That’s what politicians and parties are supposed to do, debate important issues, not just shout from oner side of the argument and whisper from the other.
Dunne calls for a debate now? When he’s already had the benefit of a ministerial salary for 3 years at the whim of the privatisers and is now facing unemployment in a few short weeks. Wow, what a hero. What courage!
Saying no to the proposed programme of asset sales is not nuts. Selling assets that return profits well above the Crown’s cost of capital, that’s nuts.
Rather than pointlessly talking about opposing selling assets that neither major party is proposing to sell, tell us this: Why does Dunne support the nutty policy of selling Meridian, Genesis, Mighty River, Solid Energy, and Air NZ.
Wishful thinking, if only we could release all that wealth tied up in state assets,
if only credit agencies said downgrade would have happened under Labour,
if only we could have a debate, geez, where have they been, well its clear
where Nat/Maori/ACT and United have been, in LALA land.
Normally yes, but we just don’t know what the price of oil will be
in three years time.
Policy Labour should commit too is taking old cars off the road,
and putting heavy fees on ‘historical’ and boy racer type cars,
with removal order if they fall behind in payment.
Petrol is now food, and we should not waste it on displays of
oil waste. In fact government should pretty much wake up to
the reality that testostrone wastes resources and direct the
testorstrone to less economically precious resources.
A little insomnia had me reflecting the vitriol in which we hold Key at this site. I realised in the reaches of the night that I did not hold Key responsible for any of the crap going on: to do so was to accept the whole damned edifice of our current political / economic construct. Key is a mere cypher, a non entity, ableit a lying manipulating nasty little nothingness.
So, to conclude: get with the Owsers, the 99%ers who are out there denying the validity of the whole construct. Criticise the whole thing, its not about a “personality”, its about a rotten system, not who “drives” it.
Pete, you just dont get it do you: rotten edifices dont require votes to prop up. They require removal from the outside. Go inside and you get wood worm.
What did Charles do? Involve the public in formulating submissions by releasing the text of the bill and thereby improving it tremendously? And you call this getting into trouble?
Surely you know what he did Micky. You know a bit about legal stuff don’t you? You read other blogs like Lanthanide don’t you?
So the narrative from Charles is the brave Labour Party setting down their four bottom lines, holding fast to them, and forcing the Government to agree to them.
There are two issues here. The first is that the first press release from Chauvel was done after deliberations had started on the bill. It is a clear breach of privilege. The House has risen so it is not possible to have a complaint considered by this Parliament and anyway amazingly Chauvel is actually Chair of the Privileges Committee.
But undermining the integrity of the select committee process is only part of Chauvel’s efforts to promote himself. The actual truth is even more incredible.
I understand the press release from Chauvel setting out Labour’s four bottom lines was done around 60 minutes after Chauvel had been briefed on what changes the Government had agreed to. He already knew the Government’s position when he wrote that press release.
It would be good to hear Charles’ side of the story, maybe he can put the record straight.
So the tories attempt to trample over the rule of law and all sorts of Parliamentary customs and Charles is in the gun for putting out a press release?
It’s already happening Pete, it just hasn’t made it here yet and the media is complicit in hiding it. But you can watch it, in many many cities around the world, live, here… #99percent #occupywallstreet #globalchange
Here is an article which nicely sums up your lack of understanding of this movement..
“To be fair, the reason why some mainstream news journalists and many of the audiences they serve see the Occupy Wall Street protests as incoherent is because the press and the public are themselves. It is difficult to comprehend a 21st century movement from the perspective of the 20th century politics, media, and economics in which we are still steeped.” http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/05/opinion/rushkoff-occupy-wall-street/index.html
I agree that the media is complicit. But it has made it here although it is early days. There are different ways of going about it. One way is what I’ve started to do, only just getting going. The election is a means, not an end.
No, Bored is right, there needs to be a total paradigm shift, tinkering with a failed system doesn’t cut it anymore, nature won’t allow it. Ignore that at your children’s peril!
I’ll vote, but for the first time in my voting life, I’ll only do it out of contempt for the Authoritarian Regime we currently have in power, not because I believe it will change society’s trajectory.
Listen carefully and openly to Vandana’s speech, then tell me the current system works. 250,000 Indian farmers dead at their own hands because of Monsanto, the success of GDP growth!
Thanks AAMC, it seems pretty hard for people to accept that the current regime is F****D. The question of what to do is very vexing but when you are heading towards the cliff at full tilt it pays to take notice. Vadana Shiva is a great advocate of doing the right thing, and gives us some leads here, and she certainly has no trust for the system doing the right thing.
My thinking is that to try and reform from the inside invariably ends up with compromise and acceptance of the principles you fought….look at the grandchildren of the voters of 1935. The Savage / Fraser government reformed from the inside and the grandchildren of those voters who benefited most then destroyed it by voting for the likes of Douglas and Key. The insider principle corrodes and corrupts, often very quickly. Compromise dilutes.
In our case we might look toward the past for examples..St Francis set the example from outside the establishment, Gandhi, King, Mandela stating the obvious and refusing to bend, to sell out.
As a conservationist I have learned that if you give away 30% in negotiations you are left to defend 70%…then the bastards come back and get another 30% so you are left with less again. And they will keep coming…the only answer is total commitment to a realistic position, no compromise.
And so, although I’m nervous about the timing around the RWC and how it’ll be received, it’s essential that all of us encourage all we know, to participate in the #OccupyNZD events, so they are not a farce like the 350 march I walked with and observed the other day. We’re a bit behind the rest of the world – again – in our awareness in NZ, I fear it will look like a lunatic fringe if it isn’t significant.
I’ll vote, but for the first time in my voting life, I’ll only do it out of contempt for the Authoritarian Regime we currently have in power, not because I believe it will change society’s trajectory.
AAMC
I am curious AAMC, who are you casting your vote for?
Change the way we think: coercive revolution is too ineffective as it only replaces a power elite with another. Its like Tolkeins “rings of power”, you cant wield them constructively. Doing the right things and rejecting the wrong things that authority demands is the best tactic. In the case of the OWSers they have deliberately rejected the MSM, they know it is a corrupt and hollow vessel.
and they’ve rejected demands or negotiations with the establishment, they want to network their way to real change rather than to tinker with what has so plainly failed.
Key is a formidable PM because he is the perfect PR construct. The Nats have learned, they no longer use authoritarian male figures for leaders, they use leaders that smile and wave and are cheerful and who at a superficial level resonate with traditional Labour supporters. Then below them the carnage happens but they divert attention from what is really happening.
Key needs to be called out on this. The past week has seen his credibility severely shaken and we need to keep doing this.
Now you know why that particular Eagles song has been humming in your head??
“You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
and your smile is a thin disguise.
I thought by now you’d realize
there ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes.”
Perhaps a competition on The Standard to personalise the lyrics to suit our Pinocc-key-o? The winner gets to be in the front row to smile and wave him off to Hawaii.
You’re right but is there an appetite for such a radical change?
This tinkering at the edges and having no new solutions is highlighted when we consider killing the poor
You’re right but is there an appetite for such a radical change?
Well, we can do the change pro-actively or we can wait to have the change forced upon us…
Oh, wait, we went with the latter option back in the 1950s when some fuckwit thought everyone having a car was a Good Idea because it made a few people a lot of profit.
That’s a bit confusing, I guess you mean that National and Key are responsible for their poxie pixies and Labour and Goff are responsible for their own poxie pixies.
It’s just so embarrassing when bigots get their epithets confused. One never knows where to look – does one criticise them for the opinion they meant to express, or just let the entire episode slide by in a wave of incomprehensibility?
I like the Iranian Government’s description of the protests as ‘the American Spring’. Very droll, even if it’s not seasonally accurate. D’ya think Nato will enforce a No Fly zone over the Pacific Northwest? Or perhaps Blair will be sent in to start a dialogue …
Its quite predictable that there will be protests fromausterity. So makes total sense that
states need to vent the anger. Maybe like using social media to agitate youth to riot,
or starting up sit ins just as the northern hemisphere goes into winter. Glad we
pay big bucks to the state to distract us even by choosing how protest manifests itself.
Personally the best vote anyone can give is to shut their wallets on the big end of town.
Use building societies, buy at the farmers market… etc. This will be more chilling that
any bunch of well meaning sit in protests.
I felt pretty disgusted that authorities failed to stop children playing with the toxic oil that washed up on Bay of Plenty beaches early yesterday morning. It was simply outrageous that concerned citizens had to mount a cleanup, while authorities were conspicuous by their absence…
The letter was written as if it came from Auckland lawyers and attacked a political column by Fairfax journalist Andrea Vance about the Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill that appeared in the Dominion Post.
“It’s pretty nasty stuff actually, I mean it’s one thing to promote yourself . . . but I think having a swipe at, or in fact calling for a journalist to be pushed aside just because you feel you didn’t get enough credit, I thought is not a nice insight on character.”
There has been a lot said here about supposed political coercion of media. This is not a good look either.
“A weak diversionary evasive attack is a poor defence.”
Never a truer word said, Pete. You can defend your leader by weak diversions all day long, but you are never going to be an MP. You’ve Dunne your dash, I’m afraid.
I saw dear leader Key on TV3 this morning proudly claiming that “for the first time ever, New Zealanders are saving more than they earn” !!!! I’m not sure what is more disturbing… that a PM can spout such stupidity, or that an interviewer can hear such nonsense and not say “John, that doesn’t really make sense…” Idiots being held to account by incompetents….. I despair for this country.
I saw dear leader Key on TV3 this morning proudly claiming that “for the first time ever, New Zealanders are saving more than they earn” !!!!
I guess that would be a first, since that hasn’t happened anywhere at any time. Save more than they earn? Huh? Dear Leader either has mad math skillz not seen in this dimension, or he is just pulling any old statement from his backside. I suspect the latter.
Reporting the expected, but no Prime Minister on National Radio this morning as per usual. He was invited apparently. The house has risen, so what is ShonKey doing, seemingly not even up to Geoff Robinson’s once over lightly ‘interrogation’.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 12
For a while there it looked as though the Mana Party just might turn into something worthwhile – a second chance for all those who were dismayed to see the Alliance crash and burn over Afghanistan back in 2001-2002.
But, no. Mana’s announcement that Kereama Pene, a minister of the Ratana Church, is to contest the Tamaki Makaurau seat has put an end to all that.
Mr Pene is a flamboyant character who has, at one time or another, been a supporter of the Mana Motuhake, Labour, Destiny and Maori parties. He is also on record as saying the Prime Minister, John Key, is “ a person who should be admired”.
Not content with singing the Prime Minister’s praises, Mr Pene has also publicly declared that: “National is actually the group that have done most of the great things for Maoridom over the past 20 years.” Identifying (erroneously) the Treaty Settlements Process, the Waitangi Tribunal and the Kohanga Reo Movement as National Party achievements, Mana’s Tamaki Makaurau candidate told the NZ Herald: “You’ve got to give praise where its due.”
In the media, several times now, its been emphasised that you can discriminate.
Yes, you can fire someone because they are ugly, or give you the hebbees,
does not matter about the toll to the bottom line, to rehire, like when have
managers lost jobs when they are also the small business owner. Yes,
you can fire someone who isn’t related to you!! to free up the position for
someone who is. But its worse, what it amounts to is the MSM basically
saying if you can get away with it, sure discriminate, but what’s really
stinks is that to prove discrimination you have to show that intent in the
mind of the discriminator, as long as they don’t let on, that its because your
small, or large, or have big hands, disabled, or just politically or ethically
different. But of course this is a awful way to lead a country, to provide
consent to discriminate.
But wait its worse. Because discrimination is rife in NZ, you can’t even
phone government departments on the free phone number from a mobile.
Those second class citizens who don’t have access to landlines now have
to pay through the nose to get access to their tax dollar paid for services
because mobile technology COST too much. And wait I’m not thinking
about bennies, I talking bottom line, for want of a horse the battle
was lost, and the kingdom fell. When someone resorts back to writin
letters, the whole efficiency gain from technology advance goes out the
window. But hey its worse than that, it forces even more off the grid,
and now they are pushing web access to government services, like
everyone can line up at the local library to do their business in half an
hour.
We are losing touch with fiscal discipline when government thinks
penny pinching, a product of cutting bureaucrats, is sensible.
Save Our Rail Northland are holding a public meeting at Forum North, Whangarei on Tuesday the 11th of October 2011 from 7 p.m.
Save our Rail Northland are a group of citizens concerned that KiwiRail is planning to close down the North Auckland and Dargaville Branch Railway Lines. The aim of the Save Our Rail Northland campaign is to: Prevent the mothballing of the North Auckland Line and the Dargaville Branch Line…
“This is empirical evidence of what’s been understood anecdotally for years,” says information theorist Brandy Aven of the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
The analysis is a first effort to document the international web of relationships among companies and to examine who owns shares — and how many — in whom. Tapping into the financial information database Orbis, scientists from ETH Zurich in Switzerland examined transnational companies, which they defined as having at least 10 percent of their holdings in more than one country. Then the team looked at upstream and downstream connections, yielding a network of 600,508 economic actors connected through more than a million ownership ties.
The campaign to marginalize and destroy the growing 99 Percent Movement is in full swing, with many in the media attempting to smear the people participating in the “occupation” protests across the country. However, several of the so-called journalists deriding, and in some cases sabotaging the movement, have paychecks thanks to a billionaire whose business practices have been scorned as among the worst of the financial elite.
#occupywallstreet as the reclaiming of popularism by the Left for the first time since the 30’s.
Hmm… coincidence that this coincides with the new Depression? Sure, the 60’s was about casting away a lot of social conservatism, was anti war & corporation, was for a less blighted future, love and peace and all that. But it wasn’t driven by inequality. If the sense of inequality could coalesce with the desire to build a more realistic future…
BREAKING NEWS….
John Key has just announced that Gerry Brownlee is in charge of the Rena disaster…”The good people of Christchurch were suprisingly happy with Gerry’s postquake leadership, despite doing nothing, eating their food and clogging their sewers, the response to Gerry has somehow been positive. Gerry has the added advantage that he resembles a whale and smells like grease, we hope he can do as little for the good people of Tauranga as he has for the good people of Christchurch.”
doesn’t King Gerry already have a very important job to do? There are still people without toilets, there are tens of thousands without new homes, new jobs, or new futures!
Reply from RNZ, John Barr re my email about Bomber Bradbury. Good that they replied but of course a “softening” of the story as expected. PR in full swing. Para 6 &7: ……Participants on The Panel on Afternoons with Jim Mora are given plenty of latitude to express personal opinions but it is expected that these will be presented for engagement and discussion and that panellists will conform to Radio New Zealand’s editorial policies and broadcast standards. A relationship of trust and confidence between the programme presenter, producers, and panellists is essential for the programme to be effective.
Mr Bradbury’s comments on The Panel on Afternoons last Thursday were inconsistent with information he had provided to programme producers before going on air and Mr Bradbury later apologised to the programme’s Executive Producer.
It was made clear to him that while his invitation to appear as an occasional guest on The Panel was being withdrawn, it was not a ‘lifelong ban’.
Future law changes will mean that there are no problems in future. Really. Seriously. Obviously because current laws allow ships to get holed but with a slight change, oil rigs and tankers won’t.
As a kid I remember the Tory Canyon up on the Cornish coast leaking huge amounts of oil. The Harold Wilson government asked the RAF to set fire to it by bombing it…a spectacular failure, hardly enough to appear effective Cold War warriors…pathetic really. The oil fires went out as the weather set in breaking the tanker up. Oil everywhere. Mess.
Only thing I can say, Wilson at least did something, Jokey Hen???????????
Today, the so-called Hon Kate Wilkinson, wrote a blog called Greens wrong on Food Bill. It’s an open attack on the Green party and more specifically Sue Kedgley, who has been tireless in her quest for food standards and labeling to ensure safe and healthy food…
Steven Joyce caught lying over Rena accusations
Source : Scoop
The Green Party has released email correspondence showing that Steven Joyce lied on TVNZ’s Close Up show last night when he said, “I have not had a single request of my office or of the Ministry for any briefing from any opposition politician whatsoever.”
“The Green Party did seek a briefing on the Rena situations directly from Steven Joyce. He lied when he said we hadn’t,” said Green Party oceans spokesperson Gareth Hughes.
“We even received a response from Steven Joyce’s office saying they had referred our briefing request to Maritime New Zealand.
“Our attempts to receive a briefing started on Friday when we unsuccessful tried to get hold of Maritime New Zealand to request a briefing for when I was in Tauranga on Saturday.
The Green Party is concerned that Steven Joyce may also be lying about other aspects of the salvage and clean-up operation.
“Locals have raised serious concerns about the lack of communication. It would be worrying if the little information they are getting is inaccurate,” said Mr Hughes.
“Now is not the time to mislead the public. There is a serious ecological matter that needs dealing with that requires honesty and transparency from the Minister.”
Copies of email correspondence are here: http://blog.greens.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/20111010joyceofficeemails.pdf
Don’t you love it when you get such authorities as The Penguin on programmes like “Afternoons”. One, they push the party line and then, when they talk about general topics, they show what empty vessels they are.
Today, the Penguin advised us that there is a typed page of “correct pronounciation” in the RNZ studio. FFS Farrar, it’s pronunciation… “Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt”
Notice how the Penguin promoted the National Party policy to cut benefits such as Interest Free Loans, and Working for Families, and State Services etc? If these cuts are not made we will face a serious crash. (Funny that Key is upbeat about prospects?) Not as bombastic in his opinions but certainly a slippery election promotion and so well received as fair comment by Jim without a dissenting opinion.
Hmmm … bright young rising star leaves prior to his political prime, to pursue a lucrative position with a bank. All under the watchful eye of a well-‘finance and banking sector connected and networked’ PM.
Obviously even political ambition has its price.
I wonder who’s in line [now] once Key departs?
Of course, it would be complete conspiracy theory-land to think that conveniently timed ‘jobs for the boys’ buy-offs happen in politics so I suppose we just note and then move on.
I’ve received a ‘bounce’ for my email to Peter Cavanagh at RNZ – which I thought I sent yesterday. No such email address, yet I used the link provided (here).
Maybe that address has been shut down because of overload? Or, maybe, the link didn’t work??
It’s called “human microphone”. It allows people at the back to hear what the speaker is saying when you’ve got limited (or no) amplification equipment.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 31.1.1.1.1.1
Did you see the look on John Lewis’ face when he was told that he could not speak (by someone who was speaking) because doing so carried on implication that he was better than everyone else?
Who in NZ has even HEARD of ‘post-separation employment’?
It’s an internationally recognised form of ‘corrupt practice’ in those countries which actually have a domestic legislative ‘anti-corruption’ framewok in place – UNLIKE NEW ZEALAND!
As the new head of Westpac private bank – is National Government Minister of Commerce and Justice, Simon Power, going to be involved in lobbying, advocating or having business meetings with members of the future government, parliament, public service or the defence force on any matters on which he has had official dealings as Minister in his last eighteen months in office?
If so, and if National Government Minister of Commerce and Justice, Simon Power was an Australian Federal Government Minister – this would be seen as a form of ‘corrupt practice’ and a breach of their Standards of Ministerial Ethics, as a breach of ‘Post-Ministerial Employment’ requirements:
2.19. Ministers are required to undertake that, for an eighteen month period after ceasing to be a Minister, they will not lobby, advocate or have business meetings with members of the government, parliament, public service or defence force on any matters on which they have had official dealings as Minister in their last eighteen months in office.
Ministers are also required to undertake that, on leaving office, they will not take personal advantage of information to which they have had access as a Minister, where that information is not generally available to the public.”
In my considered opinion, the ‘revolving door’ between public office and the private sector is on permanent rotation at both central and local government level in NZ.
What did Simon Power do to help ensure, as Minister of Justice, that our domestic legislative framework was sufficiently in place to enable NZ, ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (along with Denmark and Singapore – according to Transparency International’s 2010 ‘Corruption Perception Index’) to ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption?
Or would such an anti-corruption domestic legislative framework effectively be a ‘conflict of interest’ for those vested interests who work in the commerce, finance and banking fields?
As Simon Power is going to be – once he takes up his appointment as the Head of Westpac Private Bank?
That’s a fair question – isn’t it?
Penny Bright
Independent ‘Public Watchdog’
Candidate for Epsom
Campaigning against ‘white collar’ CRIME, CORPORATE WELFARE, CORRUPTION (and its root cause) PRIVATISATION.
For a “law and order” party, ACT are being very naughty by parking a billboard trailer for Banks in the Epsom electorate with an expired licence and no WOF displayed.
And the trailer was parked by a National Party supporter. What does that mean?
See it currently in the Shore Road carpark. It also wasn’t licenced a month ago when it was seen in the area. Are ACT immune to laws or something?
Plate L641Y TRAILER BILLBOARD 2008 in Silver
Valid on: 11 October 2011 at 7:44pm today
* Licence expiry: 2011, June 16th (expired 3 months 3 weeks 5 days ago)
* Latest licence issued on: 2010, December 17th at 10:49
* Subject to WOF inspection?: Yes
* WOF expiry: 2012, September 2nd (in 10 months 3 weeks 1 day)
* Last inspection: 2011, September 2nd (Pass)
***** WOF NOT DISPLAYED *****
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On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
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Just saying NO to all asset sales is nuts. And allowing creeping sales by stealth is dishonest.
Dunne calls for debate over asset sales
That’s what politicians and parties are supposed to do, debate important issues, not just shout from oner side of the argument and whisper from the other.
But it’s an important stand to save Kiwibank, no to Aussiebank.
Dunne calls for a debate now? When he’s already had the benefit of a ministerial salary for 3 years at the whim of the privatisers and is now facing unemployment in a few short weeks. Wow, what a hero. What courage!
Dunne calls – nobody listens.
“Just saying NO to all asset sales is nuts”
Saying no to the proposed programme of asset sales is not nuts. Selling assets that return profits well above the Crown’s cost of capital, that’s nuts.
Rather than pointlessly talking about opposing selling assets that neither major party is proposing to sell, tell us this: Why does Dunne support the nutty policy of selling Meridian, Genesis, Mighty River, Solid Energy, and Air NZ.
Wishful thinking, if only we could release all that wealth tied up in state assets,
if only credit agencies said downgrade would have happened under Labour,
if only we could have a debate, geez, where have they been, well its clear
where Nat/Maori/ACT and United have been, in LALA land.
Perhaps somebody needs to be brave enough to say “you sell them we will take them back with no recompense”…what investor is going to take that chance?
Normally yes, but we just don’t know what the price of oil will be
in three years time.
Policy Labour should commit too is taking old cars off the road,
and putting heavy fees on ‘historical’ and boy racer type cars,
with removal order if they fall behind in payment.
Petrol is now food, and we should not waste it on displays of
oil waste. In fact government should pretty much wake up to
the reality that testostrone wastes resources and direct the
testorstrone to less economically precious resources.
A little insomnia had me reflecting the vitriol in which we hold Key at this site. I realised in the reaches of the night that I did not hold Key responsible for any of the crap going on: to do so was to accept the whole damned edifice of our current political / economic construct. Key is a mere cypher, a non entity, ableit a lying manipulating nasty little nothingness.
So, to conclude: get with the Owsers, the 99%ers who are out there denying the validity of the whole construct. Criticise the whole thing, its not about a “personality”, its about a rotten system, not who “drives” it.
The best way to change it is to get in and force change. The next best way to chnage it is to vote for those who are prepared to drive change.
One of the least effective things to do is to just keep criticising.
Pete, you just dont get it do you: rotten edifices dont require votes to prop up. They require removal from the outside. Go inside and you get wood worm.
How do you propse to do that? Revolution?
A start would be Charles Chauvel winning and putting your party out to pasture permanently.
Charles has got himself into a bit of trouble over his abuse of the select committee process in relation to the video surveillance bill.
What the?
What did Charles do? Involve the public in formulating submissions by releasing the text of the bill and thereby improving it tremendously? And you call this getting into trouble?
You live in a strange world Pete G …
He’ll be linking to kiwiblog soon about an email supposedly written by Charles Chauvel, or something.
Yep, he did.
Surely you know what he did Micky. You know a bit about legal stuff don’t you? You read other blogs like Lanthanide don’t you?
It would be good to hear Charles’ side of the story, maybe he can put the record straight.
Lantanide – this unfolded on Red Alert and the issue was first raised there.
http://blog.labour.org.nz/index.php/2011/09/30/bottom-lines-on-search-and-surveillance/
It was that and press releases issued by Chauvel that suggest he has been at the very least deceitful about his self proclaimed importance.
Chauvel in. Dunne out.
And Goff twirling twirling twirling ?
So the tories attempt to trample over the rule of law and all sorts of Parliamentary customs and Charles is in the gun for putting out a press release?
He deserves a medal.
Really? Is that standard Labour practice – breaking the rules doesn’t matter if you are promoting yourself?
United First – led by Hanger On Dunne
PG – Hanger On of a Hanger On
Testing the boundaries ofthe rules are fine if you’re fighting unneeded draconian retrospective legislation.
Flogging a dead molehill to make it the mountain that got away won’t get UF back to 10%. How’s the view from Dunne’s coat-tails?
LOL
It’s already happening Pete, it just hasn’t made it here yet and the media is complicit in hiding it. But you can watch it, in many many cities around the world, live, here… #99percent #occupywallstreet #globalchange
Here is an article which nicely sums up your lack of understanding of this movement..
“To be fair, the reason why some mainstream news journalists and many of the audiences they serve see the Occupy Wall Street protests as incoherent is because the press and the public are themselves. It is difficult to comprehend a 21st century movement from the perspective of the 20th century politics, media, and economics in which we are still steeped.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/05/opinion/rushkoff-occupy-wall-street/index.html
Here is a very inspirational and somewhat depressing talk by Vandana Shiva on the “lunacy of economic growth”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOQzD6aEay4&feature=player_embedded#
+1 Bored, the whole system is in fact F$$KED!
I agree that the media is complicit. But it has made it here although it is early days. There are different ways of going about it. One way is what I’ve started to do, only just getting going. The election is a means, not an end.
No, Bored is right, there needs to be a total paradigm shift, tinkering with a failed system doesn’t cut it anymore, nature won’t allow it. Ignore that at your children’s peril!
I’ll vote, but for the first time in my voting life, I’ll only do it out of contempt for the Authoritarian Regime we currently have in power, not because I believe it will change society’s trajectory.
Listen carefully and openly to Vandana’s speech, then tell me the current system works. 250,000 Indian farmers dead at their own hands because of Monsanto, the success of GDP growth!
Carlos Latuff cartoon for #occupywallstreet
http://operamundi.uol.com.br/conteudo/opiniao/CHARGE+REACAO+CIDADA+++A+OCUPACAO+DE+WALL+STREET_1656.shtml
Thanks AAMC, it seems pretty hard for people to accept that the current regime is F****D. The question of what to do is very vexing but when you are heading towards the cliff at full tilt it pays to take notice. Vadana Shiva is a great advocate of doing the right thing, and gives us some leads here, and she certainly has no trust for the system doing the right thing.
My thinking is that to try and reform from the inside invariably ends up with compromise and acceptance of the principles you fought….look at the grandchildren of the voters of 1935. The Savage / Fraser government reformed from the inside and the grandchildren of those voters who benefited most then destroyed it by voting for the likes of Douglas and Key. The insider principle corrodes and corrupts, often very quickly. Compromise dilutes.
In our case we might look toward the past for examples..St Francis set the example from outside the establishment, Gandhi, King, Mandela stating the obvious and refusing to bend, to sell out.
As a conservationist I have learned that if you give away 30% in negotiations you are left to defend 70%…then the bastards come back and get another 30% so you are left with less again. And they will keep coming…the only answer is total commitment to a realistic position, no compromise.
And so, although I’m nervous about the timing around the RWC and how it’ll be received, it’s essential that all of us encourage all we know, to participate in the #OccupyNZD events, so they are not a farce like the 350 march I walked with and observed the other day. We’re a bit behind the rest of the world – again – in our awareness in NZ, I fear it will look like a lunatic fringe if it isn’t significant.
I am curious AAMC, who are you casting your vote for?
And why them?
Probably The Greens, because they are the closest – despite status quo mantra – to economic and ecological reality.
But they too seem to have been seduced by the system.
To clarify my earlier statement, it’s the first time I have felt my vote didn’t really matter, it’s not the first time I’ve voted.
Better than standing there Combing your hair!!! or if your like me Polishing the dome??
Change the way we think: coercive revolution is too ineffective as it only replaces a power elite with another. Its like Tolkeins “rings of power”, you cant wield them constructively. Doing the right things and rejecting the wrong things that authority demands is the best tactic. In the case of the OWSers they have deliberately rejected the MSM, they know it is a corrupt and hollow vessel.
and they’ve rejected demands or negotiations with the establishment, they want to network their way to real change rather than to tinker with what has so plainly failed.
And the really worst way is to get into Parliament and act like a lapdog poodle while grooming your coiffure and supporting the crap that is going on.
Be interesting to see next polls, can UF lift party vote from zero point zero (0.0)? or maybe as a first go into negative ranking.
How many years has dunne nothing been in parliament Dunne is as bad as key muddling through sits on the fence takes every photo op.
Agree with you Bored but …
Key is a formidable PM because he is the perfect PR construct. The Nats have learned, they no longer use authoritarian male figures for leaders, they use leaders that smile and wave and are cheerful and who at a superficial level resonate with traditional Labour supporters. Then below them the carnage happens but they divert attention from what is really happening.
Key needs to be called out on this. The past week has seen his credibility severely shaken and we need to keep doing this.
QFE
Hold the fucker in the light so that everyone can see what a manipulative, lying douche-bag he is.
Now you know why that particular Eagles song has been humming in your head??
“You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
and your smile is a thin disguise.
I thought by now you’d realize
there ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes.”
Perhaps a competition on The Standard to personalise the lyrics to suit our Pinocc-key-o? The winner gets to be in the front row to smile and wave him off to Hawaii.
You’re right but is there an appetite for such a radical change?
This tinkering at the edges and having no new solutions is highlighted when we consider killing the poor
Well, we can do the change pro-actively or we can wait to have the change forced upon us…
Oh, wait, we went with the latter option back in the 1950s when some fuckwit thought everyone having a car was a Good Idea because it made a few people a lot of profit.
Dear John Key
I thought that I should share something with you that you could use for political advantage.
There are pixies at the end of my garden and it is all Phil Goff’s and Labour’s fault.
Look forward to the question in Parliament.
Regards,
Trustworthy Source.
That’s a bit confusing, I guess you mean that National and Key are responsible for their poxie pixies and Labour and Goff are responsible for their own poxie pixies.
I thought Chris Carter was in Kabul ?
You do realize calling a gay man a pixie isn’t a slur, hs. Wrong mythological creature…
It’s just so embarrassing when bigots get their epithets confused. One never knows where to look – does one criticise them for the opinion they meant to express, or just let the entire episode slide by in a wave of incomprehensibility?
What’s bigoted about calling Chris a pixie ?
Yes
Occupy Seattle
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/gallery/Occupy-Seattle-protest-grows-31333/photo-1657248.php
I like the Iranian Government’s description of the protests as ‘the American Spring’. Very droll, even if it’s not seasonally accurate. D’ya think Nato will enforce a No Fly zone over the Pacific Northwest? Or perhaps Blair will be sent in to start a dialogue …
I like how the Iranian government have just sentenced a young woman to 90 lashes and a years jail for all intents and purposes starring in a film they didn’t like….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/5765195/Actress-to-be-lashed-over-Aussie-film
Its quite predictable that there will be protests fromausterity. So makes total sense that
states need to vent the anger. Maybe like using social media to agitate youth to riot,
or starting up sit ins just as the northern hemisphere goes into winter. Glad we
pay big bucks to the state to distract us even by choosing how protest manifests itself.
Personally the best vote anyone can give is to shut their wallets on the big end of town.
Use building societies, buy at the farmers market… etc. This will be more chilling that
any bunch of well meaning sit in protests.
Now John Armstrong.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10758128
I remember a campaign about trust – does the rest of New Zealand remember that?
Let’s see.
Tranzrail shares.
Visit of Lord Ashton.
Standard and Poors statements.
He has been caught bare faced LYING, about those.
What was the murkiness about his electoral registration – Helensville and Parnell addresses?
So what do we now make of his explanation about “throat cutting” in the house?
Makes you wonder about his honesty around involvement in events before he entered parliament, going back to the Elders issue.
Feel free to add to the litany.
Afghanistan and the S I S role for starters.
Reasons for setting up his blind trusts.
Apparently his former colleagues referred to him as the “Smiling Assassin” – what could they have meant by that?
John Key showing S&P eyes and body language?
Lowering standard and poor with the truth!
Tsk tsk.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10758125
Would probably make a good ‘caption here’ type post 🙂
Rena Cleanup Failures
I felt pretty disgusted that authorities failed to stop children playing with the toxic oil that washed up on Bay of Plenty beaches early yesterday morning. It was simply outrageous that concerned citizens had to mount a cleanup, while authorities were conspicuous by their absence…
A weak diversionary evasive attack is a poor defence.
There has been a lot said here about supposed political coercion of media. This is not a good look either.
“A weak diversionary evasive attack is a poor defence.”
Never a truer word said, Pete. You can defend your leader by weak diversions all day long, but you are never going to be an MP. You’ve Dunne your dash, I’m afraid.
That’ll teach him to jump in the Dunney.
Will the grounding of the Rena, become Nationals “Corngate”
I suggest it will if thios grounding turns in to a split and sunken ship.
I saw dear leader Key on TV3 this morning proudly claiming that “for the first time ever, New Zealanders are saving more than they earn” !!!! I’m not sure what is more disturbing… that a PM can spout such stupidity, or that an interviewer can hear such nonsense and not say “John, that doesn’t really make sense…” Idiots being held to account by incompetents….. I despair for this country.
I guess that would be a first, since that hasn’t happened anywhere at any time. Save more than they earn? Huh? Dear Leader either has mad math skillz not seen in this dimension, or he is just pulling any old statement from his backside. I suspect the latter.
YAYZ! We’re all taking money from the credit cards and putting it into kiwisaver!
Reporting the expected, but no Prime Minister on National Radio this morning as per usual. He was invited apparently. The house has risen, so what is ShonKey doing, seemingly not even up to Geoff Robinson’s once over lightly ‘interrogation’.
Trotter on Mana:
In the media, several times now, its been emphasised that you can discriminate.
Yes, you can fire someone because they are ugly, or give you the hebbees,
does not matter about the toll to the bottom line, to rehire, like when have
managers lost jobs when they are also the small business owner. Yes,
you can fire someone who isn’t related to you!! to free up the position for
someone who is. But its worse, what it amounts to is the MSM basically
saying if you can get away with it, sure discriminate, but what’s really
stinks is that to prove discrimination you have to show that intent in the
mind of the discriminator, as long as they don’t let on, that its because your
small, or large, or have big hands, disabled, or just politically or ethically
different. But of course this is a awful way to lead a country, to provide
consent to discriminate.
But wait its worse. Because discrimination is rife in NZ, you can’t even
phone government departments on the free phone number from a mobile.
Those second class citizens who don’t have access to landlines now have
to pay through the nose to get access to their tax dollar paid for services
because mobile technology COST too much. And wait I’m not thinking
about bennies, I talking bottom line, for want of a horse the battle
was lost, and the kingdom fell. When someone resorts back to writin
letters, the whole efficiency gain from technology advance goes out the
window. But hey its worse than that, it forces even more off the grid,
and now they are pushing web access to government services, like
everyone can line up at the local library to do their business in half an
hour.
We are losing touch with fiscal discipline when government thinks
penny pinching, a product of cutting bureaucrats, is sensible.
Save Our Rail Northland Public Meeting Tonight
Save Our Rail Northland are holding a public meeting at Forum North, Whangarei on Tuesday the 11th of October 2011 from 7 p.m.
Save our Rail Northland are a group of citizens concerned that KiwiRail is planning to close down the North Auckland and Dargaville Branch Railway Lines. The aim of the Save Our Rail Northland campaign is to: Prevent the mothballing of the North Auckland Line and the Dargaville Branch Line…
Financial world dominated by a few deep pockets.
“This is empirical evidence of what’s been understood anecdotally for years,” says information theorist Brandy Aven of the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
The analysis is a first effort to document the international web of relationships among companies and to examine who owns shares — and how many — in whom. Tapping into the financial information database Orbis, scientists from ETH Zurich in Switzerland examined transnational companies, which they defined as having at least 10 percent of their holdings in more than one country. Then the team looked at upstream and downstream connections, yielding a network of 600,508 economic actors connected through more than a million ownership ties.
The effect of capitalism is to move ownership into the hands of fewer and fewer people resulting, eventually, in a dictatorship.
Heck, let’s just restore titular honours, get myself dubbed and bingo!, I’s an Aristocrat.
here is a graphic that shows it clearly
http://capitalrelations.co.uk/2011/09/11/who-runs-the-world-network-analysis-reveals-%E2%80%98super-entity%E2%80%99-of-global-corporate-control/
Vulture capitalist Paul Singer funding the smearing of Wall Street protests.
The campaign to marginalize and destroy the growing 99 Percent Movement is in full swing, with many in the media attempting to smear the people participating in the “occupation” protests across the country. However, several of the so-called journalists deriding, and in some cases sabotaging the movement, have paychecks thanks to a billionaire whose business practices have been scorned as among the worst of the financial elite.
Previously
#occupywallstreet as the reclaiming of popularism by the Left for the first time since the 30’s.
Hmm… coincidence that this coincides with the new Depression? Sure, the 60’s was about casting away a lot of social conservatism, was anti war & corporation, was for a less blighted future, love and peace and all that. But it wasn’t driven by inequality. If the sense of inequality could coalesce with the desire to build a more realistic future…
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/10/occupy_wall_street_emerges_as_first
ties into what you’re saying Bored…
OWS anthem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o25s9SdA-gQ&feature=player_embedded
An honest piece about the OWS movement in the NY Times, yes really
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/opinion/panic-of-the-plutocrats.html?_r=4&smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto
“This [tax payer funded free ride ] can’t bear close scrutiny — and therefore, as they see it, there must be no close scrutiny.”
Looks like the campaign is going to deliver some good material for the countercultural media
http://vimeo.com/29309489
BREAKING NEWS….
John Key has just announced that Gerry Brownlee is in charge of the Rena disaster…”The good people of Christchurch were suprisingly happy with Gerry’s postquake leadership, despite doing nothing, eating their food and clogging their sewers, the response to Gerry has somehow been positive. Gerry has the added advantage that he resembles a whale and smells like grease, we hope he can do as little for the good people of Tauranga as he has for the good people of Christchurch.”
doesn’t King Gerry already have a very important job to do? There are still people without toilets, there are tens of thousands without new homes, new jobs, or new futures!
also on Rena, another National Party lie is exposed
http://blog.greens.org.nz/2011/10/11/joyce-caught-lying-about-rena/
Love the ad for the new BMW X6 on The Standard’s front page.
Will pop down to the showrooms Sat morning and pick one up in met black. Always good to support The Standard’s advertisers.
: )
🙂
Reply from RNZ, John Barr re my email about Bomber Bradbury. Good that they replied but of course a “softening” of the story as expected. PR in full swing. Para 6 &7:
……Participants on The Panel on Afternoons with Jim Mora are given plenty of latitude to express personal opinions but it is expected that these will be presented for engagement and discussion and that panellists will conform to Radio New Zealand’s editorial policies and broadcast standards. A relationship of trust and confidence between the programme presenter, producers, and panellists is essential for the programme to be effective.
Mr Bradbury’s comments on The Panel on Afternoons last Thursday were inconsistent with information he had provided to programme producers before going on air and Mr Bradbury later apologised to the programme’s Executive Producer.
It was made clear to him that while his invitation to appear as an occasional guest on The Panel was being withdrawn, it was not a ‘lifelong ban’.
“between 130 and 350 tonnes of oil leaked out of the Rena this morning.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10758195
But there is no reason for concern about our oil spill response, silly greenies, drill baby drill.
Future law changes will mean that there are no problems in future. Really. Seriously. Obviously because current laws allow ships to get holed but with a slight change, oil rigs and tankers won’t.
Seriously.
As a kid I remember the Tory Canyon up on the Cornish coast leaking huge amounts of oil. The Harold Wilson government asked the RAF to set fire to it by bombing it…a spectacular failure, hardly enough to appear effective Cold War warriors…pathetic really. The oil fires went out as the weather set in breaking the tanker up. Oil everywhere. Mess.
Only thing I can say, Wilson at least did something, Jokey Hen???????????
Correct Viper. And we have it on the PM’s authority that the Renal failure would have been much worse under Labour. Seriously. He has an email.
Hero of the Week Award – Sue Kedgley
Today, the so-called Hon Kate Wilkinson, wrote a blog called Greens wrong on Food Bill. It’s an open attack on the Green party and more specifically Sue Kedgley, who has been tireless in her quest for food standards and labeling to ensure safe and healthy food…
Steven Joyce caught lying over Rena accusations
Source : Scoop
The Green Party has released email correspondence showing that Steven Joyce lied on TVNZ’s Close Up show last night when he said, “I have not had a single request of my office or of the Ministry for any briefing from any opposition politician whatsoever.”
“The Green Party did seek a briefing on the Rena situations directly from Steven Joyce. He lied when he said we hadn’t,” said Green Party oceans spokesperson Gareth Hughes.
“We even received a response from Steven Joyce’s office saying they had referred our briefing request to Maritime New Zealand.
“Our attempts to receive a briefing started on Friday when we unsuccessful tried to get hold of Maritime New Zealand to request a briefing for when I was in Tauranga on Saturday.
The Green Party is concerned that Steven Joyce may also be lying about other aspects of the salvage and clean-up operation.
“Locals have raised serious concerns about the lack of communication. It would be worrying if the little information they are getting is inaccurate,” said Mr Hughes.
“Now is not the time to mislead the public. There is a serious ecological matter that needs dealing with that requires honesty and transparency from the Minister.”
Copies of email correspondence are here: http://blog.greens.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/20111010joyceofficeemails.pdf
http://www.thereformedbroker.com/2011/10/09/this-is-why-they-hate-you-and-want-you-to-die/
http://www.truth-out.org/bank-it-theyre-scared/1318020817
Don’t you love it when you get such authorities as The Penguin on programmes like “Afternoons”. One, they push the party line and then, when they talk about general topics, they show what empty vessels they are.
Today, the Penguin advised us that there is a typed page of “correct pronounciation” in the RNZ studio. FFS Farrar, it’s pronunciation… “Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt”
Notice how the Penguin promoted the National Party policy to cut benefits such as Interest Free Loans, and Working for Families, and State Services etc? If these cuts are not made we will face a serious crash. (Funny that Key is upbeat about prospects?) Not as bombastic in his opinions but certainly a slippery election promotion and so well received as fair comment by Jim without a dissenting opinion.
surely it’s not meant to be this obvious?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/87991/power-to-head-westpac-private-bank-division
The plutocrats really don’t care how obvious it is any more. They think that they’re untouchable.
Hmmm … bright young rising star leaves prior to his political prime, to pursue a lucrative position with a bank. All under the watchful eye of a well-‘finance and banking sector connected and networked’ PM.
Obviously even political ambition has its price.
I wonder who’s in line [now] once Key departs?
Of course, it would be complete conspiracy theory-land to think that conveniently timed ‘jobs for the boys’ buy-offs happen in politics so I suppose we just note and then move on.
Hey what fat cat corporate jobs are the exiting Labour MPs gonna get from the private sector I wonder.
I’ve received a ‘bounce’ for my email to Peter Cavanagh at RNZ – which I thought I sent yesterday. No such email address, yet I used the link provided (here).
Maybe that address has been shut down because of overload? Or, maybe, the link didn’t work??
a single quote about Occupy Wall Street that is all the motivation any free person should need
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freedom4nz/6233632814/in/photostream
Yeah? Check out the stupid hippies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QZlp3eGMNI&feature=player_embedded
So biccy you are quite happy with the status quo?
If the alternative is living like those looneys, I’ll take this thanks. [now repeat, please].
Do you know why they were repeating like that?
It’s called “human microphone”. It allows people at the back to hear what the speaker is saying when you’ve got limited (or no) amplification equipment.
Did you see the look on John Lewis’ face when he was told that he could not speak (by someone who was speaking) because doing so carried on implication that he was better than everyone else?
Hippies aren’t stupid you gross user of the worlds resources.
You talkin’ to me? You are really going to have to learn how to use the reply function, randy.
Seen this folks?
Who in NZ has even HEARD of ‘post-separation employment’?
It’s an internationally recognised form of ‘corrupt practice’ in those countries which actually have a domestic legislative ‘anti-corruption’ framewok in place – UNLIKE NEW ZEALAND!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10758292
As the new head of Westpac private bank – is National Government Minister of Commerce and Justice, Simon Power, going to be involved in lobbying, advocating or having business meetings with members of the future government, parliament, public service or the defence force on any matters on which he has had official dealings as Minister in his last eighteen months in office?
If so, and if National Government Minister of Commerce and Justice, Simon Power was an Australian Federal Government Minister – this would be seen as a form of ‘corrupt practice’ and a breach of their Standards of Ministerial Ethics, as a breach of ‘Post-Ministerial Employment’ requirements:
http://www.dpmc.gov.au/guidelines/docs/ministerial_ethics.pdf
“Post-ministerial employment
2.19. Ministers are required to undertake that, for an eighteen month period after ceasing to be a Minister, they will not lobby, advocate or have business meetings with members of the government, parliament, public service or defence force on any matters on which they have had official dealings as Minister in their last eighteen months in office.
Ministers are also required to undertake that, on leaving office, they will not take personal advantage of information to which they have had access as a Minister, where that information is not generally available to the public.”
In my considered opinion, the ‘revolving door’ between public office and the private sector is on permanent rotation at both central and local government level in NZ.
What did Simon Power do to help ensure, as Minister of Justice, that our domestic legislative framework was sufficiently in place to enable NZ, ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (along with Denmark and Singapore – according to Transparency International’s 2010 ‘Corruption Perception Index’) to ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption?
Or would such an anti-corruption domestic legislative framework effectively be a ‘conflict of interest’ for those vested interests who work in the commerce, finance and banking fields?
As Simon Power is going to be – once he takes up his appointment as the Head of Westpac Private Bank?
That’s a fair question – isn’t it?
Penny Bright
Independent ‘Public Watchdog’
Candidate for Epsom
Campaigning against ‘white collar’ CRIME, CORPORATE WELFARE, CORRUPTION (and its root cause) PRIVATISATION.
Didn’t Westpac re-tender for the government banking business? Was Power involved in this?
ANZ HEAD of wealthy account holders same job different organization
I heard a report on the radio it was anz it and i am wrong it is westpac head of wealthy individuals banking sector
I dont have to do anything. this is a free country.
Parp morganfield
For a “law and order” party, ACT are being very naughty by parking a billboard trailer for Banks in the Epsom electorate with an expired licence and no WOF displayed.
And the trailer was parked by a National Party supporter. What does that mean?
See it currently in the Shore Road carpark. It also wasn’t licenced a month ago when it was seen in the area. Are ACT immune to laws or something?
Plate L641Y TRAILER BILLBOARD 2008 in Silver
Valid on: 11 October 2011 at 7:44pm today
* Licence expiry: 2011, June 16th (expired 3 months 3 weeks 5 days ago)
* Latest licence issued on: 2010, December 17th at 10:49
* Subject to WOF inspection?: Yes
* WOF expiry: 2012, September 2nd (in 10 months 3 weeks 1 day)
* Last inspection: 2011, September 2nd (Pass)
***** WOF NOT DISPLAYED *****
One law for all (of you) and another law for NACToids.
Take a pic and give it to the police.
From here:
Someone be nice enough to embed the image please.
[Sorry – I can’t seem to make that happen in comments – Lynn? r0b]
[lprent: done. well it was there. Now it has disappeared from my iPad at the other side. ]