support the sort of policy platform that Corbyn is offering.
If the establishment follows its predictable course of ‘Project Fear’ (redux), then the backlash will be a tsunami.
Yet again, and I’m sorry if this bores peeps, I’m looking at ‘the establishment’ fortunes in Scotland…the SNP, with almost all media continuing to lambast them, are now around 60% with an election about 12 months away.
The only thing that will soften support for the SNP is a UK Labour led by Corbyn.
It’s a good sign that, if anything, the high profile MSM intervention from Blair/Brown/Straw/and the particularly vile Mandelson (admittedly in Blair he’s got some pretty stiff competition for that title)…has served to propel Corbyn even higher in the polls (and among the membership). All the Blairite and MSM hysteria appears to have been counter-productive.
I’m hoping this momentum, this desire for a thorough-going revitalisation of not just the Labour Party but UK politics as a whole, will continue to sweep through the roughly 50% of voters (Labour, Green, Lib Dem, Ukip and even a few Tories) who consider themselves primarily Left-of-Centre on most substantive issues.
But I never discount the ability of the establishment media to influence public opinion. And I remain concerned that the Scots electorate may be unique (within Britain, apart from certain urban enclaves in the North of England, London and the Welsh Valleys) in the sheer strength of its social democratic values (partly forged, certainly reinforced, by the Thatcherite onslaught in the 80s/early 90s).
TPPA has not gone away – it’s merely dropped out of the MSM – the corporate media – surprise, surprise!
There is intense pressure to sign the TPP asap – but why the hurry? It has been on the negotiating table for six years or so. Obama has received ‘fast-track’ powers to push the TPP through before the presidential elections.
The point made in the first of these short videos is that Obama has been bought and paid for by big corporations in the US. To gain funds for his campaigns he made promises to his corporate backers – now he has to deliver on those promises!
Which begs the question – how much did our own PM cost? What promises has he made to corporate backers? What is Groser going to get out of the deal?
The point made in the second short clip is making the legislators ‘own’ the document. It must be debated by parliament – it can’t be modified in any way – but our parliamentarians can be held responsible. We need to be prepared to let them know that we will read the provisions of the TPPA – and if we don’t like them – which we will not – then we will hold them responsible!
Is there anything good about the TPP? Free trade has not been good for New Zealand. We are heading for a low income economy (if it isn’t already here) with a super rich 1 or 2 per-cent and the vast majority the working poor! Free trade hasn’t worked to create jobs in America either – see the short clip below!
We need to keep up the anti-TPPA pressure, and not let this monster slip past us in the grey dawn of a totally neoliberal future!
Might sound strange but a good poster boy for the anti-TPPA movement could be Donald Trump
He’s been saying quite loudly, and publicly I might add, that US politicians are bought & paid for. He’s often told how he’s donated himself and had pollies at his beck & call. One of his best arguments for nomination is he has his own money and isn’t being bribed or influenced by anyone.
For me, the road to This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate begins in a very specific time and place. The time was exactly ten years ago. The place was New Orleans, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The road in question was flooded and littered with bodies.
Today I am posting, for the first time, the entire section on Hurricane Katrina from my last book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Rereading the chapter 10 years after the events transpired, I am struck most by this fact: the same military equipment and contractors used against New Orleans’ Black residents have since been used to militarize police across the United States, contributing to the epidemic of murders of unarmed Black men and women. That is one way in which the Disaster Capitalism Complex perpetuates itself and protects its lucrative market.
This material is free for reproduction.
From the Introduction:
I met Jamar Perry in September 2005, at the big Red Cross shelter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dinner was being doled out by grinning young Scientologists, and he was standing in line. I had just been busted for talking to evacuees without a media escort and was now doing my best to blend in, a white Canadian in a sea of African-American Southerners. I dodged into the food line behind Perry and asked him to talk to me as if we were old friends, which he kindly did.
Born and raised in New Orleans, he’d been out of the flooded city for a week. He looked about seventeen but told me he was twenty-three. He and his family had waited forever for the evacuation buses; when they didn’t arrive, they had walked out in the baking sun. Finally they ended up here, a sprawling convention centre, normally home to pharmaceutical trade shows and “Capital City Carnage: The Ultimate in Steel Cage Fighting,” now jammed with two thousand cots and a mess of angry, exhausted people being patrolled by edgy National Guard soldiers just back from Iraq.
The news racing around the shelter that day was that Richard Baker, a prominent Republican Congressman from this city, had told a group of lobbyists, “We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn’t do it, but God did.” Joseph Canizaro, one of New Orleans’ wealthiest developers, had just expressed a similar sentiment: “I think we have a clean sheet to start again. And with that clean sheet we have some very big opportunities.” All that week the Louisiana State Legislature in Baton Rouge had been crawling with corporate lobbyists helping to lock in those big opportunities: lower taxes, fewer regulations, cheaper workers and a “smaller, safer city”—which in practice meant plans to level the public housing projects and replace them with condos. Hearing all the talk of “fresh starts” and “clean sheets,” you could almost forget the toxic stew of rubble, chemical outflows and human remains just a few miles down the highway.
Over at the shelter, Jamar could think of nothing else. “I really don’t see it as cleaning up the city. What I see is that a lot of people got killed uptown. People who shouldn’t have died.”
He was speaking quietly, but an older man in line in front of us overheard and whipped around. “What is wrong with these people in Baton Rouge? This isn’t an opportunity. It’s a goddamned tragedy. Are they blind?”
A mother with two kids chimed in. “No, they’re not blind, they’re evil. They see just fine.”
Klein’s talk last week in Sydney is worth a watch too. This video is an hour, but the actual talk is maybe 30 or 40 mins. She’s talking about climate change and why critiquing capitalism is so important. She also makes the links with the refugee crises.
At the start she calls out some of the people involved in the event organisation’s board and their influence on border policy. A great example of emotional and political intelligence that reminds us that it’s women like Klein who should be in charge of things.
The story is typical of the lop-sided state that Bush built: a weak, underfunded, ineffective public sector on the one hand, and a parallel richly funded corporate infrastructure on the other. When it comes to paying contractors, the sky is the limit; when it comes to financing the basic functions of the state, the coffers are empty.
Sounds just like what National has been and is doing to our own state sector – lot of money for the private corporations to bring in huge profits while the essential services are run down.
Termite, collectively, alter the global climate. Every species on the planet alters the environment around to better suit themselves, though not always for their best. So this gormless old fat of a media mogal, whose business is peddling power, and using wedg issues, no matter how contrived and stupid, goes uncriticized by the free market. Believing as he does the the great unwashed his media empir sells to could not also fundamentally collectively alter the global ecosystem. Its just a crazy idea, humans capable of altering climate, humbug. A communist having recognized the evil of capitalism could have not done more to destroy, ridicule and waste capitalisms good effects.
” One of the Flag Consideration Panel members who helped to pick the final four options sits on a government board where her job is to help promote the Fern Mark logo.
Julie Christie is an advisory board member on New Zealand Story, a NZ Trade and Enterprise body which approves the use of the Fern Mark image used on the black-and-white version of the final four flag options.
She declared a conflict of interest at the same meeting at which the flag panel was told the NZ Story board had cleared the path for the Fern Mark to be used on a new flag. ”
snip……..
“The OIA papers show Ms Christie declared two conflicts of interest at a July 30 meeting of the flag panel. She declared her link to the Fern Mark and as a member of the commercial committee of the NZ Rugby Union.
The minutes said “the panel noted these conflicts of interest as minor”.
Not content to get rid of John Campbell with her personal vendetta and take down TV3 with it, she now has her sights set on NZ – devaluing our country via it’s flag and emblems.
“Finance Minister Bill English says the Auckland housing market is on fire, and people need to be careful not to get burned when prices fall.
“Mr English said when house prices rise as fast as they have in Auckland, they do fall. He said growth may slow down, and some people may have borrowed too much.
“Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler said two years ago investors accounted for 33 percent of transactions in the Auckland housing market, but now they made up 41 percent.
Mr Wheeler said in overseas housing markets where there have been large house price corrections, investors have been more likely to default on their loans.
Meanwhile, a leading economist said the Auckland housing market is a growing risk to the country’s economy.
Shamubeel Eaqub told Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report programme the Reserve Bank may have to intervene – even though it was not its policies that were inflating the market.
Again this statistic from the RB governor; why is this not being seized upon by opposition parties? Where is it from?
The Government has just announced another $10m for petroleum data to be secured and supplied to the oil industry, paid for by, yes you. If it looks like a subsidy and acts like a subsidy – it is a subsidy. In this case a subsidy to find more oil we can’t afford to burn if we don’t want to cook the climate.
Steven Joyce’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment latest science investment round just announced it will give GNS $2.4m a year over four years to ‘develop new workstation-ready data products for the exploration industry.’ I know the oil industry is facing a low oil price at the moment but it’s hard to believe one of the world’s largest and most profitable industries needs a to go cap in hand to the taxpayer for a hand-out. This comes on top of $25m in previous years, $46m in annual tax breaks and benefiting from the forth-lowest tax plus royalty rate in the world.
The IMF has calculated NZ subsidises the coal, gas and oil sectors to the tune of $US 2.5 billion per year (as of 2013).
The public cost of US$2.5 billion is comprised from such costs as air pollution, lost tax revenue, climate change etc that are all directly attributable to the industry.
All I could find was a global figure of $5.3tn USD, from an IMF working paper published in may. This included both direct subsidies and the indirect costs of externalities such the effects of poor air quality on health and so forth. Estimates were broken down by region, but not by individual country.
I do have/did have. I downloaded the spreadsheet and, of course, it didn’t come with a link. I’ve been mulling a post on it. If/when I do that, I’ll be hunting out the link again.
I believe it came from a link off of another link from here…
Just part of the turnover. The general secretary’s role in Labour is a hard one, the money is crap, the skills required are immense and varied, and the hours are horrendous.
I saw Mike Smith do that role for many years when I was still active in the Labour party, and was always impressed that he didn’t throw up his hands and depart. It is completely underfunded and massively undervalued especially by the Labour staffers and MPs at parliament. The only time they value it is for a short period around the election.
Tim Barnett did a pretty good job of it. He helped to get a lot of the changes required for the Labour party organisation to survive. Who really gives a pigs arse about MPs and staffers anyway? To lose the party base would be to consign the MPs and their staff to a future like United Future or Act have.
And Labour does it without going into virtual slavery to large donors in the way National or Act did.
That would be ideal. However the primary role of the secretary is to deal with the multitudinous details of running a large mainly voluntary organisation. Since that role is fulltime and with a very very limited staff, it doesn’t leave that much time for chasing donors.
The Labour party needs to start treating donor chasing as being a professional activity and set aside some funds to hire people to do that task. You bring the pres, sec, and anyone else in when you close.
But also figuring out how to get more small and repeated funds from smaller donors would help a lot. Again, they have to set that up and run it for the long term with an eye to lowering costs of collection.
MPs in particular see the importance just before the election each time. But lose interest afterwards. Essentially they need to be kicked out from the process because they have screwed up dealing with the party issues for several decades now. Consequently they haven’t gotten fixed.
At the end of his diatribe is this: ‘Jock Anderson has been a journalist for a long time, observing matters from what he describes as a sensible centre-right perspective. He can be contacted at jockanderson123@gmail.com‘
Seems Dr Joe Aitchenson on Radio NZ afternoons (hope I have the name right) ‘gets’ the shit that it seems NZ Labour and a fuck shit pile of people just can’t get their heads around.
Not a bad run down considering the source. He was on between 1 O’Clock and half past.
It took me a couple of days to fall across David Farrar’s comment on the banning of Into the River by the Film and Literature Board of Review:
“Don’t get hysterical and silly. And it isn’t banned as much as suspended – there is a difference.”
Actually it is banned, temporarily, but still banned. Also it’s good to know he thinks the government banning things is acceptable. Let’s take his site off line for a month and see whether he’s so casual about it.
Ha! Waitangi Tribunal has told the government the way they are handling Ngāpuhi claims is unfair. Let’s see how the arrogant Chris Finlayson reacts to this as he loathes being challenged.
I resigned from the Labour Party in 1987 or 8, not sure which year now. I’ve waited 30 years for the appearance of a Jeremy Corbyn or a Bernie Sanders on the New Zealand political scene – someone who will take the party back to the core values of the left and away from the neoliberalism bullshit we’ve had to put up with for years.
Let me tell Labour, you can’t run with the hare and hunt with the hounds! Neoliberalism policies have all but disenfranchised a huge section of the NZ public – but we’re waiting for a truly grass-roots upsurge like what is happening in the UK.
Take this country back to the days before Douglas and Prebble began to demolish it, with inclusive policies – and I could tell you what I mean by these if you wish (see below) – and build a movement for change that will sweep the rich and filthy rich into the dustbin! As someone said, the poor don’t need the rich, but the rich need the poor!
1. Raise the top tax rates and close the company tax loopholes.
2. Nationalise crucial industries and social services which were sold by National – without compensation!
3. Get rid of the SOE business model – allow government departments to do what they are instituted to do without having to pay a dividend.
4. Introduce a Guaranteed Basic Income which allows ALL people to live with dignity and participate fully in society. Introduce a maximum wage!
5. Get private business and the profit motive entirely out of government services! This includes prisons and schools.
6. Restrict foreign investment in land and do an analysis on the benefits of any foreign investment to ensure it is of benefit to New Zealanders.
7. Encourage the growth of unionism and collective bargaining, giving working people a role in management as is done in some other countries.
8. Take climate change seriously – make this country lead the world in green technology. Immediately stop oil exploration around and in New Zealand.
9. Distance this country from American adventurism (and the machinations of other countries for that matter) – pursue a policy of neutrality and leadership for a better, more just and peaceful world.
10. Bring integrity back to politics by government funding 100% of election campaigns.
11. Bring some sanity back into the banking system by regulations on credit creation.
12. Negotiate bilateral free trade agreement which benefit the working people of both countries. Exclude ISDS clauses!
Restrict foreign investment in land do an analysis on the benefits of any foreign investment to ensure it is of benefit to New Zealanders.
That’s easy – there’s never any benefit to a country from foreign investment thus it should simply be banned.
Take climate change seriously – make this country lead the world in green technology.
It’s not so much climate change that we need to take seriously to do that but sustainability. Our present use of scarce resources is unsustainable. Climate change is the result of that unsustainability.
Bring some sanity back into the banking system by regulations on credit creation.
Ban credit creation. Make it so that the only money in the system is what the government creates and spends into the system.
Negotiate bilateral free trade agreement which benefit the working people of both countries.
Nope. Droip out of all FTAs including the WTO and set minimum standards that other countries must reach before we will trade with them. Such minimum standards will mirror our own which will ensure that trade will actually happen when it’s beneficial.
“That’s easy – there’s never any benefit to a country from foreign investment thus it should simply be banned.”
“Nope. Droip out of all FTAs including the WTO and set minimum standards that other countries must reach before we will trade with them. Such minimum standards will mirror our own which will ensure that trade will actually happen when it’s beneficial.”
Sigh…Draco your passion is admirable but you really do come up with some idiotic statements at times.
Suggesting we stop trade other countries – let’s just look at one area… we get almost all of our medicines from overseas, your suggestion on the face of it would consign thousands of NZers to death.
Also to suggest that all foreign investment in NZ has no benefit is patently absurd.
Also to suggest that all foreign investment in NZ has no benefit is patently absurd.
Well, after many decades of foreign investment we haven’t actually seen any. If anything we’ve seen serious damage to our economy because of it. We see NZ businesses bought out and then shipped offshore complete with the IP – no jobs produced and the loss of the income that the IP and business represented. Foreign ownership of the banks has led to massive outflows of money resulting in even less investment than we would normally have. There’s more evidence of damage to our society from foreign investment on CAFCA’s website.
So, the only thing that’s patently absurd is you as you seem to be incapable of reading what’s written and have an ideological belief in offshore ownership despite the evidence.
Well done Tony – can I suggest that your most natural home is in the Green party rather than Labour, even though they have no plans for several of your points they are more closely aligned with your overall vision than Labour will ever be.
But more likely it will guarantee Labour stays in ‘glorious’ opposition as it did during the 1980s and 1990s – until finally it reached out to voters in the centre and won three elections in a row. But until then Thatcher and the Conservatives ran rampant for 18 years.
Too often we forget that being in government is the objective. Anything else is just academic discussion.
Where he proves, conclusively IMO, that he’s just not original Labour material?
These fucks who think everything is about winning and power and that nothing is about being right…please, don’t anyone mumble anything about lamp-posts.
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Why is MBIE so supportive of the oil industry, why do they come up with outrageous estimates of the value of the oil industry to New Zealand, and why do they see environmentalists as a threat to be suppressed by ...
So, its on. On May 29, the day before Labour's "wellbeing budget", the centrepiece of its political year when it tries to send a good news message about what its doing, the teachers are going on strike. They've been overworked ...
My wife grew up in suburban London – not an environment that was conducive, one might think, to developing an interest in wild life. But her father was a bird lover and he helped her, too, to develop a love ...
“You just need a sense of humour”. I heard this patronising and unhelpful advice from a panellist at an Autism New Zealand Conference many years ago. What about access to education and services, understanding, financial and other support?These words came ...
The Giddens Project has its origins in my association with 'Third Way' politics during my time as a member of the New Zealand parliament between 1990 and 2008.read more ...
by Jon Flanders Once again this year I traveled to Cuba on a delegation that visited many interesting sites on the island, once of them being the huge May Day march in Havana. Cuba celebrates May Day as a national ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, May 5 through Sat, May 11, 2019 Editor's Pick Proposal to spend 25% of EU budget on climate change Schoolchildren ...
Film review by Don Franks All is not true but lots is good in the Shakespeare movie now showing in Wellington. In “All is true” , Ben Elton’s script combines, happily to this viewer, the little that’s known of historical Shakespeare ...
A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below. This post has separate sections for: Climate Change, Climate Change Impacts, Climate Change Mitigation, and Other Papers. Climate change mitigation Climate change communicationClimate change and educational attainment in ...
There's a strange thing about having songwriters as longtime friends. On the one hand there are years when you're mates getting in the same scrapes; they're smoking your weed and you're drinking their riders; you're all fitfully growing up, not ...
Just look at all the houses they own. Parliament's Register of Pecuniary Interests was released yesterday, showing all the pies our MPs said they have their fingers in. And their favourite pie is houses. NewsHub has a list here, and ...
Last week, the UK Parliament became the first in the world to recognise the seriousness and urgency of the environmental situation by declaring a climate emergency. And last night, Ireland followed suit:Ireland has become only the second country in the ...
Two developments over the past week or so demonstrate how serious is the existential crisis we now face, in terms of the damage we are doing to our planet, and how far we are from facing up to our responsibilities. ...
This is a fascinating interview – and not only because it is a highly respected independent journalist, Aaron Maté, interviewing his highly respected mental health expert father, Dr. Gabor Maté. It is fascinating because it is objective and adult ...
At the core of a successful economy is ‘trust’. Buy a can of beans and your decision depends on trusting a whole chain of suppliers. Admittedly, you also trust that the law is working in your favour too; it usually ...
A new 23-country survey conducted by the YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project found that America has the highest percentage of climate denial among first-world nations, behind only Indonesia and Saudi Arabia in all the countries surveyed. A total of 13 percent of Americans responded that ...
by Don Franks Way back in the bad old days before cell phones and computers, I helped a fellow car factory militant campaign for a union position. My mate belonged to what was then called the Engineers Union, at that ...
Writing in The Spinoff, former National Minister Wayne Mapp argues that a good first step to meeting the targets of the Zero Carbon Act would be to end fossil fuelled cars. He's right (and I've talked at length about how ...
Yesterday the government announced its Zero Carbon Bill, which would establish a framework for long-term emissions reductions. The most controversial aspect of the Bill is its agricultural targets: for the first time, farmers will face an explicit responsibility to clean ...
This week, TVNZ’s Sunday programme led with a feature about sperm donation. Specifically, about a ‘freelance’ sperm donor, going by the name Tauranga Tony. Real name Tony Ross, he has donated sperm to a number of women. Quite a large number, ...
Shortly after being elected, Labour promised to be "the most open, most transparent Government that New Zealand has ever had". I've commentedrepeatedly on how Labour is failing to meet that promise in its behaviour over parliamentary written questions. And ...
Something odious about the Zero Carbon Bill: it expands the Climate Change Response Act's existing secrecy clause to cover "the Climate Change Commission, in respect of the performance of its functions or exercise of its powers under Parts 1A to ...
Press Release by Speak Up For Women Wellington, 8 May 2019 Speak Up For Women NZ says the sacking of a gender critical British tax expert in the United Kingdom serves as a warning of what is to come if ...
Improving the safety of all road users is the focus of a new public consultation document on the issue of drug driver testing. Plans for public consultation on options to improve the drug driver testing process have been announced by ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says calling a cop suddenly got a whole lot easier with the launch of a ground-breaking new service for non-emergency calls. “The single non-emergency number ‘ten-five’ is designed to provide better service for the public and ...
Frontline Police numbers have been boosted with today’s deployment of 77 new officers to the regions.Police Minister Stuart Nash today congratulated the recruits of Wing 325 who graduated at a formal ceremony at the Royal New Zealand Police College. ...
One of the biggest IT projects ever undertaken in the state sector has successfully passed its latest hurdle with the transition of more than 19.7 million taxpayer accounts from one Inland Revenue computer system to another. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash ...
The first nationwide snapshot of the consumption of restricted drugs indicates the prevalence of methamphetamine use in New Zealand, says Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The first quarterly analysis of the nationwide wastewater testing programme reinforces the coalition government’s determination to ...
The spectre of trout farming has reared up from the murky shadows of the previous National government’s treaty deals. Māori owners of Lake Rotoaira near Turangi are reported to be backing an attempt to allow trout farming. ...
Our education system is a slowly unfolding disaster. Too many kids leave school without basic literacy and numeracy skills. In 2014, the Tertiary Education Commission found about half of Year 11 students achieved the international reading and numeracy benchmarks. ...
Free speech or hate speech? When do words go too far? We debate whether New Zealand needs new hate speech laws with ACT leader David Seymour and Labour MP Louisa Wall. ...
The Hauraki Gulf Forum, the statutory body tasked with progressing integrated management of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, today recommended two significant goals for the important and much-loved marine park. ...
“I was very disappointed that last night all my Minister could do when confronted with the reality of teaching, was to mouth the same old clichés and platitudes. ...
The Sensible Sentencing Trust say the Children’s Commissioner is guilty of riding the ‘Colonialism’ bandwagon by blaming racism and colonialism after Oranga Tamariki removed a child from its mother’s care. Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew ...
The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) is inviting submissions on proposals to create dual Māori–English names for 16 sounds and inlets in Fiordland. The NZGB says restoring traditional Ngāi Tahu names alongside ...
Few of us want to think about something happening to us that might impact on our ability to make sound decisions. The reality is, we can’t predict what’s going to happen in life that may impact on our health or ...
Former retired Probation officer Tom Hemopo and Māori Climate Commissioner, Donna Awatere-Huata are due to give evidence this afternoon at the Māori Prisoner’s Voting Inquiry at the Waitangi Trbunal in Wellington. ...
May 20 (BusinessDesk) - The National Party proposes ambitious new trade targets for New Zealand's relations with both China and the United States in a foreign affairs discussion document released this morning for public consultation. ...
Christchurch Central Labour MP Dr Duncan Webb has been criticized by the NZ Jewish Council for his promotion of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement directed at Israel. ...
The highly publicised case of Nicky Stevens who died in 2015 while in the legal care of the Waikato DHB is to be put before the Prime Minister next week. ...
New Zealand's first shelter dedicated to housing pets affected by family violence is being built. Pet Refuge will provide a temporary safe haven for pets, while their owners escape abuse. The initiative comes as new research from Women’s Refuge reveals ...
Forest and Bird, The Tree Council and the Waitakere Ranges Protection Society are dismayed but not surprised at the recent attacks on the scientific credibility of the Auckland Council Monitoring Report that describes the increased spread of kauri ...
Kiwibuild is turning into a corporate welfare racket, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union in response to news that none of the seven Kiwibuild homes marketed in Christchurch have sold, and therefore the Government is likely to pay out the ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s budget later this month could have contained an additional $6 billion in spending without costing taxpayers a single cent more, Social Credit Party Leader, Chris Leitch told the party’s Canterbury Regional conference ...
New Zealand’s specialist sexual violence service sector is heartened to hear today that the government has demonstrated its commitment to the Well-Being of its citizens by announcing a significant injection of money into the work the sector undertakes ...
The spectre of trout farming has reared up from the murky shadows of the previous National government’s treaty deals. Māori owners of Lake Rotoaira near Turangi are reported to be backing an attempt to allow trout farming. ...
The Aotearoa Legal Workers’ Union (ALWU) launches today to advocate for all legal workers and to improve working conditions for junior lawyers in the legal sector. ...
Tammy Ngawhika has recently achieved her dream of becoming a homeowner, together with her four children. She attained her goal through Progressive Home Ownership. Progressive Home ownership is one of the KiwiBuy products the Government is being ...
The National Network of Stopping Violence Services today welcomed the Ardern Government’s Family Violence and Sexual Violence Package announcement, part of its Wellbeing Budget. ...
A distressed and traumatized grandmother from the Rodney Electorate will meet with Rodney Electorate MP Mark Mitchell on Monday, May 20, 10am at the Rodney Electorate Office, Tamariki House, 7 Tamariki Avenue, Orewa. The Rodney Electorate MP has been ...
Over 400,000 New Zealanders say they would definitely seek out medicinal cannabis products when they become widely available from 2020, according to a large independent survey and the first of its kind, just released. ...
The so-called “ Christchurch Call ” summit in Paris on Wednesday, led by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron, marked a significant escalation of the drive by governments throughout the world to censor ...
A new nationwide Curia Market Research poll shows the gap between supporters and opponents of euthanasia is narrowing, and that many people withdraw their support when asked to consider some of the details involved in the End of Life Choice ...
The recently published article by TVNZ is yet another piece of over sensationalised journalism that drives a wedge into New Zealand society. International Students are an integral party of what makes New Zealand a diverse and unique country in the ...
Simon Shepherd: Minister for Children Tracey Martin, Thanks for your time this morning. So, we’ve seen this jump in the number of newborn Maori babies being taken from their parents in the last three years. Is that because it’s a ...
Recently I was talking with a group of people about the growing issue of internet harassment, and in particular, gender based online abuse. We talked about how online violence directed at women is a symptom of deep-seated gender inequality, and ...
Former Hawke’s Bay woman Lou Hutchinson, who has this week been setting up action group Whanau First in response to a meeting she staged in Raglan on Sunday to challenge Oranga Tamariki child removal strategies, said she’s not surprised by ...
New Zealanders with an interest in the outdoors are being invited to have their say on legislation that helps them access nature throughout the country. ...
Mayor Supports Random Roadside Drug Testing South Taranaki District Mayor Ross Dunlop urges the Government to take immediate action on the introduction of random roadside drug testing. Mayor Dunlop makes the call for action after reading the coroner’s ...
Fish and Game New Zealand welcomes the decision by Environment Minister David Parker to appoint a formal investigator to assess Otago Regional Council’s performance of their RMA functions in relation to freshwater management. ...
PRESS RELEASE “Tanzania has been at the forefront of cleaning up their environment of plastic waste in recent years” says Stuart Batty, Honorary Consul for the United Republic of Tanzania . The Government have announced that Effective 1 June 2019, ...
Forest industry leaders say the pre-Budget announcement by Forestry Minister Shane Jones of additional regional resources for Te Uru Rākau is potentially of great benefit to regional New Zealand. ...
Eight Regional Councils, in partnership with their Territorial Authorities and others, have applied for and will receive $14 million of co-funding from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) to obtain, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) elevation datasets. ...
"The latest opinion poll results are in, and 55% of New Zealanders want a New Zealander as our next head of state, only 39% want the next British monarch. This is the third poll in the past three years showing ...
KFC is off the menu this weekend as hundreds of Fast Food workers employed by Restaurant Brands and members of Unite Union take strike action this weekend. ...
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) who conduct drug tests on blood samples for a range of government organisations is supporting the introduction of a roadside saliva (oral fluid) test for drug-impaired drivers. ESR forensic toxicologist ...
Today, we celebrate sexual and gender diversity in our communities and welcome the fact that more people than ever are free to identify their gender and love whom they choose. We welcome the progress that has occurred, both in Aotearoa ...
Māori screen organisation Ngā Aho Whakaari says Māori screen practitioners are having to wait until the end of the year for decisions to be made about the promised overhaul of the Māori Media sector in the review being conducted by ...
Up to 120 PSA and E tu union coordinators, contact centre workers and administrators at Access Community Health will be walking off the job from 9:00am as part of a nationwide walk-off. ...
Auckland Action Against Poverty is calling on the CEO and deputy CEO of the Ministry of Social Development to resign following a report by the Privacy Commissioner, which found that the Ministry was unlawfully breaching beneficiaries’ privacy. The report ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Labor’s finance spokesman Jim Chalmers has confirmed he is considering standing for Labor leader, which would put him up against leftwinger Anthony Albanese, who is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sabin Zahirovic, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney Scientists are among the millions of die-hard Game of Thrones fans digesting the show’s finale today. The striking landscape of Game of Thrones has ...
It’s week six of Dancing with the Stars, and the cream has risen from beneath the crop! Sam Brooks power-ranks the contestants.Week six! We’re at the stage of the competition where I can listen to a judge’s feedback and guess, with ...
By Michael Andrew Journalism students across Australia collaborated in an immense project to cover this month’s federal election. Organised through The Junction, a website showcasing and promoting student journalism, the coverage featured in-depth stories profiling every candidate in each ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University The last thing the world needs at a moment of significant trade tensions between the United States and China is a Middle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucy Deng, Staff Specialist Paediatrician, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance; Clinical Associate Lecturer, Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney About 4.1 million Australians are under-vaccinated, meaning they’ve received ...
By RNZ Pacific Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is coming under increasing pressure from his own MPs to switch the country’s political allegiance from Taiwan to China, report local news media. Solomon Islands is one of 17 nations ...
The legislation was introduced by the National government in May 2017 but has languished without progress ever since - it’s the oldest non-members bill yet to receive a first reading by a long way ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Cameron, Research Fellow, University of Sydney Polls had predicted a narrow win for Labor in this election, so what explains the Coalition victory? Data from the Australian Election Study (AES), based ...
Dr Bryce EdwardsThe stars seem to be aligning in favour of the establishment of a socially conservative Christian-based political party, making it more than just a vague possibility. However, some big hurdles remain in place before the National Party ...
After being lobbied to take a stand on scientific terms, the prime minister’s chief science adviser attempted to find out who makes the call on whether or not to approve an application by a majority-Malaysian-owned company to mine at the ...
A Taranaki couple threw in their high-flying careers to bring people together through the joys of good baking.Tucked down an alleyway off New Plymouth’s main street, just a stone’s throw from the famous Len Lye Centre, you’ll find Billow Bakery ...
Broadcasting legend Elizabeth Alley reviews Loving Sylvie, the gorgeous, ephemeral new novel by Elizabeth Smither.A bride is rowed across a grey-green lake to her wedding. She rehearses her new name, “Sylvie Grace Taverner,” as the waters lap the boat. There’s ...
If the wellbeing budget is going to do something about the long-term productivity of the country, it must address the growing gap between digital haves and have-nots, writes Grant Thornton’s Helen Fortune.Many fear that increasing digitisation and automation will result ...
In a series of posts on social media, it is claimed that the touring players targeted a group with ‘homophobic slurs, limp wrists and high pitched voices’.Several members of The Crusaders rugby team have been accused of homophobia following an ...
Tof Eklund reviews Lovestruck, a free-to-play treasure trove of romantic queer gaming content.Voltage’s Lovestruck does not, at first glance, look particularly queer-inclusive. Created in 2017 to unify four otome (‘women’s romance’) mobile games, this game hub now houses at least ...
The Australian left will need to do a far better job of connecting with voters – and what they really care about – if they’re ever going to regain power, writes Australian political historian Geoffrey Robinson.The Australian election result was ...
The National Party has put the relationship with the United States front and centre of its foreign policy, saying it's a relationship that will be prioritised. ...
Katie Meadows reviews Catch-22, George Clooney’s bleak and boring TV adaptation of the classic novel.Even if you are not familiar with Joseph Heller’s 1961 satirical novel, you will be familiar with its title — a catch-22 at its most technical is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen G Bosi, Senior Lecturer in Physics, University of New England Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to ...
The government is investing more than $7.7 million in upgrading the SuperGold card website and an app, plus $600,000 on digital literacy training for seniors. ...
By Marija Taflaga of the Australian National University in Canberra The man that has “always believed in miracles” has just delivered one for the Liberal party. It’s not clear at the time of writing if the government will have ...
May 20 – 26 is macular degeneration awareness week. The subject is a personal one for Grant Thompson and his daughter Donna, who have both been diagnosed the condition which can lead to blindness.“I thought I just needed new glasses, ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand. Today’s contentGovernment Colin James: Ardern: transformation now or a ...
National leader Simon Bridges says he is happy to give Alfred Ngaro "the space" to explore setting up a Christian values party, but National will stand a candidate in Botany. ...
National leader Simon Bridges says he is happy to give Alfred Ngaro "the space" to explore setting up a Christian values party, but National will stand a candidate in Botany. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Brynn Hibbert, Emeritus Professor of Analytical Chemistry, UNSW We measure stuff all the time – how long, how heavy, how hot, and so on – because we need to for things ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katinka van de Ven, Research Fellow, Drug Policy Modelling Program, SPRC, UNSW Most media reports would have you believe steroid users are predominantly young men suffering a “crisis of male ego” who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Green, Lecturer, UNSW Can the design of a climate change message change someone’s beliefs? Absolutely, and with a surprisingly powerful correlation. My research found climate change messages that spark fear and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karyn Healy, Researcher, The University of Queensland School bullying can have serious consequences for victims including depression, psychosis, self-harm and suicide. With increasing evidence of harm, a groundswell of school anti-bullying programs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Stanley, Adjunct Professor, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney Melbourne is growing faster than most cities of similar size in developed countries. Population ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Albo, or Plibersek, or whoever it turns out to be the next Labor leader, might have had a lucky accident. ...
Simon Bridges has been damping down rumours that National Party list MP Alfred Ngaro could split off and set up a Christian values party. Watch live as he speaks to Morning Report. ...
Another KiwiBuild development backed by taxpayer money is failing to generate buyer demand - prompting more calls for Labour's flagship programme to be dumped. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Scott Morrison wins re-election in Australia, major boost in funding for sexual violence services, and stories around Alfred Ngaro party continue to swirl.Few saw it coming, but Australian PM Scott Morrison ...
Auckland today hosts delegations from Los Angeles and Guangzhou in its annual tripartite meeting for economic opportunities between the three cities - at a delicate time of division between the Chinese and US over trade. ...
Auckland's growth pains and urgent needs are well known. But, Rupert Hodson of Beca asks, are we responding as urgently and comprehensively as we should for such a 'crisis'? ...
Open mike 11/09/2015 
Open mike is your post.
Perhaps it’s because of the sheer size – and therefore enormous potential – of their country, but Australians have always demonstrated a harder-edged nationalism than have Kiwis. And that tendency has become even more apparent in recent years, when they ...12 hours ago
Current member of the National Party, List MP Alfred Ngaro, has declared he has an intent towards the possibility of setting up a Christian-oriented “values” party. Simon Bridges initially denied discussion, but we all know his denials are really never ...12 hours ago
Australians went to the polls over the weekend, and have apparently re-elected the shit party to government. It was unexpected, but I guess that's what happens when you have a media landscape utterly dominated by a highly partisan monopoly. Meanwhile, ...17 hours ago
New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations National President JamesRanstead argues student voice is crucial in the Reform of VocationalEducation ...17 hours ago
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, May 12 through Sat, May 18, 2019 Editor's Pick 12 excuses for climate inaction and how to refute them Using moral ...2 days ago
While abortion laws in New Zealand are likely to be liberalised, in the US abortion rights are being rolled back. This article from Feminist Current looks at the way the anti abortion movement is reframing its arguments. by Karen Jolly ...3 days ago
A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below. This post has separate sections for: Climate Change, Climate Change Impacts, Climate Change Mitigation, and Other Papers. Climate change An example of principal component analysis application on climate change ...3 days ago
by Sean Kearns It appears that even in Britain, where a lot of unions remain affiliated to Labour, the working class itself is less attached to Labour. The bureaucratic leaderships keep unions chained to Labour, the workers are just not ...3 days ago
In October 2013 I wrote about “Valuing Xero in one hour“, and (although it had a bug) came up with a forecast that justified the then $2.2 billion valuation of Xero with a Weighted Average Cost of Capital of 18%. ...3 days ago
Those with a progressive agenda (and yes, I count myself as one) have been frustrated by our own inability and reluctance to engage head-on in the most important argument in political discourse – the role, function and objective of government.read ...4 days ago
I love the National's Library's Papers Past archive. I've used it many times for work and sometimes just for fun. The one thing I never thought I'd be able to do is vanity-search on it. And yet, here it is: ...5 days ago
Bolton has never conceded that invading Iraq was a mistake, in fact he considers it to this day still as a roaring success. His history in public life is that of an unrepentant, ignorant thug of a politician, a persona ...5 days ago
(fire, California)Some time ago Jeanette Fitzsimons described our action on climate change like a car driving rapidly to a precipice while the occupants argue about whether they should maybe change down a gear. If we are to continue with this ...6 days ago
Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons headquarters in The Hague. Image credit: Prensa Latina Ready Syria to Cooperate with Organization Against Chemical Weapons Multinational bodies, like ... 6 days ago
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, May 5 through Sat, May 11, 2019 Editor's Pick Proposal to spend 25% of EU budget on climate change Schoolchildren ...1 week ago
Improving the safety of all road users is the focus of a new public consultation document on the issue of drug driver testing. Plans for public consultation on options to improve the drug driver testing process have been announced by ...5 days ago
The spectre of trout farming has reared up from the murky shadows of the previous National government’s treaty deals. Māori owners of Lake Rotoaira near Turangi are reported to be backing an attempt to allow trout farming. ...8 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Labor’s finance spokesman Jim Chalmers has confirmed he is considering standing for Labor leader, which would put him up against leftwinger Anthony Albanese, who is ...1 hour ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sabin Zahirovic, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney Scientists are among the millions of die-hard Game of Thrones fans digesting the show’s finale today. The striking landscape of Game of Thrones has ...5 hours ago
It’s week six of Dancing with the Stars, and the cream has risen from beneath the crop! Sam Brooks power-ranks the contestants.Week six! We’re at the stage of the competition where I can listen to a judge’s feedback and guess, with ...7 hours ago
By Michael Andrew Journalism students across Australia collaborated in an immense project to cover this month’s federal election. Organised through The Junction, a website showcasing and promoting student journalism, the coverage featured in-depth stories profiling every candidate in each ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University The last thing the world needs at a moment of significant trade tensions between the United States and China is a Middle ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucy Deng, Staff Specialist Paediatrician, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance; Clinical Associate Lecturer, Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney About 4.1 million Australians are under-vaccinated, meaning they’ve received ...8 hours ago
A little-known piece of 1990s legislation should give the Zero Carbon Bill's doubters pause. ...8 hours ago
By RNZ Pacific Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is coming under increasing pressure from his own MPs to switch the country’s political allegiance from Taiwan to China, report local news media. Solomon Islands is one of 17 nations ...9 hours ago
The legislation was introduced by the National government in May 2017 but has languished without progress ever since - it’s the oldest non-members bill yet to receive a first reading by a long way ...9 hours ago
The government has proposed further changes to the emissions trading scheme. ...10 hours ago
Medicinal cannabis firm Cannasouth is poised to become NZX's first initial public offering in two years. ...10 hours ago
11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul McGreevy, Professor of Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science, University of Sydney In the first edition of On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin mentions dogs 54 times. He does so ...11 hours ago
After being lobbied to take a stand on scientific terms, the prime minister’s chief science adviser attempted to find out who makes the call on whether or not to approve an application by a majority-Malaysian-owned company to mine at the ...11 hours ago
A Taranaki couple threw in their high-flying careers to bring people together through the joys of good baking.Tucked down an alleyway off New Plymouth’s main street, just a stone’s throw from the famous Len Lye Centre, you’ll find Billow Bakery ...12 hours ago
The National Party is accusing the Environment Minister David Parker of washing his hands of investigations into firefighting foam contamination. ...12 hours ago
Broadcasting legend Elizabeth Alley reviews Loving Sylvie, the gorgeous, ephemeral new novel by Elizabeth Smither.A bride is rowed across a grey-green lake to her wedding. She rehearses her new name, “Sylvie Grace Taverner,” as the waters lap the boat. There’s ...12 hours ago
Kiwi Property has reported a strong full year underlying profit, as it continues to reinvest in its Auckland retail and office properties. ...12 hours ago
Tof Eklund reviews Lovestruck, a free-to-play treasure trove of romantic queer gaming content.Voltage’s Lovestruck does not, at first glance, look particularly queer-inclusive. Created in 2017 to unify four otome (‘women’s romance’) mobile games, this game hub now houses at least ...14 hours ago
Katie Meadows reviews Catch-22, George Clooney’s bleak and boring TV adaptation of the classic novel.Even if you are not familiar with Joseph Heller’s 1961 satirical novel, you will be familiar with its title — a catch-22 at its most technical is ...15 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen G Bosi, Senior Lecturer in Physics, University of New England Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to ...15 hours ago
By Marija Taflaga of the Australian National University in Canberra The man that has “always believed in miracles” has just delivered one for the Liberal party. It’s not clear at the time of writing if the government will have ...17 hours ago
The New Zealand Bankers' Association is calling for a rethink of the Reserve Bank’s bank capital proposals to avoid hurting the economy. ...17 hours ago
The country's largest power company, Genesis Energy, is easing off its plan to stop using coal completely by 2030. ...18 hours ago
It's not building materials and labour costs making new homes cost so much in New Zealand. Bernard Hickey analyses a new report. ...18 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Brynn Hibbert, Emeritus Professor of Analytical Chemistry, UNSW We measure stuff all the time – how long, how heavy, how hot, and so on – because we need to for things ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katinka van de Ven, Research Fellow, Drug Policy Modelling Program, SPRC, UNSW Most media reports would have you believe steroid users are predominantly young men suffering a “crisis of male ego” who ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Green, Lecturer, UNSW Can the design of a climate change message change someone’s beliefs? Absolutely, and with a surprisingly powerful correlation. My research found climate change messages that spark fear and ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karyn Healy, Researcher, The University of Queensland School bullying can have serious consequences for victims including depression, psychosis, self-harm and suicide. With increasing evidence of harm, a groundswell of school anti-bullying programs ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Stanley, Adjunct Professor, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney Melbourne is growing faster than most cities of similar size in developed countries. Population ...19 hours ago
Anna Rawhiti-Connell gives her selection of the delights of the Auckland Writers' Festival. ...20 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Scott Morrison wins re-election in Australia, major boost in funding for sexual violence services, and stories around Alfred Ngaro party continue to swirl.Few saw it coming, but Australian PM Scott Morrison ...20 hours ago
Auckland today hosts delegations from Los Angeles and Guangzhou in its annual tripartite meeting for economic opportunities between the three cities - at a delicate time of division between the Chinese and US over trade. ...20 hours ago
Auckland's growth pains and urgent needs are well known. But, Rupert Hodson of Beca asks, are we responding as urgently and comprehensively as we should for such a 'crisis'? ...22 hours ago
Washington Supreme Court expels charter schools from state public school system
Mr Gates could always transfer the funds to public schools I guess. But probs the legislative session option will help the private people taking public funds, as always it seems.
Flag advisory group has just four hours to give their opinion – http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/71941611/panel-advising-on-new-flag-cobbled-together-advice-from-designers
No, the Flag Consideration Panel got 4 hours of input from assorted designers.
They will have spent significantly longer than 4 hours to cut the list of 40 down to 4 finalists.
They performed trademark and copyright searches on each of the 40 designs for example, which resulted in 1 of the original 40 shortlisted being ruled invalid and removed from further consideration.
Well, according to the economists it’s all a farce:
Yeah, I think Key’s ‘bright’ idea of changing the flag probably isn’t bringing him as much joy as he expected it would.
The smug, flat-arsed cowards and careerists who have turned Labour into a beige tory party should take note of this:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/most-voters-would-welcome-a-more-radical-socialist-labour-party-new-poll-finds-10494366.html
It’s what it says on the tin – contrary to orthodox ‘wisdom’, in the UK, a Labour party that is a real alternative, not an incompetent clone of the tories would resonate with voters. The same is likely true here.
Instead of fuckwits blathering about making the 90-day law “fairer” (for whom?) or getting a TPPA deal that’s “better” (in the way that ebola’s better than leukaemia?), we could have a real Labour Party.
Instead we have frauds like Grant Fucking Robertson who can’t even bring himself to say “socialist” for fear that the Rotarians he sucks up to won’t buy his lattes for him anymore.
Where is the groundswell of support for change within the Labour Party rhino?
Where are the thinkers?
Where are the future leaders?
Do you see any hope of Labour regaining it’s mojo, or do you think it’s fucked, and the Left requires a new political foundation Party to regain government?
The potential groundswell is in exactly the same place as it was in other places prior to quite simple thoughts and ideas being articulated by likely (not certain) future leaders.
NZ Labour has no depth because the legacy of ’84 was break-away parties that ‘died on the vine’….with a little help from ‘liberal’ toxins, courtesy of NZ Labour.
That means that there is no SNP – a major party – capable of occupying ground abandoned by Labour. And there are no Jeremy Corbyn’s who have bided their time on the back benches working for their constituents these past 30 years.
Labour will change – slowly. Mere ‘Johnny come lately’ adopters of what will already have transpired across the left in the English speaking world.
A big part of the problem is capture. If they’re constantly being offered the hospitality of Sky City, then they’re going to feel more of a reflexive concern for Sky City execs than we filthy proles. Sky City knows this and that arsewipe Goff wants their support in his mayoral campaign, so hey-ho, he gets a nice seat in their corporate box to watch allegedly grown adults chase a leather balloon around a field.
Parliament for a lot of MPs is a networking shop where they can scout out positions in corporate boards and their attitude increasingly becomes, to paraphrase JFK, asking not what they can do for you, but what you can do for them.
The filthy proles I guess have to keep buttonholing their representatives at least. Invite them to events and then make sure that instead of treating it as another opportunity for self aggrandisement, make sure they sit down, shut up and listen. Remind them who they work for. Remind them who’s going to be knocking on doors for them come election time – or staying at home. Humiliate them for taking favours. Ask them embarrassing questions and publicise their evasions. Never give them a free pass just because they hum a bar of The Red Flag once a year.
Little at least knows it’s “not a good look” to be seen dining with charter school boards, but he’s been pressured by men in suits into stabbing young workers in the back over 90 days fire at will. Someone needs to elbow their way to the front of the queue and remind him whose party he’s in.
We don’t have money and corporate credit cards, but we can keep the pressure on them, tolerate no bullshit, call it out when it gushes.
Don’t suppose you are looking for a change of career Rhino?
I just wish they’d just finish this fucking British Labour leadership vote.
We can only tell the reality of public opinion once the new leader is in and we have a good tracking poll series.
Over the last couple of months, Corbyn has emerged as the front-runner not only among Labour members/affiliates but also among both Labour voters and the British electorate as a whole (according to all the polls). That extraordinary wave of Corbymania propelling him from outsider to red hot favourite within a space of just a few weeks. It’s been a remarkable revitalisation of Labour’s core values and brilliant (for those of us opposed to tweedledee / tweedledum politics) to see.
But no one should be under any illusion that if he does win the leadership (and the purging of Corbyn-supporters and non-delivery of 10s of thousands of voting papers continues to concern me on that score), then he will come in for a total shitstorm of smears, abuse and ridicule from the MSM and Blairite/Tory Establishment.
We’ve already seen the hysteria from a series of shell-shocked Blairite Grandees paraded before us by a complicit media. And, of course, the all-too-predictable anti-Semitic smears emanating from Britain’s Israel-Right-or-Wrong Lobby and its fellow-travellers, along with New Labour’s US-Right-or-Wrong ”Atlanticists’ (one of whom, you approvingly cited in yesterdays Open Mike).
But you aint seen nothing yet !
It’ll be relentless and may very well destroy the Corbyn leadership. Quite possibly an initial poll bounce over the first few weeks, followed by an all-out campaign of MSM vitriol that sees Labour support fall, possibly even plummet.
Then, again, I’m not entirely ruling out a backlash against the media from Labour supporters and a reasonable slice of the broader public. Particularly (as the Lord Ashcroft poll cited by rhinocrates suggests), from the Labour-leaning faction of Ukip supporters. It’s clear to me from digging deep through UK polls of the last 2 years that Ukip voters (in stark contrast to the Party leadership) are substantially on the Left in terms of public ownership, anti-austerity. Like most NZF voters here, they’re socially-conservative Left.
It’s also clear that an overwhelming majority of Labour voters (and Greens and more than a few Lib Dems) support the sort of policy platform that Corbyn is offering.
If the establishment follows its predictable course of ‘Project Fear’ (redux), then the backlash will be a tsunami.
Yet again, and I’m sorry if this bores peeps, I’m looking at ‘the establishment’ fortunes in Scotland…the SNP, with almost all media continuing to lambast them, are now around 60% with an election about 12 months away.
The only thing that will soften support for the SNP is a UK Labour led by Corbyn.
That’s what I’m hoping, Bill.
It’s a good sign that, if anything, the high profile MSM intervention from Blair/Brown/Straw/and the particularly vile Mandelson (admittedly in Blair he’s got some pretty stiff competition for that title)…has served to propel Corbyn even higher in the polls (and among the membership). All the Blairite and MSM hysteria appears to have been counter-productive.
I’m hoping this momentum, this desire for a thorough-going revitalisation of not just the Labour Party but UK politics as a whole, will continue to sweep through the roughly 50% of voters (Labour, Green, Lib Dem, Ukip and even a few Tories) who consider themselves primarily Left-of-Centre on most substantive issues.
But I never discount the ability of the establishment media to influence public opinion. And I remain concerned that the Scots electorate may be unique (within Britain, apart from certain urban enclaves in the North of England, London and the Welsh Valleys) in the sheer strength of its social democratic values (partly forged, certainly reinforced, by the Thatcherite onslaught in the 80s/early 90s).
TPPA has not gone away – it’s merely dropped out of the MSM – the corporate media – surprise, surprise!
There is intense pressure to sign the TPP asap – but why the hurry? It has been on the negotiating table for six years or so. Obama has received ‘fast-track’ powers to push the TPP through before the presidential elections.
The point made in the first of these short videos is that Obama has been bought and paid for by big corporations in the US. To gain funds for his campaigns he made promises to his corporate backers – now he has to deliver on those promises!
Which begs the question – how much did our own PM cost? What promises has he made to corporate backers? What is Groser going to get out of the deal?
The point made in the second short clip is making the legislators ‘own’ the document. It must be debated by parliament – it can’t be modified in any way – but our parliamentarians can be held responsible. We need to be prepared to let them know that we will read the provisions of the TPPA – and if we don’t like them – which we will not – then we will hold them responsible!
Is there anything good about the TPP? Free trade has not been good for New Zealand. We are heading for a low income economy (if it isn’t already here) with a super rich 1 or 2 per-cent and the vast majority the working poor! Free trade hasn’t worked to create jobs in America either – see the short clip below!
We need to keep up the anti-TPPA pressure, and not let this monster slip past us in the grey dawn of a totally neoliberal future!
Tony Veitch ?
I’ve been wondering about that too.
Not the plonker who kicked his girlfriend down the stairs – I had my name long before he disgraced it!
fair enough and thanks for letting us know.
We need to keep the pressure up on the TPPA. Like this:
TPP protesters take to roundabout
About a dozen anti-Trans Pacific Partnership protesters took to a roundabout at the southern entrance to Wanganui this morning.
The protest was to coincide with the arrival of deputy prime minister Bill English to the city.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11511429
We need to keep the TPPA in the forefront of the news as the flag debate is providing the much needed distraction for the Nats.
Tony Veitch (real or pseudonymous) is keeping his eye on the ball.
Also http://whatreallyhappened.com/es/content/japanese-group-sues-stop-tpp-talks-group-citizens-has-sued-japanese-government-arguing-trans#axzz3lNnoYmfp
Might sound strange but a good poster boy for the anti-TPPA movement could be Donald Trump
He’s been saying quite loudly, and publicly I might add, that US politicians are bought & paid for. He’s often told how he’s donated himself and had pollies at his beck & call. One of his best arguments for nomination is he has his own money and isn’t being bribed or influenced by anyone.
Priceless! That’s the selling point! I can’t be bribed because I already own the politicians!
+111
+1
the lack of self awareness is jaw dropping
Take back the news! The new Scoop.
http://takebackthenews.nz/
Alastair Thompson @althecat
http://takebackthenews.nz #takebackthenews
Naomi Klein has made Chapter 20 of her book available for reproduction, and for those who haven’t read “This Changes Everything” it is worth the time.
Just posting the first half of the introduction.
The full introduction might be worth a post in itself… (moderators?)
Naomi Klein: from naomiklein.org 28 August 2015
Apologies. Excerpt is from “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” published in 2007.
Klein’s talk last week in Sydney is worth a watch too. This video is an hour, but the actual talk is maybe 30 or 40 mins. She’s talking about climate change and why critiquing capitalism is so important. She also makes the links with the refugee crises.
At the start she calls out some of the people involved in the event organisation’s board and their influence on border policy. A great example of emotional and political intelligence that reminds us that it’s women like Klein who should be in charge of things.
Sounds just like what National has been and is doing to our own state sector – lot of money for the private corporations to bring in huge profits while the essential services are run down.
Russel Norman is leaving parliament. Marama Davidson is going to be an MP!
https://blog.greens.org.nz/2015/09/11/introducing-our-newest-green-mp/
Many thanks to Russell Norman for all his hard work under what have been pretty difficult situations at times.
Snap weka! (Deleted duplicate…)
Good news about Marama Davidson though. She is a very articulate and informed person, and will be a welcome addition.
Termite, collectively, alter the global climate. Every species on the planet alters the environment around to better suit themselves, though not always for their best. So this gormless old fat of a media mogal, whose business is peddling power, and using wedg issues, no matter how contrived and stupid, goes uncriticized by the free market. Believing as he does the the great unwashed his media empir sells to could not also fundamentally collectively alter the global ecosystem. Its just a crazy idea, humans capable of altering climate, humbug. A communist having recognized the evil of capitalism could have not done more to destroy, ridicule and waste capitalisms good effects.
pathetic and sad are the words that come to mind to describe this whole sham
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11511139
” One of the Flag Consideration Panel members who helped to pick the final four options sits on a government board where her job is to help promote the Fern Mark logo.
Julie Christie is an advisory board member on New Zealand Story, a NZ Trade and Enterprise body which approves the use of the Fern Mark image used on the black-and-white version of the final four flag options.
She declared a conflict of interest at the same meeting at which the flag panel was told the NZ Story board had cleared the path for the Fern Mark to be used on a new flag. ”
snip……..
“The OIA papers show Ms Christie declared two conflicts of interest at a July 30 meeting of the flag panel. She declared her link to the Fern Mark and as a member of the commercial committee of the NZ Rugby Union.
The minutes said “the panel noted these conflicts of interest as minor”.
“the panel noted these conflicts of interest as minor”.
Minor????
Which is precisely why John Key made sure she was on the panel.
F*&*King Julie Christie.
What a corporate welfare trougher she is!
And no taste to boot!
Not content to get rid of John Campbell with her personal vendetta and take down TV3 with it, she now has her sights set on NZ – devaluing our country via it’s flag and emblems.
i am sure she was able to put her bias aside when it came to the vote 🙄
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/283904/beware-of-akl-house-prices-english
“Finance Minister Bill English says the Auckland housing market is on fire, and people need to be careful not to get burned when prices fall.
“Mr English said when house prices rise as fast as they have in Auckland, they do fall. He said growth may slow down, and some people may have borrowed too much.
“Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler said two years ago investors accounted for 33 percent of transactions in the Auckland housing market, but now they made up 41 percent.
Mr Wheeler said in overseas housing markets where there have been large house price corrections, investors have been more likely to default on their loans.
Meanwhile, a leading economist said the Auckland housing market is a growing risk to the country’s economy.
Shamubeel Eaqub told Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report programme the Reserve Bank may have to intervene – even though it was not its policies that were inflating the market.
Again this statistic from the RB governor; why is this not being seized upon by opposition parties? Where is it from?
Great article by Gareth Hughes
The Government has just announced another $10m for petroleum data to be secured and supplied to the oil industry, paid for by, yes you. If it looks like a subsidy and acts like a subsidy – it is a subsidy. In this case a subsidy to find more oil we can’t afford to burn if we don’t want to cook the climate.
Steven Joyce’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment latest science investment round just announced it will give GNS $2.4m a year over four years to ‘develop new workstation-ready data products for the exploration industry.’ I know the oil industry is facing a low oil price at the moment but it’s hard to believe one of the world’s largest and most profitable industries needs a to go cap in hand to the taxpayer for a hand-out. This comes on top of $25m in previous years, $46m in annual tax breaks and benefiting from the forth-lowest tax plus royalty rate in the world.
The IMF has calculated NZ subsidises the coal, gas and oil sectors to the tune of $US 2.5 billion per year (as of 2013).
The public cost of US$2.5 billion is comprised from such costs as air pollution, lost tax revenue, climate change etc that are all directly attributable to the industry.
Got a link for that Bill?
All I could find was a global figure of $5.3tn USD, from an IMF working paper published in may. This included both direct subsidies and the indirect costs of externalities such the effects of poor air quality on health and so forth. Estimates were broken down by region, but not by individual country.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2015/wp15105.pdf
I do have/did have. I downloaded the spreadsheet and, of course, it didn’t come with a link. I’ve been mulling a post on it. If/when I do that, I’ll be hunting out the link again.
I believe it came from a link off of another link from here…
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/18/fossil-fuel-companies-getting-10m-a-minute-in-subsidies-says-imf
edit. Link is on this page http://www.imf.org/external/np/fad/subsidies/ (an excel spreadsheet)
and extended drilling rights into the maui reserve
Is Tim Barnett’s resignation a good or not so good thing?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11511453
The Labour Party will now have 3 different people in senior positions following the last election.
Can’t see how it could hurt, given how well they all performed at the last election.
Just part of the turnover. The general secretary’s role in Labour is a hard one, the money is crap, the skills required are immense and varied, and the hours are horrendous.
I saw Mike Smith do that role for many years when I was still active in the Labour party, and was always impressed that he didn’t throw up his hands and depart. It is completely underfunded and massively undervalued especially by the Labour staffers and MPs at parliament. The only time they value it is for a short period around the election.
Tim Barnett did a pretty good job of it. He helped to get a lot of the changes required for the Labour party organisation to survive. Who really gives a pigs arse about MPs and staffers anyway? To lose the party base would be to consign the MPs and their staff to a future like United Future or Act have.
And Labour does it without going into virtual slavery to large donors in the way National or Act did.
Thanks for the summary, LP
Ideally replaced by someone who with the President can raise some money.
That would be ideal. However the primary role of the secretary is to deal with the multitudinous details of running a large mainly voluntary organisation. Since that role is fulltime and with a very very limited staff, it doesn’t leave that much time for chasing donors.
The Labour party needs to start treating donor chasing as being a professional activity and set aside some funds to hire people to do that task. You bring the pres, sec, and anyone else in when you close.
But also figuring out how to get more small and repeated funds from smaller donors would help a lot. Again, they have to set that up and run it for the long term with an eye to lowering costs of collection.
MPs in particular see the importance just before the election each time. But lose interest afterwards. Essentially they need to be kicked out from the process because they have screwed up dealing with the party issues for several decades now. Consequently they haven’t gotten fixed.
“figuring out how to get more small and repeated funds from smaller donors would help a lot”
possibly need an Obama to inspire that.
Bloody hell – I see that Jock Anderson fresh from being given the DCM from the Herald has popped up as a commentator at Radio New Zealand. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/283942/opinion-books-shouldn't-promote-swearing
At the end of his diatribe is this: ‘Jock Anderson has been a journalist for a long time, observing matters from what he describes as a sensible centre-right perspective. He can be contacted at jockanderson123@gmail.com‘
Seems Dr Joe Aitchenson on Radio NZ afternoons (hope I have the name right) ‘gets’ the shit that it seems NZ Labour and a fuck shit pile of people just can’t get their heads around.
Not a bad run down considering the source. He was on between 1 O’Clock and half past.
Dr Joe Atkinson
[audio src="http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/aft/aft-20150911-1315-international_politics_-_joe_atkinson-048.mp3" /]
It took me a couple of days to fall across David Farrar’s comment on the banning of Into the River by the Film and Literature Board of Review:
“Don’t get hysterical and silly. And it isn’t banned as much as suspended – there is a difference.”
Actually it is banned, temporarily, but still banned. Also it’s good to know he thinks the government banning things is acceptable. Let’s take his site off line for a month and see whether he’s so casual about it.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2015/09/into_the_river.html
Ha! Waitangi Tribunal has told the government the way they are handling Ngāpuhi claims is unfair. Let’s see how the arrogant Chris Finlayson reacts to this as he loathes being challenged.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11511469
Talking points: (see 4.1.1.1 for my identity)
I resigned from the Labour Party in 1987 or 8, not sure which year now. I’ve waited 30 years for the appearance of a Jeremy Corbyn or a Bernie Sanders on the New Zealand political scene – someone who will take the party back to the core values of the left and away from the neoliberalism bullshit we’ve had to put up with for years.
Let me tell Labour, you can’t run with the hare and hunt with the hounds! Neoliberalism policies have all but disenfranchised a huge section of the NZ public – but we’re waiting for a truly grass-roots upsurge like what is happening in the UK.
Take this country back to the days before Douglas and Prebble began to demolish it, with inclusive policies – and I could tell you what I mean by these if you wish (see below) – and build a movement for change that will sweep the rich and filthy rich into the dustbin! As someone said, the poor don’t need the rich, but the rich need the poor!
1. Raise the top tax rates and close the company tax loopholes.
2. Nationalise crucial industries and social services which were sold by National – without compensation!
3. Get rid of the SOE business model – allow government departments to do what they are instituted to do without having to pay a dividend.
4. Introduce a Guaranteed Basic Income which allows ALL people to live with dignity and participate fully in society. Introduce a maximum wage!
5. Get private business and the profit motive entirely out of government services! This includes prisons and schools.
6. Restrict foreign investment in land and do an analysis on the benefits of any foreign investment to ensure it is of benefit to New Zealanders.
7. Encourage the growth of unionism and collective bargaining, giving working people a role in management as is done in some other countries.
8. Take climate change seriously – make this country lead the world in green technology. Immediately stop oil exploration around and in New Zealand.
9. Distance this country from American adventurism (and the machinations of other countries for that matter) – pursue a policy of neutrality and leadership for a better, more just and peaceful world.
10. Bring integrity back to politics by government funding 100% of election campaigns.
11. Bring some sanity back into the banking system by regulations on credit creation.
12. Negotiate bilateral free trade agreement which benefit the working people of both countries. Exclude ISDS clauses!
+1 Tony.
Excellent list. Send it to every Labour MP and LEC.
Wow, perfeck.
That’s easy – there’s never any benefit to a country from foreign investment thus it should simply be banned.
It’s not so much climate change that we need to take seriously to do that but sustainability. Our present use of scarce resources is unsustainable. Climate change is the result of that unsustainability.
Ban credit creation. Make it so that the only money in the system is what the government creates and spends into the system.
Nope. Droip out of all FTAs including the WTO and set minimum standards that other countries must reach before we will trade with them. Such minimum standards will mirror our own which will ensure that trade will actually happen when it’s beneficial.
“That’s easy – there’s never any benefit to a country from foreign investment thus it should simply be banned.”
“Nope. Droip out of all FTAs including the WTO and set minimum standards that other countries must reach before we will trade with them. Such minimum standards will mirror our own which will ensure that trade will actually happen when it’s beneficial.”
Sigh…Draco your passion is admirable but you really do come up with some idiotic statements at times.
So what’s wrong with them or is that you don’t actually know WTF you’re talking about and just wish to cast aspersions?
Suggesting we stop trade other countries – let’s just look at one area… we get almost all of our medicines from overseas, your suggestion on the face of it would consign thousands of NZers to death.
Also to suggest that all foreign investment in NZ has no benefit is patently absurd.
Where’d I say that?
Well, after many decades of foreign investment we haven’t actually seen any. If anything we’ve seen serious damage to our economy because of it. We see NZ businesses bought out and then shipped offshore complete with the IP – no jobs produced and the loss of the income that the IP and business represented. Foreign ownership of the banks has led to massive outflows of money resulting in even less investment than we would normally have. There’s more evidence of damage to our society from foreign investment on CAFCA’s website.
So, the only thing that’s patently absurd is you as you seem to be incapable of reading what’s written and have an ideological belief in offshore ownership despite the evidence.
🙄
QFT
Well done Tony – can I suggest that your most natural home is in the Green party rather than Labour, even though they have no plans for several of your points they are more closely aligned with your overall vision than Labour will ever be.
12. Negotiate fair trade agreements. 🙂
Tony a schoolboy.
hehehe.
So, anyone else see David Shearers post on FB?
Astonishing. Embarrassing. And actually, really depressing (as a member).
This one?
Where he proves, conclusively IMO, that he’s just not original Labour material?
Yip. Disgraceful.
Yes, I thought I was seeing things!
And NZ Labour still seem unable to enforce basic message discipline on their caucus after losing 3 elections. Hopeless amateurs.
These fucks who think everything is about winning and power and that nothing is about being right…please, don’t anyone mumble anything about lamp-posts.
Donations to the National Party? Just paid for itself…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/better-business/71965664/sir-peter-talley-becomes-a-knight-at-government-house
Disgusting.
Wheeler says its dangerous.
http://www.interest.co.nz/property/77548/rbnzs-wheeler-says-auckland-house-price-inflation-over-25-dangerous-territory-when
English says its on fire and some may get burnt.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/283904/beware-of-akl-house-prices-english
Where the hell is OSH?
Here is Mr fix it.
Steven Joyce said buyers needed to understand that interest rates weren’t going to stay low for ever.
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/aucklands-property-market-dangerous-territory-2015091113#ixzz3lPaDrF6Z
With teen idols acting like this:
Is it any surprise we get reports like this:
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/south-auckland-school-student-brawl-investigated-2015091108#axzz3lMJBBnqY