Keep putting the slipper in Phil, the righties may taunt ‘rogue poll’ today but it is getting interesting. ShonKey and Banksie will likely be spending more time together. Vote Banksie get Brash too. Another poll in this direction and Nat candidate withdrawal orders will be issued. http://tiny.cc/3v61b
Aye Tiger. That cuppa between Key and Banks looks a certainty now.
And on the subject of polls can I express my own theory on their accuracy. There is an inherent bias in them. For instance out west I know far too many poor people without landlines who are never asked for their opinion.
The results tend to be close to the poll results because Labour people unfortunately are less inclined to vote. But a good turnout will change this around.
Labour has a very effective turnout capability. For instance in the Botany by election the turnout in the Labour area was 83% of the turnout at the previous general election. In the National area it was only 53%.
But it is going to take a lot of work. So onward brothers and sisters!
Mickey, you must remember a few elections ago Mike Williams was asked at 9.30 on election night (by the trained performing seals who call themselves political commentators) “was he ready to concede a National victory”?
Williams reply was that “the South and West Auckland returns would come in later, and that Labour would win…”.
He was spot on, Labour squeaked it. If Manukau, Henderson, Porirua, East Christchurch etc turn out Labour will have enough this time. That is the challenge.
I was initially confident but became quite despondent when the nats were 10 points ahead at about 9:10 pm. I was with David Cunliffe and suggested that he start to give a concession speech for assembled activists. He started talking and thankfully it was a long speech. Part way through I can recall the sudden bump as the big urban booths. Managed through hand signals to stop David from conceding the election!
Last election I again waited for the bump but it never came. Looking at the booth results afterwards the causes were clear. In the three South Auckland Labour strongholds 15,000 Labour voters just did not turn up. If they turn up this time then Labour will have a chance.
’05? I was at the Chch combined electorates do that night. At 9pm it was pretty downbeat, around 9.30 the MP’s started to arrive, all happy that they had retained their seats, but still a bit down. Sometime after 10, the party vote for Labour crept passed the Nat’s total and we started to understand that Peter Dunne’s foolish boast that he would back the majority party meant we were in with a chance. By 11, the joint was rocking!
Rogue poll, indeed, TM. The cuppa will be today, on the back of this poll result. Key now knows he needs mates for sure. The interesting thing will be the response in Epsom; do the locals take the hint or do they tell Banksie to do one instead. And isn’t it nice to see ACT totally reliant on the rich man’s charity? Apt or what?
Time for that nice little story about Banks to come out methinks, just after this cup of tea con job. Every Labour/Green voter in Epsom should be voting for Goldsmith as well. Democratic principles obviously don’t matter squat in that ‘rotten borough’.
Polls will become clearer nearer election day… …yeah right.
Look I don’t believe for one moment that everyone has made
up their mind, and so we know that those who have are
favoring Key, what’s the puzzle, people who are ideologically
delude do that as a rule. People who however are open minded
are likely to be progressive and leave it to the last moment.
Also money talks, so polls are brought by the rich to give
the voter block that sees election as a game, that they just
want to vote for the winner the nudge to vote National.
But when middle class affluent people like a CGT, they
are hurting form the debt crisis, they know asset sales
are stupid, then we have to wonder about why the polls
are so out of wack, well if more people are undecided
then polls will obvious pick up core supporter not
swing voters.
And remember Key polls dropped 8%?? on election day.
So get the vote out, remind people to vote Green on
the party and Labour in the constituency.
Streuth cobbers if we had a real MSM shonkey and blinglish would still be getting hammered over the dodgiest budget ever produced on top of double dipton, those transrail eyes, beemers, mirror mirror trusts have it all, let alone all the deliberate lies back in 08 to get elected as the hollowmen has shown.
The arrogance and deception may just cost him more than the back room have calculated already….time will tell.
And if you needed further proof of the bullshit that on-line instant polls are, then this is it, and the Herald of all papers has exposed it. AT LAST. MULTI voting exposed.
Strange though that the Herald cannot miss a chance to reveal that some votes (2) came from within parliament, and guess which party is identified as having received them. Clue, it is not their beloved National.
Aha! Interesting! While the NZH couldn’t resist a swipe at Labour/Goff, surely the more interesting revelation is the number of repeat votes for Paula Benefit & Nikki Kaye, from outside parliament. This indicates how the astroturfers roll with such polls. PB had the highest number of repeat votes and Ardern had many more “genuine” votes than Kaye.
But more interesting, I think Deborah Coddington and DF have been… what’s the Interwebz jargon? p*ned?
They were outraged that a journalism school would be producing such a tabloidish poll:
So is this what they teach aspiring political journalists in our state-run institutions? Rating the sex appeal – or not – of our Members of Parliament? It’s tasteless, obnoxious, and demeaning.
Sue Moroney spoke very well re. education on the Breakfast show, and even Corrin Dann made a point of saying ‘yet again the government have not fronted up’.
This, to me, says two things
1) They have no faith in any of their policies (if they actually have any), their Ministers, or they are scared of being shown up, and
2) They are totally reliant on their figurehead getting them home.
The more that can be made of their refusal to discuss issues and the more that actual, sound policy can be communicated, the better.
I love how political journalists can moan about this stuff without a hint of self-awareness. It’s their fault that the campaign is boring and that John Key doesn’t need to bother trying.
They’re the ones who have allowed him to sleepwalk to victory for three fucking years.
If Andrea wants to make her job more interesting, all she has to do is start DOING her job.
To be fair, I think she did a fair call on National
– announcing already announced policy (i.e. they’ve got nothing new)
– announcing policy that is mundane and will not address recommendations
– policy announcements that only announce the obvious
Then she called National on it’s plan to do nothing that will rock the boat and rely on riding Key’s popularity back into office.
However, she then goes on to criticise Labour for “focus(ing) on top-10 lists, Mr Key’s integrity and his Hawaiian getaways. What happened to talking about the hard choices?”
But didn’t she just say that National where using Key as their substitute for flagship policy? So wouldn’t you expect the opposition to spend sometime showing that Key is wearing no clothes?
“Despite the pretence that this election is all about austerity and chunky policy, really this campaign has been nothing more than a series of orchestrated and unnatural photo-ops. ”
This is demonstrates the lack of self-awareness that Blue points out. Labour tried to talk about chunky policy and all the media concentrated on was who called who a liar and showing the money.
So Labour presents a list of Key’s failures and what does Patrick Gower do? He ignored the list and concentrated on Goff’s use of the word smug. Seesh!
Is it any wonder that journos are ranked among the bottom-feeder occupations.
It’s Friday and we need a laugh – it may be my weird sense of humour but I like the photo from the Herald this morning. Bith Key and Banks have RED hair!
[lprent: grummphhhh…. I was just thinking that I don’t think that simple bigotry is really a reason to change your vote. Then I remembered Brash’s simple moron level bigotry in Owera One was pretty much the reason for winning an election in 2005. But didn’t you read my post yesterday – the undead have no souls.. So no votes for… ]
The red hair amused me in terms of political colours and was not intended to be derogatory to redheads – have several in my family as well as a brilliant ginga cat who is the most laid back, non-physcho cat I have ever had.
Speaking on behalf of me and my people, when the RWJNs have been through the political re-education camps, we are coming after all who disparage the golden ones.
Chris73 – look over your shoulder – we know were you live 😉
please help. i am a honky and live in the manawatu, rangitikei electorate. i was wandering if i was able to vote for mana party or is that option only for voters on the maori role?
[lprent: I’d suggest that you badly need a civics lesson because you appear to be ignorant of the simple basics of electoral system.
But yes – you can on the party list, and if Mana stand a electorate candidate you can vote for them as well. ]
thanx idlegus, its refreshing to hear a politician articulate what you want heard and its even more surprising to hear it from “a hater and wrecker” from the far north: financial transaction tax, feed the poor children from the defence budget, $15 minimum wage, first $27, 000 tax free.
sounds like stuff you expect from the left.
Two ticks for you, g says. Josie Pagani for the electorate vote, Labour for the party vote. Ok, Mana for the party vote, if you really must! There is a candidates meeting in Feilding on Monday night at the St Johns Ambo Hall, Bowen St. It would be great to have an extra lefty or two there, so please turn up and bring a friend if you can.
More details here (and a photo of a candidate who likes to horse around!):
Seems I’ve hit on Farrar’s soft point. This exchange from yesterday.
“The health consequences of eating junk food are well known – diabetes etc – with massive costs to future health budgets, loss of productivity etc.
Surely it’s a good thing to promote healthy food choices in schools so I don’t understand DPF’s objection. Just doesn’t make sense. Unless of course it’s some sort of projection. Is DPF overweight by any chance?”
[DPF: If you do not know the difference between promote and ban, go get a dictionary. And any more personal swipes at me will get you banned]
Several National and Maori Party MPs have had expensive private bariatric (stomach reduction) surgery that they are lucky enough to be able to afford (on their large MP salaries) because it costs $20,000 -$30,000. This option is only available to a very small number of people in the public system so you have to have private means to get it (ie rich). Being overweight is a genetic, metabolic and pyschological condition, as well as socio- economic as cheaper food tends to be poorer quality, sweeter and fattier – it is not a personal failing.
So it would be sensible to do the preventive thing and make it hard for people with the risk factors to access the triggers such as advertising, cheap junk food etc. So healthy regulations in school canteens is an ideal policy. Why the right are so against such regulations and also against funding bariatric surgery in the public system shows how mean minded and almost vindictive their policies re obesity are.
(And if David F did ever want bariatric surgery it would be no problem for a rich person like him to get it , as there are no waiting lists in NZ for this private surgery).
John Banks has a meltdown, Tim Watkin does the Hokey Pokey
Earlier this week John Key claimed that ACT is “a stable party”.
But as the saying goes, “A picture paints a thousand words”.
Here is a Three Thousand Word Photo Essay from the Epsom meet the candidates debate hosted in the Somervell Presbyterian Church, Wednesday night.
John Banks and the other candidates will be having a rematch at the Parnell Farmers Market tomorrow, Saturday. Come along with all your friends bring a camera and you may capture some Action Shots of your own from the Epsom campaign trail.
1/ The Awful Truth:
MANA Epsom candidate Pat O’Dea shows the people of Epsom who they are really voting for.
2/ She’s Gonna Blow:
O’Dea leaves Brash’s picture propped against the lectern. The MANA and the Greens Candidate look on grimly as John Banks lays out ACT’s right wing agenda. (National’s Paul Goldsmith can be seen peering around the lectern. Behind Banks, Labour candidate David Parker reclines looking relaxed.)
3/ All Hell breaks loose!
Labour’s David Parker suddenly sits bolt upright in his chair, looking on amazed, as Tim Watkin, pushed aside by Banks in a frenzied attack on the sign, tries to recover his balance.
Behind them John Banks blind with rage bumps into a table as he staggers around the stage frustratedly trying to tear up his leader’s image.
hah the worm has turned and not a sight of the cheeky little chappy telling us which way to vote.
ipredict that national is on the skids.
nik smif should have stuck to analysing landslides instead of nwo becoming one.
hahahahahahaha.
Campbell Live ran a story last night concerning the oil and gas industry in Taranaki. During the show there was a number of industry types talking it up…
Jeez, one poll (Herald Digi this a.m.) and the Gargoyle from Curia Blog hits the big clunky “ooh..scary co-alition!” panic button. Not so long ago Hone Harawira was an acceptable partner for ShonKey in co-alition. Heh. So Farrar is scaremongering, the piece (with suitable late additions) reads like it was ‘prepared earlier’ months ago even. http://tiny.cc/zsubv
Not half mate – and reading the comments all them poor oppressed small businessmen, none of whom ever fiddle taxes or reclaim the GST for everything, will all be rushing off to Australia at the thought of a left sided government.
I’ll happily give them a lift to the airport if we DON’T have a national government.
I figured that a large can at 4/5% could equal 1.3 std drnks, so that math is okay, but I have no idea what beer they’re looking at – per doz it’s probably a loss-leader.
Concerned about private sector debt. Won’t do a thing to seriously try to increase savings or direct investment out of property speculation funded by international loans and into productive investment.
“Labour has spent $16 billion of money they don’t have on the campaign trail.” Key says
Hasn’t this been clearly shown to be a falsehood? How are they still getting away with saying it? Magic numbers. I thought the big headline was $100 million, or $4 Billion or or or and in any case it is all based on a Prefu that doesn’t factor in Italy going belly up…so!!
Well I’ve had three bankers tell me how to vote.
One was Irish and reckoned a nod for the Nats or Act.
Two were Kiwis and they have been solid Green supporters for a long time. Hmmm….
they’re gunna keep coming. Might as well keep them handily reported for people…
hows that business cred John? The lady working at McDs (I think it was) on TV3 last night had more knowledge about how the economics of the minimum wage works that you unless you were deliberately lying to the country to try to scare them into voting your way…
as Brian Fallow says : ” fatuous and self serving”
By telling the McDonalds lady that there would be a bump for the minimum wage next year is meant to show the voters that perhaps there will be $15 because Mr Key said so, sort of. Hooray says the nice lady.
But the bump might be upwards to $13.25 or downwards to say $12. Next year that nice Mr Key could say that he didn’t promise anything. And he didn’t.
Not sure what you watched- I caught a clip of what I thought was her pawning Key and now backed up with an inconvenient report. Will see if the vid is around to link to.@
Apologies about the cut and paste but I like this article very very much:
Currently minimum wage is $13 an hour.National would like to lower it – for some workers to as little as $10.90.
It says putting the minimum wage up, as other parties would, would mean employers would simply shed jobs.
But 3 News has obtained Treasury documents that dispute that.Workers at McDonald’s wanted to place a simple order this election; ‘Do something about our McWages’. If they could have anything, staff say it would be for minimum wage to go up to $15.
Given the chance, McDonald’s employee Mary Liddicoat took her order right to the top.She asked Prime Minister John Key, “Will the minimum wage go up to $15 an hour soon?”.
“It will go up, but it won’t go up straight away,” he responded.That’s a polite ‘no’.
Key has no intention of super-sizing their pay anytime soon. He says it will cost 6000 jobs.
Mary wasn’t buying that.“I can’t see how you would lose that many jobs by taking it up that much,” she said.
The Government’s own officials agree with her.The Department of Labour says the rise will cost 6000 jobs.
But Treasury has a counter view; “This has not been true in the past. The balance of probabilities is that a higher minimum wage does not cost jobs.”
Not all employers are worried about a hike either. Andy Martin runs a pub, employing 26 people in Oamaru.He says put the wage up and people just spend more money – everyone wins.
“$15 is fair,” he says.
So Mary had another request for Key:“Try and live on $450 a week.”
“Look, I think it would be very difficult for anyone to do that,” he said.
______________________________________________________________________________
And another dose of sheesh for inciting racial bluster goes to the Penguin:
in his Herald column/blog thing:
[Harawira] would not trust any Department headed up and/or staffed by Pakeha mofos.”
I thought Goff had ruled out working with Harawira point 1.
Point 2- seemed Hone worked fine in the Maori party arrangement with National.
Point 3- errr…He seems happy with plenty of Pakeha mofos in his party- you know the kind that can remember where they were during the Springbok tour and the kind who are into seriously doing something about the underclass.
It’s a laugh inducing piece that makes you think that the Nats must actually be taking this lot seriously to let their pr guy do this weak a hatchett job.
really? you think Len Brown is more worried about Andy Williams than John Banks or Steve Joyce? And would be worried about a Labour-led government committed to making the Auckland rail work? The possibility of the new savvy Greens with bright young Labour talent such as Jacinda is making me cross my fingers and go out looking for shooting stars. Would be bloody nice.
still at least the political satire exists in NZ. was concerned it was a goner!
Ohhh and you are worried about Tourism- well I’m sure we can find someone- well actually anyone who would front the BBC and not say ” we’re more 100% pure than other countries”
and would be screaming blue murder to get the oil off a tanker before it got anywhere near any of our beaches. Someone who might be able to argue for our 100% campaign from the
basis of a polluter pays ETS.
Talked to Darien earlier this week, she’s really got her finger on the pulse of labour and industrial relations priorities. $15/hr minimum wage is simply a starting point to give ordinary workers a hope at having economic jobs.
First, if you look around the world you see that the big determining factor for interest rates isn’t the level of government debt but whether a government borrows in its own currency. Japan is much more deeply in debt than Italy, but the interest rate on long-term Japanese bonds is only about 1 percent to Italy’s 7 percent. Britain’s fiscal prospects look worse than Spain’s, but Britain can borrow at just a bit over 2 percent, while Spain is paying almost 6 percent.
What has happened, it turns out, is that by going on the euro, Spain and Italy in effect reduced themselves to the status of third-world countries that have to borrow in someone else’s currency, with all the loss of flexibility that implies. In particular, since euro-area countries can’t print money even in an emergency, they’re subject to funding disruptions in a way that nations that kept their own currencies aren’t — and the result is what you see right now.
Of course, if countries were being rational and keeping their own currency they’d be able to just print the money and not pay any interest at all.
No wonder Paula Benefit has been looking rougher than usual lately, TV3 turned up the progress on the Fuller privacy case mediation that had been stalled for about a year. It seems a case against the Minister by the Human Rights Tribunal may proceed. Mr Hesketh from the tribunal did not want the matter reported apparently and Bennett is whinging about the matter being made public.
Hmmm. Not fun is it being outed in public guilty, or innocent.
Who writes these headlines? And could they get any more biased?
The entire article is a carefully crafted to engage sympathy for Whittall, along with a nice sympathetic picture. Can’t have people remembering how Key so closely associated himself with him … not this close to an election.
MANA MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11 NOVEMBER 2011
STREET SURVEY WOULD SEE MANA WITH 4 MPs
“The results of a street survey conducted by the NZ Herald confirm what we’ve been hearing on the ground” said MANA Leader Hone Harawira.
“With just over 3% of the party vote, me, Annette Sykes, John Minto and Sue Bradford would become Members of Parliament for MANA.”
Harawira said that was an exciting prospect and showed that MANA was a growing political force in New Zealand politics.
“The NZ Herald survey also highlighted the fact that MANA is being embraced by Pasifika, Pakeha and others struggling to make ends meet” said Harawira
“That reflects the broad base of high quality candidates that we are putting forward (Samoan James Papali’i is ranked sixth) and is clearly appealing to a wide cross-section of society.”
Harawira said that the survey also confirmed another matter that MANA had been pointing out “and that is that landline polls no longer accurately reflect the way people are going to vote – particularly Maori, Pasifika and those on low incomes who overwhelmingly use cell phones these days”
Harawira said that MANA’s key messages were clearly connecting with voters – eradicate poverty, full employment, decent wages, and free education and health.
“And I think people believe in what we say because they know our candidates have dedicated their lives to improving the lives of others.”
“Annette has an unparalleled record of fighting for Maori rights in the courts, John is a national icon for his stands against apartheid and racism and Sue has long been a champion for the unemployed” said Harawira.
“I can’t wait for election day” said Harawira.
“The country will be pleasantly surprised when MANA gets into parliament – certainly the poor will be happy to see that they have strong representation from people like Annette, John, and Sue, although I doubt that those parties representing the interests of the rich will be too pleased.
I’m finding this whole ‘regime change’ in Europe more and more distasteful. Economists installed as leaders in Italy and Greece, instead of democratic elections because the ‘markets’ won’t tolerate a delay in changing the government. And how do markets make that happen? By pricing loans at such a level that they’ll take down the countries. The markets lent the money at a price that accounted for risk – they should be taking a haircut but instead are now in complete control.
And for those who think lazy, feckless workers are in part responsible for this mess…
Alas, one would be disappointed, … In 1997 unit labor costs in Italy stood at about eighty percent of those in Germany, and ten years later, they were, well, about eighty percent. Through the late 1990s and early 2000s the ratio actually declined, before returning to slightly above four-fifths.
But, of course, even if Italians were not paid more, they should not have been because they were “doing less work”. Again, the statistics disappoint, because Eurostat (the EU database) reports that in 2009-2011 Italians in full time employment, public and private, worked a lazy average of 38 hours per week, compared to a robust 35.7 for the industrious Germans
@ Rosy: I find the “regime change” business terrifying, along with the hollow rhetoric that serves as justifications: nations “living beyond their means” etc, when the truth is exactly as you say – loans are used to take down countries. The weird thing is these crises are all about how a certain game is played – the world contains roughly the same amount of actual resources after the crisis as it did before. Another weird thing – the crises are largely created by people who do not command armies, just numbers on screens. The loan thing seems to go: we give you lots of nice numbers and in return we take your actual resources and enslave you.
I think the question now is ‘what is the circuit-breaker going to be?’ … and the absolute hypocrisy of the US position on Europe just does my head in. Yeah CV it really does feel like the endgame (sadly, of democracy, not the money men, methinks).
“I’m finding this whole ‘regime change’ in Europe more and more distasteful. Economists installed as leaders in Italy and Greece, instead of democratic elections”
Almost all of my Italian friends are over the moon at the prospect of Berlusconi’s going, but even so, they and I, find the reason disconcerting!
The ousting of Papandreou (sp?) is an order of magnitude dodgier!
For most Italians, the party ended a very long time ago: growth over the past 15 years has been a slovenly 0.75%; unemployment currently stands at 8.3%; the influential Catholic charity Caritas estimates that 8 million Italians are now living in poverty. If the country isn’t yet at rock bottom, it’s hard to think there’s much further to go.
and
Everyone knows that it’s almost impossible to get a job in Italy on merit alone. One needs a raccomandazione, a recommendation or referral. You have to be a figlio di…, a son, or daughter, of some big wig. All of which means there has been an incredible brain-drain from Italy in recent decades: bright youngsters have fled the country looking for a job and a salary that match their skills. If, in tight economic times, performance suddenly becomes more important than who your relations are, some of those emigre brains might book a return ticket.
Brain drain, jobs for siblings and the conected (Shipley, Mervyn English, etc…)
“All of which means there has been an incredible brain-drain from Italy in recent decades: bright youngsters have fled the country looking for a job and a salary that match their skills.”
My first Italian friend in NZ (I met him in 2005) came into this category… (he was my English student). Now he has his own business and considers himself a New Zealander, and has started a family here, to the unhappiness of his parents and parents-in-law, they won’t return.
I just read a Herald column by Farrar (oh, what a nasty man!). I thought he was a Nact official. Why does he have a column in the Herald?
He says “The reason for this is that the level of a benefit is calculated on an after-tax basis. ” – and I have to say, that’s news to me! Why then do we pay taxes on our benefits? (Be assurred that we do.)
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Keep putting the slipper in Phil, the righties may taunt ‘rogue poll’ today but it is getting interesting. ShonKey and Banksie will likely be spending more time together. Vote Banksie get Brash too. Another poll in this direction and Nat candidate withdrawal orders will be issued.
http://tiny.cc/3v61b
Aye Tiger. That cuppa between Key and Banks looks a certainty now.
And on the subject of polls can I express my own theory on their accuracy. There is an inherent bias in them. For instance out west I know far too many poor people without landlines who are never asked for their opinion.
The results tend to be close to the poll results because Labour people unfortunately are less inclined to vote. But a good turnout will change this around.
Labour has a very effective turnout capability. For instance in the Botany by election the turnout in the Labour area was 83% of the turnout at the previous general election. In the National area it was only 53%.
But it is going to take a lot of work. So onward brothers and sisters!
Looks like NZ’s about to get it’s very own “Tea Party”.
No doubt the Mad Hatter Don will be kept well away from the cameras – don’t want to scare the horses.
Mickey, you must remember a few elections ago Mike Williams was asked at 9.30 on election night (by the trained performing seals who call themselves political commentators) “was he ready to concede a National victory”?
Williams reply was that “the South and West Auckland returns would come in later, and that Labour would win…”.
He was spot on, Labour squeaked it. If Manukau, Henderson, Porirua, East Christchurch etc turn out Labour will have enough this time. That is the challenge.
I remember it like it was yesterday Bored.
I was initially confident but became quite despondent when the nats were 10 points ahead at about 9:10 pm. I was with David Cunliffe and suggested that he start to give a concession speech for assembled activists. He started talking and thankfully it was a long speech. Part way through I can recall the sudden bump as the big urban booths. Managed through hand signals to stop David from conceding the election!
Last election I again waited for the bump but it never came. Looking at the booth results afterwards the causes were clear. In the three South Auckland Labour strongholds 15,000 Labour voters just did not turn up. If they turn up this time then Labour will have a chance.
’05? I was at the Chch combined electorates do that night. At 9pm it was pretty downbeat, around 9.30 the MP’s started to arrive, all happy that they had retained their seats, but still a bit down. Sometime after 10, the party vote for Labour crept passed the Nat’s total and we started to understand that Peter Dunne’s foolish boast that he would back the majority party meant we were in with a chance. By 11, the joint was rocking!
Rogue poll, indeed, TM. The cuppa will be today, on the back of this poll result. Key now knows he needs mates for sure. The interesting thing will be the response in Epsom; do the locals take the hint or do they tell Banksie to do one instead. And isn’t it nice to see ACT totally reliant on the rich man’s charity? Apt or what?
Time for that nice little story about Banks to come out methinks, just after this cup of tea con job. Every Labour/Green voter in Epsom should be voting for Goldsmith as well. Democratic principles obviously don’t matter squat in that ‘rotten borough’.
Perhaps Parker should announce that he’d like to have a beer and a chat with Goldsmith?
Excellent suggestion.
Polls will become clearer nearer election day… …yeah right.
Look I don’t believe for one moment that everyone has made
up their mind, and so we know that those who have are
favoring Key, what’s the puzzle, people who are ideologically
delude do that as a rule. People who however are open minded
are likely to be progressive and leave it to the last moment.
Also money talks, so polls are brought by the rich to give
the voter block that sees election as a game, that they just
want to vote for the winner the nudge to vote National.
But when middle class affluent people like a CGT, they
are hurting form the debt crisis, they know asset sales
are stupid, then we have to wonder about why the polls
are so out of wack, well if more people are undecided
then polls will obvious pick up core supporter not
swing voters.
And remember Key polls dropped 8%?? on election day.
So get the vote out, remind people to vote Green on
the party and Labour in the constituency.
Streuth cobbers if we had a real MSM shonkey and blinglish would still be getting hammered over the dodgiest budget ever produced on top of double dipton, those transrail eyes, beemers, mirror mirror trusts have it all, let alone all the deliberate lies back in 08 to get elected as the hollowmen has shown.
The arrogance and deception may just cost him more than the back room have calculated already….time will tell.
Yep using an Aussie Merchant Bank to help with the sale of shares, supposedly to Kiwi mums and dads is not a good look.
And in other breaking news Treasury does not believe that a raise in the minimum wage will cost jobs.
Another lie is debunked.
And if you needed further proof of the bullshit that on-line instant polls are, then this is it, and the Herald of all papers has exposed it. AT LAST. MULTI voting exposed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10765210
Strange though that the Herald cannot miss a chance to reveal that some votes (2) came from within parliament, and guess which party is identified as having received them. Clue, it is not their beloved National.
Time these on-line polls were outlawed.
Aha! Interesting! While the NZH couldn’t resist a swipe at Labour/Goff, surely the more interesting revelation is the number of repeat votes for Paula Benefit & Nikki Kaye, from outside parliament. This indicates how the astroturfers roll with such polls. PB had the highest number of repeat votes and Ardern had many more “genuine” votes than Kaye.
But more interesting, I think Deborah Coddington and DF have been… what’s the Interwebz jargon? p*ned?
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/what-did-you-do-in-the-2011-campaign-grandad
They were outraged that a journalism school would be producing such a tabloidish poll:
But it turns out the poll was set up:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10765210
Great info for those of us who have always been suspicious of such polls on news websites, especially has they mostly seem to lean to the right.
Or at least put on a bloody big disclaimer saying “this is just for fun and can be sabotaged by idiots”
Ha ha, thanks Carol – the DPF shrieky piece is here http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2011/11/the_which_mp_would_you_go_to_bed_with_poll.html
Love how they righteously boot into Jim Blackman – he’s a good teacher and this is sort of stuff I’d expect from him. Fun.
Testing new cache system on the live system.
Biggest problem appears to be the Comment/Opinion tab area when people are not logged in.. Why didn’t I see that while testing..
Only happens on some pages depending on how they got cached. I really just need to get rid of the JQuery for that.
Turned off the page caching for the moment which will fix that issue. Weekend job.
Sue Moroney spoke very well re. education on the Breakfast show, and even Corrin Dann made a point of saying ‘yet again the government have not fronted up’.
This, to me, says two things
1) They have no faith in any of their policies (if they actually have any), their Ministers, or they are scared of being shown up, and
2) They are totally reliant on their figurehead getting them home.
The more that can be made of their refusal to discuss issues and the more that actual, sound policy can be communicated, the better.
Shaking my head over this article on Stuff this morning: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/5947120/Whos-taking-the-gloss-off-the-campaign
I love how political journalists can moan about this stuff without a hint of self-awareness. It’s their fault that the campaign is boring and that John Key doesn’t need to bother trying.
They’re the ones who have allowed him to sleepwalk to victory for three fucking years.
If Andrea wants to make her job more interesting, all she has to do is start DOING her job.
I’m not sure if the journos know what their job is never mind knowing how to do it.
To be fair, I think she did a fair call on National
– announcing already announced policy (i.e. they’ve got nothing new)
– announcing policy that is mundane and will not address recommendations
– policy announcements that only announce the obvious
Then she called National on it’s plan to do nothing that will rock the boat and rely on riding Key’s popularity back into office.
However, she then goes on to criticise Labour for “focus(ing) on top-10 lists, Mr Key’s integrity and his Hawaiian getaways. What happened to talking about the hard choices?”
But didn’t she just say that National where using Key as their substitute for flagship policy? So wouldn’t you expect the opposition to spend sometime showing that Key is wearing no clothes?
“Despite the pretence that this election is all about austerity and chunky policy, really this campaign has been nothing more than a series of orchestrated and unnatural photo-ops. ”
This is demonstrates the lack of self-awareness that Blue points out. Labour tried to talk about chunky policy and all the media concentrated on was who called who a liar and showing the money.
So Labour presents a list of Key’s failures and what does Patrick Gower do? He ignored the list and concentrated on Goff’s use of the word smug. Seesh!
Is it any wonder that journos are ranked among the bottom-feeder occupations.
It’s Friday and we need a laugh – it may be my weird sense of humour but I like the photo from the Herald this morning. Bith Key and Banks have RED hair!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10765220#
And they’re blushing… as they should.
Gingas have no soul, I may have to change my vote
[lprent: grummphhhh…. I was just thinking that I don’t think that simple bigotry is really a reason to change your vote. Then I remembered Brash’s simple moron level bigotry in Owera One was pretty much the reason for winning an election in 2005. But didn’t you read my post yesterday – the undead have no souls.. So no votes for… ]
Gingas can be turned by a high-level cleric or Paladin though I would class them more of an imp than undead
The red hair amused me in terms of political colours and was not intended to be derogatory to redheads – have several in my family as well as a brilliant ginga cat who is the most laid back, non-physcho cat I have ever had.
I’m sorry you have Gingas in your family, you have my condolences.
Speaking on behalf of me and my people, when the RWJNs have been through the political re-education camps, we are coming after all who disparage the golden ones.
Chris73 – look over your shoulder – we know were you live 😉
“Know your enemy”
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ginger
please help. i am a honky and live in the manawatu, rangitikei electorate. i was wandering if i was able to vote for mana party or is that option only for voters on the maori role?
[lprent: I’d suggest that you badly need a civics lesson because you appear to be ignorant of the simple basics of electoral system.
But yes – you can on the party list, and if Mana stand a electorate candidate you can vote for them as well. ]
nope, mana & for everyone, they have my party vote (im pakeha etc) down here in south dunedin.
thanx idlegus, its refreshing to hear a politician articulate what you want heard and its even more surprising to hear it from “a hater and wrecker” from the far north: financial transaction tax, feed the poor children from the defence budget, $15 minimum wage, first $27, 000 tax free.
sounds like stuff you expect from the left.
Two ticks for you, g says. Josie Pagani for the electorate vote, Labour for the party vote. Ok, Mana for the party vote, if you really must! There is a candidates meeting in Feilding on Monday night at the St Johns Ambo Hall, Bowen St. It would be great to have an extra lefty or two there, so please turn up and bring a friend if you can.
More details here (and a photo of a candidate who likes to horse around!):
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/feilding-herald/5943277/Candidates-hit-election-trail/
Seems I’ve hit on Farrar’s soft point. This exchange from yesterday.
“The health consequences of eating junk food are well known – diabetes etc – with massive costs to future health budgets, loss of productivity etc.
Surely it’s a good thing to promote healthy food choices in schools so I don’t understand DPF’s objection. Just doesn’t make sense. Unless of course it’s some sort of projection. Is DPF overweight by any chance?”
[DPF: If you do not know the difference between promote and ban, go get a dictionary. And any more personal swipes at me will get you banned]
Several National and Maori Party MPs have had expensive private bariatric (stomach reduction) surgery that they are lucky enough to be able to afford (on their large MP salaries) because it costs $20,000 -$30,000. This option is only available to a very small number of people in the public system so you have to have private means to get it (ie rich). Being overweight is a genetic, metabolic and pyschological condition, as well as socio- economic as cheaper food tends to be poorer quality, sweeter and fattier – it is not a personal failing.
So it would be sensible to do the preventive thing and make it hard for people with the risk factors to access the triggers such as advertising, cheap junk food etc. So healthy regulations in school canteens is an ideal policy. Why the right are so against such regulations and also against funding bariatric surgery in the public system shows how mean minded and almost vindictive their policies re obesity are.
(And if David F did ever want bariatric surgery it would be no problem for a rich person like him to get it , as there are no waiting lists in NZ for this private surgery).
John Banks has a meltdown, Tim Watkin does the Hokey Pokey
Earlier this week John Key claimed that ACT is “a stable party”.
But as the saying goes, “A picture paints a thousand words”.
Here is a Three Thousand Word Photo Essay from the Epsom meet the candidates debate hosted in the Somervell Presbyterian Church, Wednesday night.
John Banks and the other candidates will be having a rematch at the Parnell Farmers Market tomorrow, Saturday. Come along with all your friends bring a camera and you may capture some Action Shots of your own from the Epsom campaign trail.
1/ The Awful Truth:
MANA Epsom candidate Pat O’Dea shows the people of Epsom who they are really voting for.
file:///private/var/tmp/folders.501/TemporaryItems/com.apple.mail.drag-T0x230a510.tmp.O80r2S/P1080285BanksBrash.JPG
2/ She’s Gonna Blow:
O’Dea leaves Brash’s picture propped against the lectern. The MANA and the Greens Candidate look on grimly as John Banks lays out ACT’s right wing agenda. (National’s Paul Goldsmith can be seen peering around the lectern. Behind Banks, Labour candidate David Parker reclines looking relaxed.)
file:///private/var/tmp/folders.501/TemporaryItems/com.apple.mail.drag-
T0x230a510.tmp.Ff7z9S/P1080311BanksBrash.JPG
3/ All Hell breaks loose!
Labour’s David Parker suddenly sits bolt upright in his chair, looking on amazed, as Tim Watkin, pushed aside by Banks in a frenzied attack on the sign, tries to recover his balance.
Behind them John Banks blind with rage bumps into a table as he staggers around the stage frustratedly trying to tear up his leader’s image.
file:///private/var/tmp/folders.501/TemporaryItems/com.apple.mail.drag-T0x230a510.tmp.8bGFTa/P1080325BanksHidingBrash.JPG
Fortunately, the Don Brash picture had been laminated against such attacks.
But who knew John Banks would be the one to try?
You have to wonder whether Banks had one too many pre event whiskys to calm his nerves?
There’s a problem with the links, Jenny, they’re not a complete address.
They’re complete address – to her HDD.
I am sure Cameron Slater could access them, seeing he is a hacker of (ill)repute
hah the worm has turned and not a sight of the cheeky little chappy telling us which way to vote.
ipredict that national is on the skids.
nik smif should have stuck to analysing landslides instead of nwo becoming one.
hahahahahahaha.
Tar Sands pipeline to go back for reassessment in Congress, Bill MiKibben, Naiomi Klein et al, thank you!
http://www.tarsandsaction.org/big-news-won-won/
Oil and Gas Spin
Campbell Live ran a story last night concerning the oil and gas industry in Taranaki. During the show there was a number of industry types talking it up…
Jeez, one poll (Herald Digi this a.m.) and the Gargoyle from Curia Blog hits the big clunky “ooh..scary co-alition!” panic button. Not so long ago Hone Harawira was an acceptable partner for ShonKey in co-alition. Heh. So Farrar is scaremongering, the piece (with suitable late additions) reads like it was ‘prepared earlier’ months ago even.
http://tiny.cc/zsubv
Not half mate – and reading the comments all them poor oppressed small businessmen, none of whom ever fiddle taxes or reclaim the GST for everything, will all be rushing off to Australia at the thought of a left sided government.
I’ll happily give them a lift to the airport if we DON’T have a national government.
Left-sided? Sounds sinister!
Just had a chat with Sam Lotu-iiga in the kebab shop. What a nice man.
This is interesting…
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Beer-Price-Increase.jpg
Not really.
Nice to see what toryboys think will terrify voters, though. Says more about them than it does NZ.
I don’t actually disagree with it myself but its interesting what can go unnoticed
Proves the maths incompetency of RWNJs. 2×12=$24 not $32.
“Standard Drink” not “can”.
I figured that a large can at 4/5% could equal 1.3 std drnks, so that math is okay, but I have no idea what beer they’re looking at – per doz it’s probably a loss-leader.
I thought the 330ml @4% alcohol, as pictured, was the standard drink.
lol you’re right!
I saw the cans and they looked like the 440ml. Didn’t even see the alc/vol.
So that’s 16 cans for $32. And the current price is less than 90c ea.
Does anyone sell beer at $10/doz any more? Even the shite stuff?
Dunno how much is Ranfurly going for these days lol
If you’re serious, crates of DB are the way to go.
Fuck I hate this lying prick:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10765329
Concerned about private sector debt. Won’t do a thing to seriously try to increase savings or direct investment out of property speculation funded by international loans and into productive investment.
“Labour has spent $16 billion of money they don’t have on the campaign trail.” Key says
Hasn’t this been clearly shown to be a falsehood? How are they still getting away with saying it? Magic numbers. I thought the big headline was $100 million, or $4 Billion or or or and in any case it is all based on a Prefu that doesn’t factor in Italy going belly up…so!!
Well I’ve had three bankers tell me how to vote.
One was Irish and reckoned a nod for the Nats or Act.
Two were Kiwis and they have been solid Green supporters for a long time. Hmmm….
Key’s just ensorsed Banks….release the hounds, let’s see who got fleas.
Can we have a lie ometer?
Here’s an even bigger porky debunked: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5950736/Key-sat-on-wage-report
they’re gunna keep coming. Might as well keep them handily reported for people…
hows that business cred John? The lady working at McDs (I think it was) on TV3 last night had more knowledge about how the economics of the minimum wage works that you unless you were deliberately lying to the country to try to scare them into voting your way…
as Brian Fallow says : ” fatuous and self serving”
By telling the McDonalds lady that there would be a bump for the minimum wage next year is meant to show the voters that perhaps there will be $15 because Mr Key said so, sort of. Hooray says the nice lady.
But the bump might be upwards to $13.25 or downwards to say $12. Next year that nice Mr Key could say that he didn’t promise anything. And he didn’t.
Not sure what you watched- I caught a clip of what I thought was her pawning Key and now backed up with an inconvenient report. Will see if the vid is around to link to.@
Right here Mary of McDonalds pawns Key in the Patrick Gower piece:http://www.3news.co.nz/Raising-minimum-wage-wont-cost-jobs—Treasury/tabid/419/articleID/232338/Default.aspx
Apologies about the cut and paste but I like this article very very much:
Currently minimum wage is $13 an hour.National would like to lower it – for some workers to as little as $10.90.
It says putting the minimum wage up, as other parties would, would mean employers would simply shed jobs.
But 3 News has obtained Treasury documents that dispute that.Workers at McDonald’s wanted to place a simple order this election; ‘Do something about our McWages’. If they could have anything, staff say it would be for minimum wage to go up to $15.
Given the chance, McDonald’s employee Mary Liddicoat took her order right to the top.She asked Prime Minister John Key, “Will the minimum wage go up to $15 an hour soon?”.
“It will go up, but it won’t go up straight away,” he responded.That’s a polite ‘no’.
Key has no intention of super-sizing their pay anytime soon. He says it will cost 6000 jobs.
Mary wasn’t buying that.“I can’t see how you would lose that many jobs by taking it up that much,” she said.
The Government’s own officials agree with her.The Department of Labour says the rise will cost 6000 jobs.
But Treasury has a counter view; “This has not been true in the past. The balance of probabilities is that a higher minimum wage does not cost jobs.”
Not all employers are worried about a hike either. Andy Martin runs a pub, employing 26 people in Oamaru.He says put the wage up and people just spend more money – everyone wins.
“$15 is fair,” he says.
So Mary had another request for Key:“Try and live on $450 a week.”
“Look, I think it would be very difficult for anyone to do that,” he said.
______________________________________________________________________________
I thought 16 and 17 year olds were going to $10.40/hr under National.
John Key needs wages being kept low for folks so as to keep them aspirational.
And another dose of sheesh for inciting racial bluster goes to the Penguin:
in his Herald column/blog thing:
[Harawira] would not trust any Department headed up and/or staffed by Pakeha mofos.”
I thought Goff had ruled out working with Harawira point 1.
Point 2- seemed Hone worked fine in the Maori party arrangement with National.
Point 3- errr…He seems happy with plenty of Pakeha mofos in his party- you know the kind that can remember where they were during the Springbok tour and the kind who are into seriously doing something about the underclass.
It’s a laugh inducing piece that makes you think that the Nats must actually be taking this lot seriously to let their pr guy do this weak a hatchett job.
really? you think Len Brown is more worried about Andy Williams than John Banks or Steve Joyce? And would be worried about a Labour-led government committed to making the Auckland rail work? The possibility of the new savvy Greens with bright young Labour talent such as Jacinda is making me cross my fingers and go out looking for shooting stars. Would be bloody nice.
still at least the political satire exists in NZ. was concerned it was a goner!
Nice try buddy!
and Darien Fenton is the Labour shadow cabinet minister for Labour. Worth ten of Wilkinson, and a really nice woman.
Actually the whole thing just needs a fact check, it’s full of baloney.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10765272
Ohhh and you are worried about Tourism- well I’m sure we can find someone- well actually anyone who would front the BBC and not say ” we’re more 100% pure than other countries”
and would be screaming blue murder to get the oil off a tanker before it got anywhere near any of our beaches. Someone who might be able to argue for our 100% campaign from the
basis of a polluter pays ETS.
“Darien Fenton, a real nice women” , wow, really.
Yes and very competent Rob.
Talked to Darien earlier this week, she’s really got her finger on the pulse of labour and industrial relations priorities. $15/hr minimum wage is simply a starting point to give ordinary workers a hope at having economic jobs.
Labour is lucky to have her.
I haven’t decided my vote, but calibre MPs like her throughout the team and new blood like Jacinda Ardern certainly are attractions of the party.
Darien is likeable. And authentic. Unlike the cardboard National politicians.
Yes really, A fantastic women, competent and really hard working in my experience.
and totally trustworthy.
Pike River boss Peter Peter Whittall has revealed he’s among those charged in relation to the blast which killed 29 people at the Pike River mine
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10765373
Legends of the Fail
Of course, if countries were being rational and keeping their own currency they’d be able to just print the money and not pay any interest at all.
No wonder Paula Benefit has been looking rougher than usual lately, TV3 turned up the progress on the Fuller privacy case mediation that had been stalled for about a year. It seems a case against the Minister by the Human Rights Tribunal may proceed. Mr Hesketh from the tribunal did not want the matter reported apparently and Bennett is whinging about the matter being made public.
Hmmm. Not fun is it being outed in public guilty, or innocent.
Hmmm. Not fun is it being outed in public guilty, or innocent.
guilty as they come!
Who writes these headlines? And could they get any more biased?
The entire article is a carefully crafted to engage sympathy for Whittall, along with a nice sympathetic picture. Can’t have people remembering how Key so closely associated himself with him … not this close to an election.
MANA MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11 NOVEMBER 2011
STREET SURVEY WOULD SEE MANA WITH 4 MPs
“The results of a street survey conducted by the NZ Herald confirm what we’ve been hearing on the ground” said MANA Leader Hone Harawira.
“With just over 3% of the party vote, me, Annette Sykes, John Minto and Sue Bradford would become Members of Parliament for MANA.”
Harawira said that was an exciting prospect and showed that MANA was a growing political force in New Zealand politics.
“The NZ Herald survey also highlighted the fact that MANA is being embraced by Pasifika, Pakeha and others struggling to make ends meet” said Harawira
“That reflects the broad base of high quality candidates that we are putting forward (Samoan James Papali’i is ranked sixth) and is clearly appealing to a wide cross-section of society.”
Harawira said that the survey also confirmed another matter that MANA had been pointing out “and that is that landline polls no longer accurately reflect the way people are going to vote – particularly Maori, Pasifika and those on low incomes who overwhelmingly use cell phones these days”
Harawira said that MANA’s key messages were clearly connecting with voters – eradicate poverty, full employment, decent wages, and free education and health.
“And I think people believe in what we say because they know our candidates have dedicated their lives to improving the lives of others.”
“Annette has an unparalleled record of fighting for Maori rights in the courts, John is a national icon for his stands against apartheid and racism and Sue has long been a champion for the unemployed” said Harawira.
“I can’t wait for election day” said Harawira.
“The country will be pleasantly surprised when MANA gets into parliament – certainly the poor will be happy to see that they have strong representation from people like Annette, John, and Sue, although I doubt that those parties representing the interests of the rich will be too pleased.
Hone Harawira
Media Liaison: Peter Verschaffelt
Email media@mana.net.nz Web http://mana.net.nz
who saw kwee wee and binky having a cup of tea in epsom. looked more like horse pee to me.
I’m finding this whole ‘regime change’ in Europe more and more distasteful. Economists installed as leaders in Italy and Greece, instead of democratic elections because the ‘markets’ won’t tolerate a delay in changing the government. And how do markets make that happen? By pricing loans at such a level that they’ll take down the countries. The markets lent the money at a price that accounted for risk – they should be taking a haircut but instead are now in complete control.
And for those who think lazy, feckless workers are in part responsible for this mess…
… but they’ll be the ones paying the price.
Such is the end game of the Global Bankster Occupation of Formerly Democratic Sovereign Nations.
@ Rosy: I find the “regime change” business terrifying, along with the hollow rhetoric that serves as justifications: nations “living beyond their means” etc, when the truth is exactly as you say – loans are used to take down countries. The weird thing is these crises are all about how a certain game is played – the world contains roughly the same amount of actual resources after the crisis as it did before. Another weird thing – the crises are largely created by people who do not command armies, just numbers on screens. The loan thing seems to go: we give you lots of nice numbers and in return we take your actual resources and enslave you.
QFT
Capitalism is nothing but legalised theft.
The link for the quote:
http://www.social-europe.eu/2011/11/breaking-news-the-working-class-caused-the-italian-crisis/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+social-europe%2FwmyH+%28Social+Europe+Journal%29
I think the question now is ‘what is the circuit-breaker going to be?’ … and the absolute hypocrisy of the US position on Europe just does my head in. Yeah CV it really does feel like the endgame (sadly, of democracy, not the money men, methinks).
“I’m finding this whole ‘regime change’ in Europe more and more distasteful. Economists installed as leaders in Italy and Greece, instead of democratic elections”
Almost all of my Italian friends are over the moon at the prospect of Berlusconi’s going, but even so, they and I, find the reason disconcerting!
The ousting of Papandreou (sp?) is an order of magnitude dodgier!
Spot the similarities
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/10/berlusconi-exit-italy)
and
Brain drain, jobs for siblings and the conected (Shipley, Mervyn English, etc…)
“All of which means there has been an incredible brain-drain from Italy in recent decades: bright youngsters have fled the country looking for a job and a salary that match their skills.”
My first Italian friend in NZ (I met him in 2005) came into this category… (he was my English student). Now he has his own business and considers himself a New Zealander, and has started a family here, to the unhappiness of his parents and parents-in-law, they won’t return.
I just read a Herald column by Farrar (oh, what a nasty man!). I thought he was a Nact official. Why does he have a column in the Herald?
He says “The reason for this is that the level of a benefit is calculated on an after-tax basis. ” – and I have to say, that’s news to me! Why then do we pay taxes on our benefits? (Be assurred that we do.)
British Government invests £500M to bomb Libya back to the stone age; British corporates to get £300B in contracts to rebuild the country
Excellent investment all round lads. Great way to indebt the people and suck Libya’s oil wealth dry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRi95MZSWsw&feature=channel_video_title