Open mike 12/03/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 12th, 2019 - 139 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

139 comments on “Open mike 12/03/2019 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Jenny - How to get there? 1
    12 March 2019 at 7:15 am

    Kiwibuild for landlords

    Kiwibuild houses stand empty because low income families can’t afford to buy them.

    Now the government are considering building them for private landlords to rent out.

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/384420/government-eyeing-build-to-rent-housing

    Madison Reidy, Business reporter

    madison.reidy@radionz.co.nz

    The government is looking to support property developers to build homes to lease or rent, rather than to sell….

    …..”It is at an early stage but I think it is a particularly promising thing,” Mr Twyford said.

    What the Hell?

    Is this a misquote?

    Is Madison Reidy spreading ‘Fake News’

    Surely this can’t possibly be right

    Haven’t we got enough private landlords milking low income families already?

    Subsidising private developers was bad enough. Now Kiwibuild is subsidising private landlords. Has Phil Twyford lost his mind?

    You gotta be joking

    Even contemplating such a move is political suicide..

    Seriously, How can this possibly work?

    Will the government rule that the private landlords who buy these houses, will not be allowed charge more than a quarter of the income of their tenants, as is the case with State House tenants?

    Or will the private ‘Kiwibuild’ landlords be allowed to charge market rents?

    How could this possibly solve the housing crisis?

    There is no real shortage of rentals, there is a shortage of affordable rentals

    ….A researcher at CBRE, Tamba Carleton, said the government needed to look harder at the idea of building homes to rent long-terEm.

    “We need to look at what has happened overseas and the potential that build-to-rent has to improve the lives of renters, while providing a return to investors.”

    This is New Zealand you are talking about, Mate. We have a long history of building and renting out State Housing at one quarter of a family’s income.

    What is wrong with the State building houses and renting them out?

    That model was a tremendous success, housing generations of New Zealanders as well as keeping a competitive lid on private rentals. And, making a return for the government.

    None of which things this proposal will do.

    Unbelievable

    John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee

    • AB 1.1
      12 March 2019 at 7:50 am

      You can’t build affordable housing in the middle, or tail end, of a speculative bubble.
      You can’t build affordable housing by partnering with a private sector that needs to extract a profit.
      You can’t build affordable housing when your materials suppliers are gouging monopolists/duopolists.
      You can’t build affordable housing when a substantial section of your middle class are small-time rentier capitalists seeking tax-free capital gain.
      You can’t build affordable housing when wages are miserably low for many and going nowhere.

      • Molly 1.1.1
        12 March 2019 at 7:57 am

        You can’t build affordable housing when your idea of affordable is inextricably unaffordable.
        You can’t build affordable housing when you take a hands off approach to building supply chains and materials.
        You can’t build affordable housing if you fail to recognise opportunities for the long term benefit of training apprentices on-site.
        You can’t build affordable houses if both local and national governments release publicly owned land to private interests for development, rather than developing it themselves.
        You can’t build affordable houses if you are too scared to make effective change because it will spook the voters.
        You can’t build affordable houses – to rent – because you don’t have the imagination that allows you to consider that a priority.

    • Molly 1.2
      12 March 2019 at 7:50 am

      The issue I always had with the Kiwibuild proposal is that they identified the priority of the housing crisis as: first time buyers being unable to get into the market.

      They gave priority and publicity to that issue. For me, if they put the focus on the provision of houses for our currently unhoused and precariously housed New Zealanders, they would have determined to build state housing at a rapid rate. Taking away the pressure on the rental market, reducing the high percentage of income being spent on housing, and minimising the high accommodation subsidy which we pay to boost the rental market ever upwards. Further down the track – along proper restrictions on overseas ownership of residential households and land – we would most likely find a depression of the housing market that allows incomes to catch up. Taxation changes that address the issue of landbanking, casual rentals during a housing crisis, and unused housing should also be included – because there is a lack of available housing, and people are essentially hoarding for themselves in order to make an individual profit from the scarcity of housing.

      If the article is correct – if appears we are still down the rabbit hole in identifying the many causes that make up the current crisis, and making the effective changes necessary to deal with them. Mad Hatter’s tea party anyone?

      • Sacha 1.2.1
        12 March 2019 at 10:04 am

        They are also building heaps of state houses – just doing a shockingly bad job of telling us about it.

        • Molly 1.2.1.1
          12 March 2019 at 10:48 am

          Interesting reading on the Stocktake of NZ housing issued in Feb 2018.

          Especially on page 26 where they identify the mistaken interchangeable use of state and social housing, and then go ahead and do it anyway.

          There is little indication in that document of the recognition of the SROI for government to fully commit to providing state housing by itself. As long as they continue from this perspective the problem of housing access will continue.

          I haven’t had the heart to follow this closely after the initial hope that this coalition government would prioritise the housing for the most vulnerable first, and did not, so the report may have been updated by now.

          Also, interesting to note that Housing NZ was always required to pay taxes, even when private landlords were negative gearing. (Obviously, because the houses were already owned, yet, we use lost capital gains potential to sell them.) Perhaps, a change to the tax system for what is essentially a service provision at reduced cost should not be liable to such taxation. And by 2018 we are paying 2.3 billion in Accommodation Supplement with the aim of paying more, as well as providing $50 million for the provision of administration for external social housing.

          The cost of the provision social housing compared to state housing is financially and socially high, without overall responsibility being transparent.

          • Sacha 1.2.1.1.1
            12 March 2019 at 3:42 pm

            “would prioritise the housing for the most vulnerable first”

            Not alongside the ‘budget responsibility rules’ straitjacket. That’s the culprit for them favouring housing programmes that recycle state funding rather than being a one-off cost.

            • Molly 1.2.1.1.1.1
              12 March 2019 at 6:09 pm

              Yes, putting restrictions on effective solutions before even defining the problem is a problem in itself.

              Accommodation Supplements are also a one-off cost, yet one of the first moves was to increase it.

              Paying for the America’s Cup, likewise – although that money eventually gets to housing, just for the already well housed.

        • Molly 1.2.1.2
          12 March 2019 at 10:58 am

          I also have the impression that the current government does not actually believe in “state housing”. They have not articulated – so far – the benefit to all of the provision of state housing, or recognised the social and community benefits of a strong state housing sector to stablise neighbourhoods, and reduce the rising housing cost impact on lower income households.

          They can’t tell us about it convincingly, if they don’t believe it its worth.

          • Sacha 1.2.1.2.1
            12 March 2019 at 3:40 pm

            “They have not articulated – so far – the benefit to all of the provision of state housing”

            That’s what I’m saying, yes. Have however been steadily building them.

            • Molly 1.2.1.2.1.1
              12 March 2019 at 6:10 pm

              Steadily building – alongside rapidly increasing housing hardship – is not really a high bar to aim for.

          • Rosemary McDonald 1.2.1.2.2
            12 March 2019 at 6:33 pm

            “I also have the impression that the current government does not actually believe in “state housing”.”

            But they were not averse to blatantly channeling Savage at the now infamous Papakura Kiwibuild launch back in October.

            https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/ardern-welcomes-first-kiwibuild-families-new-homes

            I still am not convinced that was merely a monumental PR balls up. Perhaps Ardern actually does think that Kiwibuild is analogous to Savage’s State Housing.

            Things are not looking up methinks.

    • I feel love 1.3
      12 March 2019 at 8:31 am

      Yeah, WTF? If the Nats came up with this the “left” would be spitting fury. I’m in Dunedin and normal 3 bedroom (admittedly brand new) houses are going for $750,000 up in Concord, no view, packed tightly together, insane. Concord used to be a statehouse showcase suburb.

    • mauī 1.4
      12 March 2019 at 8:35 am

      Builders should be forced to work for the state only, rather than for the wasteful private market. In that way their grotesque use of resources can be curbed and we can go some way to mitigate climate change.

      • solkta 1.4.1
        12 March 2019 at 8:41 am

        Yes, obviously armed guards are required.

        • bwaghorn 1.4.1.1
          12 March 2019 at 12:12 pm

          Na just the treat of being sent to gulag in west Auckland will keep those comrades in line.

      • Molly 1.4.2
        12 March 2019 at 8:41 am

        I had an interesting conversation with our roofer a couple of weeks ago. He was contracted to do the roofing on a subdivision in Auckland. While there he saw the council inspector come in and check the steels in the slab, and go to the car and fill out the form as compliant. The on-site workers then removed the steel and took it to the next house foundation, and poured the slab on the now non-reinforced slab. The same process happened with the insulation inspection.

        When he approached the council about the issue nothing was done. He decided to extricate himself from the project. But it makes you wonder about the effectiveness of the current method, and the reduced value of what people are paying inflated prices for. They are not even getting the barest minimum in terms of the building code, in order for others to increase financial returns.

        • vto 1.4.2.1
          12 March 2019 at 8:45 am

          That is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and is criminal – either theft or fraud.

          Should be investigated and charged.

          • Sacha 1.4.2.1.1
            12 March 2019 at 10:05 am

            Yet “When he approached the council about the issue nothing was done.”

            Regulators who refuse to do their job should lose them.

            • Molly 1.4.2.1.1.1
              12 March 2019 at 11:16 am

              His suspicion – strengthened when the council response was that the site was compliant when inspected – was that the inspector was part of the process.

              To act with integrity, Auckland Council would have to demand – and accept the cost if found to be incorrect – of opening up the slab or walls to check. That would mean that they don’t have control of the process, or that the process can be manipulated with ease, which they are unlikely to admit.

              Then, if found to be true – they would have to take some time to prepare a case of fraud. And reluctantly investigate whether the inspector was involved – if pushed.

              They are very adept at requiring individual homeowners to comply, and practice this often. But dealing with large businesses and their lawyers is another prospect altogether.

              • bwaghorn …
                12 March 2019 at 12:17 pm

                A simple exray should show if the steel is still there.

                • Molly …
                  12 March 2019 at 1:01 pm

                  Or alternatively, poking a hole in the gib…

                  • Gosman …
                    12 March 2019 at 2:24 pm

                    Yes that is all going to solve the housing problem in Auckland…/sarc

                    • Sacha …
                      12 March 2019 at 3:43 pm

                      Some builders in jail will free up a few houses.

                    • Molly …
                      12 March 2019 at 6:12 pm

                      Don’t really understand the gist of your comment. Poking a hole in the gib would only determine if there is insulation there. (Probably unscrewing a few power points would be less destructive, but an easy safeguard for fraud, rather than a random hole).

                      I wasn’t suggesting the hole created would fix the housing problem.

        • greywarshark 1.4.2.2
          12 March 2019 at 11:04 am

          The theme for our society Molly.
          Physical sport with skills mixed with bursts of violence, to achieve a narrow end goal – kick-boxers.

          Having certain flexibilities within regulations to enable business to get things done without hindrance, and then inspecting projects not to ensure their compliance with said regulations, but just to observe there’s a physical presence to match the address on the application form – tick-boxers.

          The combination of these parallel drives in our society leads to a rather hollow, cold and unimaginative society where imagination is used to invent new ways of withdrawing from society while still having pipelines in place to feed back to the fringes any advantages becoming available.

        • mauī 1.4.2.3
          12 March 2019 at 11:59 am

          Scary story Molly!

        • bwaghorn 1.4.2.4
          12 March 2019 at 12:15 pm

          Funnily enough I got told the same story a year ago by an aging chippie the only difference in his story was the builders were Asian. Urban myth or fact do you think.?

          • RedLogix 1.4.2.4.1
            12 March 2019 at 2:31 pm

            There is no question that Asian builders and labourers have imported some very substandard practices and attitudes with them.

            Our regulatory agencies seem frightened to act for some reason.

            • marty mars 1.4.2.4.1.1
              12 March 2019 at 2:37 pm

              “There is no question that Asian builders and labourers have imported some very substandard practices and attitudes with them.”

              Evidence please.

              • RedLogix …
                12 March 2019 at 2:55 pm

                Not every distinction is racist marty …

                If you spend any time at all in Asia it’s immediately and obviously apparent that construction standards, from every aspect including health, safety, efficiency and durability are much lower.

                Is there any particular reason why you think someone accustomed to working with these lower standards, would with little training nor extra supervision and enforcement, suddenly adopt much higher ones that cost more?

                • marty mars …
                  12 March 2019 at 3:21 pm

                  Just seemed a pretty big generalization to me – wondered if you had evidence – cool that you don’t.

                  Edit – that fits with the meme discussed in the thread you commented on.

                  • RedLogix …
                    12 March 2019 at 3:24 pm

                    And yet you’ve provided no evidence that Asian builders always meet or exceed NZ standards; when they routinely don’t in the country they were trained in.

                    Oh and like almost everything anyone says here, yes there is an element of generalisation in my claim above. I’m sure there are some very competent Asian building industry people around.

                    But having to endlessly qualify every damn thing; just in case someone gets offended at the margins just comes across as tedious and weaselly at best.

                    It’s obvious what my point was; allowing way too many building workers to arrive here from places with much lower standards, with no extra training, supervision and enforcement … was just a recipe for failures of the type we’re discussing.

                    • marty mars …
                      12 March 2019 at 4:38 pm

                      “And yet you’ve provided no evidence that Asian builders always meet or exceed NZ standards; when they routinely don’t in the country they were trained in.”

                      do NZers ALWAYS MEET OR EXCEED NZ standards?

                      lol didn’t think so 🙂

                    • RedLogix …
                      12 March 2019 at 4:45 pm

                      The entire industry has a problem with this; but on what grounds do you imagine that importing workers whose background experience is clearly substandard … is going to improve matters?

                      If you can think of a reasonable explanation why, I’m all ears.

                    • marty mars …
                      12 March 2019 at 4:50 pm

                      edited

                      Sure, I’ll let it go.

                    • RedLogix …
                      12 March 2019 at 4:56 pm

                      You made a fair challenge … and forced me to clarify. No problems.

                • marty mars …
                  12 March 2019 at 3:23 pm

                  Wow is that evidence of “There is no question that Asian builders and labourers have imported some very substandard practices and attitudes with them.”

        • RedLogix 1.4.2.5
          12 March 2019 at 2:29 pm

          Thank you for sharing this. As someone whose done a bit of hands on building this kind of story infuriates me, at so many levels.

          It’s a deliberate fraud.

          It’s cold blooded theft.

          It’s dangerous.

          It’s grossly incompetent.

          Anyone caught doing this should be made an example of to the full extent of the law.

          • Molly 1.4.2.5.1
            12 March 2019 at 6:18 pm

            Well, someone here may be able to give more details, but I remember an interview with Tim Shadbolt years ago when he spoke about working on some of the taller buildings in Auckland.

            By the time they got the cement up to the level they were working on, it had dried too much to completely fill the forms, which they discovered when they pulled the forms off. So, they threw whatever was handy into the voids, and plastered over it. Can’t recall at the time if I read this or listened to it, but do remember thinking – I wonder which buildings.

            Also, heard a few bizarre stories from people who said they worked on the construction of SkyCity, where construction was happening faster than the plan changes were being approved.

      • joe90 1.4.3
        12 March 2019 at 12:43 pm

        Builders should be forced to work for the state only,

        Yeah, forced labour will surely reforge perceived wrongdoers into the types of New Zealanders needed in the Pure and Pristine Progressive society you so desire.

        /

  2. WeTheBleeple 2
    12 March 2019 at 8:01 am

    How stuck are we in our patterns of thinking. this is a very interesting clip in which a bicycle is altered, and nobody can ride it.

    • Molly 2.1
      12 March 2019 at 8:32 am

      Thanks for that link. We enjoyed the watch – and the idea. Whether it helps my son get enthused for that second language learning will be interesting – but unlikely. He just wants to try and ride that bike.

    • greywarshark 2.2
      12 March 2019 at 11:08 am

      WtB
      If you see this and know about it could you give me the link – I can’t find it again.

      Someone I think you, put up a link where Geoff Lawton I think, showed us the way that his plant covered swale? system withstood a flood without banks getting washed away. The plants just bent over, the water was slowed, and the advantages were excellent.

      But I can’t find the link. Do you know it and if so please pass on again so I can
      keep. Thanks in anticipation. Of course it could be Robert but I did think it was you who put it up.

      • solkta 2.2.1
        12 March 2019 at 11:09 am

        If you click “share” (arrow top right):

        >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0&feature=youtu.be<

        • greywarshark 2.2.1.1
          12 March 2019 at 12:32 pm

          solkta
          Thanks not quite what i was getting at in a convoluted way, but advice is never wasted. Hadn’t tried that share arrow.

      • WeTheBleeple 2.2.2
        12 March 2019 at 11:25 am

        Here ya go

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gytyQS6cyjA

        As an added bonus. Here’s something you might want to repost for How to Get There on a slow day. A kiwi no-dig garden video that’s had over 400 000 views.

        I’m always scouring for this type of thing. Decades of searching permaculture and ecology gives many other keywords, and every day, I try watch something I can learn from.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXcC0rVhkF0

        I’ve tried a lot of garden methods that require a lot of work. I really like no-till and deep mulch for home gardening. It does most of the work for you (much of the watering, weeding, fertilising). My systems different as I had different start materials (a storm damaged tree). so I got log surround with woodchip mulch beds, classy lookin. 😀

        • greywarshark 2.2.2.1
          12 March 2019 at 12:21 pm

          Thanks i watch you watching and learn from you. And keep an eye out for other stuff.
          But must not weaken on my resolve to collect links, as my personal treasure trove of archives for when i want to remember how to do something or illustrate something to someone else who knows about as much as me and wants to learn too.

          So thanks mate. I think I may look to see how much to hire wood mulcher and start building up my beds. The next doors have one but I hesitate to borrow as if something goes wrong, then it’s me that is my fault and I’d be obliged to replace. I like being on reasonably good terms with neighbours, and these are A1 so thinking of mulch as you suggest might lead to making a hire visit.

          • WeTheBleeple 2.2.2.1.1
            12 March 2019 at 12:47 pm

            Phone a few local contractors. Ask if you can have some mulch next time they chip a tree. Many are quite happy to drop it off – but be aware it often comes in large lots eg mine gets here 6 metres at a time. That’s a considerable amount of work typically it’ll block the drive so you have to take the side off the pile to get access for pedestrians and bins, then hit the main pile.

            Great stuff to build up beds

            Newspaper and card
            Leaves
            Sticks and logs, rotten wood is especially good – makes a great potting soil ingredient too to replace peat
            Lawn clippings (thin layers, or mixed with leaves)
            Cow, horse and sheep manure

            These ingredients are free bar the effort required to forage for em.

            Put the unsightly (scraps, papers, manure) underneath the more aesthetic to make it aesthetic.

            Plants hide a myriad of mistakes. If in doubt, add more flowers.

        • francesca 2.2.2.2
          12 March 2019 at 2:47 pm

          thanks
          I’ve tried this after 45 years of digging in the same soil. But the only way it can work for me is by netting the whole area, which makes tending to the crop and topping up mulch difficult.Bloody birds!
          Blackbirds and Thrush in particular kick the place to bits, dislodging plants as they strip mine for worms
          And inevitably they get trapped inside the net
          But I was pleased with the results

          • WeTheBleeple 2.2.2.2.1
            12 March 2019 at 5:39 pm

            I get a bit of blackbird action but not so much. Occasionally lose a seedling, or get my greens or fruit pecked. The peaches season just finishing here I’ve been under the same tree each day with a knife feasting on the best fruit – the ones the birds hit once and they drop. Nick out the pecked bit and gorge on em. Leftovers for the chooks. I might net it if i was going to bottle the fruit but it’s still young enough I’ll eat em all – dozens and dozens yum yum yum.

            My pet blackbird’s name is Bird D. Bird. It sits in the neighbors tree and calls for me when the door is open. I go out and it flies up to the handrail to sit feet away chirping and doing a wee dance. He loves to show off to other birds that we’re mates and will make a racket to get my attention when minahs are about. I can call him, and he’s a few houses away, he flies straight to the rail across from me, checks it’s me, flies over. He’s got old now his head like a vulture at this time of year. Grey and pin feathers in a motley mix. I pick him blackberries he takes them to the fence rail feet away and finishes them off. He never steals the berries (except strawberries, which I now net). He steals cat food for his fledgelings. he has no fledgelings this year. I put out a birdbath for him and others, and let him know when I’m off to feed the chooks so he can join the sparrows raiding their food.

            • francesca 2.2.2.2.1.1
              13 March 2019 at 8:02 am

              Very enjoyable, watching the capers
              Apart from netting laying down kanuka brush on top of the mulch in sufficient layers works too

              • WeTheBleeple …
                13 March 2019 at 9:16 am

                Nice. Amazing how simple some solutions are you simply forget them. I’ve had success keeping cats off freshly disturbed areas with flax and cabbage tree type leaves laid down. When I think back, the birds damage was minimised also.

                So… large mulch, as opposed to chip mulch, might work better for areas with high bird populations. Or as you’ve suggested, large mulch on top.

                NZ used to cycle nutrients via the sea. The bird numbers were, as a professor says, beyond comprehension. Each day they ate at sea then came up and nested and pooped on land.

                Birds are an integral part of NZ ecology, my own section never really gained fertility till the chooks arrived, and then trees for nesting sites. Now I don’t need fertilisers per se – just thoughtful redistribution of excesses.

                e.g. compost and worm set ups.

        • RedLogix 2.2.2.3
          12 March 2019 at 3:23 pm

          Here’s another related link. Nothing special in most respects, but it’s exactly the kind of story that connects with the wider farming community and potentially persuasive in changing minds:

          Boorowa farmer Charlie Arnott has experienced the immense toll of drought on his cattle, his business and his wellbeing, but he has found a way through it all.

          Fifteen years ago, reeling from the effects of the Millennium drought, he attended a workshop on regenerative agriculture that radically changed the way he farmed and, he believes, saved his life.

          https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-10/regenerative-agriculture-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130

          • greywarshark 2.2.2.3.1
            12 March 2019 at 5:09 pm

            RL
            That’s a good story. Thanks for the link.
            I have picked out the main points so it can be shown to others as a summary. Everybody should be reading this.

            The experience in Australia has been forced on them by worsening conditions. One farmer says it is hard to go against practices that his father taught him.
            One anecdote:
            For years he struggled to pay back the farm debt, but that changed when he stopped spending money on chemicals and fertilisers.
            “Every 10 years we’d run into a dry period and take a large step in reverse, but now our costs are so low it’s hard not to make a profit,” he said.

            Farmers are not rushing to change their farming practices however.
            For Mr Marsh, Mr Arnott and many others, it can be difficult to make the initial change….

            Another farmer’s story:
            The cost of setting up a farm for rotational grazing can also be an obstacle because it requires additional fencing and watering points, plus it takes time to move the stock every day, but the Kimptons have been surprised at how quickly their land has responded….

            Such as:
            The other key change he made was to switch from a “set stocking” rate to planning grazing according to what the landscape could support.

            He has a mob of more than 300 cattle, many with calves at foot, and he grazes them in small areas, leaving most of the farm free of animals so it can recover.
            “We’ve got over 100 paddocks and [the cattle] are gradually moving around the place through all those paddocks.
            If conditions are dry he destocks….

            “We meet people at their level and encourage them to make some changes on their properties and the way that they do their grazing management,” Ms Cavanagh said.

            Support is also available through the NSW Farm Innovation Fund, which can provide money to fence off paddocks, wildlife corridors and riverbanks for regeneration, or to works to control erosion and soil degradation.

            A study commissioned by the Federal Department of Environment found that regenerative management practices “have the potential to increase the health of Australia’s grassy woodlands and at the same time improve financial and farmer wellbeing”.
            Mark Gardner from Vanguard Business Services said the survey of 16 farms compared incomes against conventional farming systems using ABARES and Australian Bureau of Statistics figures over a 10-year period.

            It showed that regenerative farmers had above average profit levels, especially in dry years.

            This is the way to go, and is a way that NZ and Oz could work together at a sub-government level, instead they would interact at a working farmer level (all bumboot farmers can stay in their offices)!

            • RedLogix 2.2.2.3.1.1
              12 March 2019 at 5:27 pm

              and is a way that NZ and Oz could work together at a sub-government level

              I like that. In many ways the two countries, while dramatically different in a geographic sense, share so much in common. I find it disappointing that we have drifted apart politically in the past 40 odd years.

              Specifically in the agricultural arena, the far harsher Australian climate has compelled some of their more innovative types to experiment with some great responses like this. It also helps that their land is so much cheaper, which lowers the barrier to change.

          • WeTheBleeple 2.2.2.3.2
            12 March 2019 at 5:45 pm

            Very nice. Even mentions the financial incentives which is important and I typically forget to mention.

            Way less inputs = much easier to profit.

  3. James 3
    12 March 2019 at 8:09 am

    Rodeo fans will be happy to hear this government supports rodeo.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/03/patrick-gower-do-nothing-green-mps-are-complicit-in-rodeo-bloodsport.html

    I know this because I was at the Wanaka Rodeo when the Minister-for-Rodeo Ron Mark rode a horse out and told 10,000 cowboys and cowgirls they had their Government’s support.

    I wonder if they told Jacinda.

    • Molly 3.1
      12 March 2019 at 8:17 am

      … and yet… one would reasonably that since you were present, you are a “rodeo fan” – and you somehow don’t sound happy.

      • Barfly 3.1.1
        12 March 2019 at 8:22 am

        I imagine that even James must tire of barking at every car.

      • James 3.1.2
        12 March 2019 at 8:25 am

        Apologies- that was a quote from the link.

        You would know that if you read it.

        [Use quotation marks in future, please, James. Even better, preface the quote with ‘Paddy Gower says’ or similar clarifying information. TRP.]

        • marty mars 3.1.2.1
          12 March 2019 at 8:26 am

          so fake news then lol james you are an idiot

        • Molly 3.1.2.2
          12 March 2019 at 8:29 am

          Oh, James … previous experience with your links has given me an aversion to wasting my time.

          However, a possible life changing suggestion for you: “” Quotemarks.

    • marty mars 3.2
      12 March 2019 at 8:25 am

      Trying to cause trouble again James – wanker.

      Enjoy the animal torture and suffering while you can because rodeos are on the way out.

      • James 3.2.1
        12 March 2019 at 8:26 am

        Lol. Not with crowds of 10,000 people and this governments support.

        • marty mars 3.2.1.1
          12 March 2019 at 9:02 am

          Have you EVER been to an actual rodeo geezer?

          • alwyn 3.2.1.1.1
            12 March 2019 at 10:28 am

            Purely out of curiosity Marty, have you?
            If so how many?

            • marty mars 3.2.1.1.1.1
              12 March 2019 at 11:01 am

              One I remember but pretty early on in my life I realised I hated the human capacity to commodity and abuse animals for food and entertainment.

              • solkta …
                12 March 2019 at 11:06 am

                I can remember one from my childhood. It all seemed a bit mean and unnecessary at the time. Now i understand that it is cruel and an obscene from of ‘entertainment’.

      • James 3.2.2
        12 March 2019 at 9:00 am

        It would appear the this government supports the animal torture – after all having a government minister ride out at a rodeo and tell the crown that this government supports them is a pretty good endorsement.

    • Gabby 3.3
      12 March 2019 at 8:26 am

      So Ron can count on your vote again jimbo?

    • te reo putake 3.4
      12 March 2019 at 8:27 am

      The protests must be having some affect. I see the turnout at this year’s Wanaka rodeo was only 5000, half what you claim it was a year ago.

      • Robert Guyton 3.4.1
        12 March 2019 at 8:50 am

        James wasn’t there this year, so couldn’t do a head count.
        Last year, the smoke from his never-ending BBQ got in his eyes and made counting difficult. Give the guy a break; counting’s hard at the best of times and the distraction of all that veal, as yet un-cooked and bounding temptingly out there in the ring, is too much for a flesh-eatin’, chap-slapping’ cowboy like James.

      • James 3.4.2
        12 March 2019 at 8:53 am

        The 10,000 was paddy gowers not mine.

      • greywarshark 3.4.3
        12 March 2019 at 12:28 pm

        Be fairer to have people doing Ultimate Fighting. Also the old-style community fairday boxing where you pays your money and has a go against the master.
        If we like violence, perhaps at a distance – second-hand, we should make arrangements to have some informal bouts. Gloves to be checked for knuckle dusters etc. though, run to a fair standard.

        Wrestling would be popular too. Give the horses a rest – they are nicer animals than we are. And males hard on males, but in understandable simpler ways I think.

  4. Kat 4
    12 March 2019 at 8:28 am

    Is Barry Soper the next “bunny boiler” in Shane Jones pot, or should the “big cheese” of the north get serious and take notice of particular irritating media poodles.

    • OnceWasTim 5.1
      12 March 2019 at 7:08 pm

      Tip of the Iceberg, and all working as designed. A Joyce legacy – and why not? – he fucked up everything else he touched

  6. Enough is Enough 6
    12 March 2019 at 9:17 am

    Mike Hosking needs to be sacked.

    His interview of the Prime Minister this morning was unethical and damn right nasty. His aggression was unacceptable.

    The Prime Minister should simply refuse to engage with this idiot again

    • Observer Tokoroa 6.1
      12 March 2019 at 11:21 am

      Hi Enough is Enough

      Hoskings is an excitable nobody. It is possible that has screamed at his various wives and girl friends forever and a day.

      But you see Jacinda is a female. And shitsheads like Hoskings slug themselves into women as often as they can. They rip into them using verbal pollution.

      As you heard him do today !

      Obviously Simon Bridges, a male that Hosking is very fond of (he has away with men, has told Hosking to always refer to Jacinda as “She”.

      I have no idea why Speaker Mallard allows this. But I have reached the point where I will request Apologies from Mallard and Hosking. Both male hoods.

    • Shadrach 6.2
      12 March 2019 at 11:57 am

      Hosking was only doing what the MSM should do more often.

      The PGF was a multi billion dollar slush fund for NZF, Labour’s path to power funded by the tax payer. Hosking was holding Jones accountable to the Cabinet Manual, and the PM was floundering. Likewise on KiwiBuild. Hosking simply called the PM out for her dithering responses to the woeful performance of what is one of Labour’s flagship policies. Got on him.

      • Observer Tokoroa 6.2.1
        12 March 2019 at 1:03 pm

        Shadrach

        Do you abuse too?

        Sink your teeth into people.

        No wonder national is on the slippery slope. How about you grow up. The Tax Payers have paid a huge amount for You.

        Perhaps you could do become constructive. Hosking is like Soper – and entrapment worm. Has never earned a days pay. His scribble is nonsense. So is yours.

        • Shadrach 6.2.1.1
          12 March 2019 at 1:26 pm

          ‘Abuse’? Are you seriously suggesting that a probing interview is ‘abuse’? Is our PM really that fragile? I think not.

        • Jimmy 6.2.1.2
          12 March 2019 at 3:49 pm

          Mike Hosking was simply asking some tough questions. Unfortunately Jacinda can rarely answer any of them and comes across terribly. Some one like Helen Clark would have had no problem.

    • CHCoff 6.3
      12 March 2019 at 10:44 pm

      Does sound like abit of a waste of time.

      And the P.M’s got stuff to do that probably requires abit of thought.

  7. Ankerrawshark 7
    12 March 2019 at 10:28 am

    Breaking news, complaint over political donation made to police in October referred to serious fraud office…….more to come they say

  8. Muttonbird 8
    12 March 2019 at 10:34 am

    So Bridges and the National Party machine are to be investigated by the SFO. This is serious (heh) stuff!

    They’re currently in court for plagiarism, got caught forcing bullied women to sign NDAs, and now they are being investigated for electoral fraud. Anyone see a pattern here?

    Unfortunately, I think the SFO will be under such pressure to minimise intention and fault they will produce a report saying the usual – that some things could have been done better and for the Nats to improve their processes, yada, yada, yada, but that Bridges isn’t personally complicit or accountable. The Nats will then crow about vindication while solemnly accepting the wet bus ticket.

    The only bright spot will be that a lot of damage will have been done to Brand National.

    No need to link. It’s all over the news outlets.

  9. Ankerrawshark 9
    12 March 2019 at 10:52 am

    Yes given simons comments about Shane Jones “he’s donkey deep in it”…….(ridiculous barking at cars response), I wonder what he would say about his on situation……….

    I really hope NZders start to put 2 + 2 together about the National Party.

    And to Jami Lee Ross, thank you. What ever your motivation was, thank you

  10. greywarshark 10
    12 March 2019 at 11:28 am

    Brexit, or something, draws closer,,,,,
    https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/voices/audio/2018685679/brexodus-the-brits-leaving-britain-behind

    Matthew Montgomery, a bridge engineer from Northern Ireland, decided to move away from the UK shortly after the referendum.
    Matthew said that when he got a call about a job here, he didn’t have to think twice and has committed to staying in New Zealand for another four years.

    “I said yep, without any hesitation. Brexit came heavily into that because uncertainty is never a good thing in your job, especially when the whole industry could disappear overnight”.

    Matthew is concerned that with issues of trade up in the air, the price of construction materials would shake the foundations of his work. He is also worried about the political landscape in Ireland.
    “The economies of Northern and Southern Ireland have been close, and we’ve done very well out of that relationship, but put a hard border in there and who knows what’ll happen”.

    More bridges needed in between NorthIre and Eire? Or maybe a good design in new versions of Bailey Bridges?

  11. marty mars 11
    12 March 2019 at 12:25 pm

    Bad day? I don’t care buddy – you don’t get to say shit like that to a Māori woman in this country anymore. Pack up and piss off.

    “A Māori woman is accusing a Pākehā man of calling her a “black piece of shit” in an ugly tirade of verbal abuse following a road incident.”

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12211753

    I watched the video last night – the comments said a lot…

  13. joe90 13
    12 March 2019 at 1:08 pm

    Sleepless night ahead for lots of rich and famous men.

    A federal court of appeals in New York on Monday took the first step in unsealing documents that could reveal evidence of an international sex trafficking operation allegedly run by multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein and his former partner, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

    The three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit gave the parties until March 19 to establish good cause as to why they should remain sealed and, failing to do so, the summary judgment and supporting documents will be made public. The court reserved a ruling on the balance of the documents in the civil case, including discovery materials.

    https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article227411649.html#storylink=cpy

  14. greywarshark 14
    12 March 2019 at 1:19 pm

    Kurt Vonnegut, who knows a lot of things, and thinks about them deeply, offers a suggestion that his Uncle Alex taught him – that people don’t take enough time being happy and enjoying what good thing is happening.

    Sometimes he would say, Stop! And look around him and say ‘Look at all this. Is this nice or what!’ That’s the gist anyway. (He also gives hints on how to write best-sellers.)

  15. BM 15
    12 March 2019 at 1:26 pm

    Asking for someone.

    What union would an office/amin person join?

    • adam 15.1
      12 March 2019 at 1:35 pm

      Depends what sector they in BM. The trade Unions have a bit of demarcation going on. If public sector PSA, private and service industry E tū, or Unite Union. So the industry is important.

      Or if they want to join a revolutionary union there is the IWW and IWA.

    • te reo putake 15.2
      12 March 2019 at 1:41 pm

      I assume this is a private sector employer. As far as I know, there isn’t a clerical workers union per se, however the union that looks after his or her industry would be the go. ie Meat Workers or Dairy Workers in those sectors, First Union for retail, transport and supply chains, E Tu for just about everything else.

      • BM 15.2.1
        12 March 2019 at 1:50 pm

        Ok so if the business manufactured stuff you’d join NZ Engineering Printing & Manufacturing Union? which is now etu?

        Doesn’t matter that you’re not working in the factory?

        • te reo putake 15.2.1.1
          12 March 2019 at 1:55 pm

          Yep. Generally, they’re Ok with signing individuals, although it’s unlikely the worker would be covered by the collective agreement, if there was one on site. Some unions have limits on signing up people with hire and fire powers, so that might be a factor. They might also shy away from taking on an existing case (ie somebody joining up to save the expense of getting a lawyer).

        • RedLogix 15.2.1.2
          12 March 2019 at 2:02 pm

          There were quite a few times working in NZ when as an individual I joined EPMU as a ‘courtesy’ even though strictly speaking I didn’t have to.

          But as a techie working in and around others who were members, it seemed to me common sense and an expression of good faith. Plus it avoided any issues if I was seen holding a screwdriver 🙂

          The fees were pretty modest really and I figured they were good value in that the union did provide the heavy lifting in terms of negotiating and setting workplace conditions that we all enjoyed.

          • BM 15.2.1.2.1
            12 March 2019 at 6:40 pm

            Plus it avoided any issues if I was seen holding a screwdriver 🙂

            Lol, that was always a bit of a danger on a highly unionised worksite.

  16. RedLogix 16
    12 March 2019 at 2:16 pm

    Here is a wonderful little physics video. In my 6th form year we had a rather cool physics teacher … we called him The Thin White Duke because we had this weird synch going on with David Bowie. At some point in the year he diverted majorly from the standard curriculum and spent some weeks showing us the Lagrangian model.

    I’ve never forgotten my joy at discovering it:

  17. Observer Tokoroa 17
    12 March 2019 at 2:21 pm

    Shadrach

    You mean an entrapment – a bullying given not by yourself but by one of your admirers. Your sweet close friend Hosking.

    All of it trash – Nothing that could be pinned on your Prime Minister, who unlike you is world renowned as honest, and likewise Nothing that could be attached or used as an attack on Shayne Jones.

    The PM had nothing to say about the contrived hoax your Hosking con boy raised.

    Always remember that Hosking will lead you down any foul toilet he can find Shadrach.

    He is not as he seems.

  18. ianmac 18
    12 March 2019 at 4:29 pm

    Accidentally listened to the Urgent Debate just now on Shane Jones. A bit hard to know what the Opposition is trying to prove.
    The Document was signed off by David Parker before the meeting in question.
    The Meeting was about several projects of the Fund.
    Conflict of interest can be if a person benefits money from a decision through to in this case Shane meeting a proposer about 5 years ago who has since died. No money will come to Shane from the project. Shane didn’t need to declare a conflict of interest.

    What Goldsmith and others are trying is to paint a dreadful failure by Jones but they are factually wrong. So they rabbit on and on in incoherent and terrible jumble.
    And they declare that the Opposition will carry on this week with more of the same. What a waste of time though Audrey will declare it a great victory for National.

  19. fender 19
    12 March 2019 at 4:50 pm

    Just heard on RNZ that Slater has been ordered to pay 70,000 dollars to Auckland businessman, Bloomfield presumably.

  20. greywarshark 20
    12 March 2019 at 5:16 pm

    Here are some topical Australian news items that sound like the sort of thing that NZs can understand.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-09/irrigators-signal-electoral-challenge-in-safe-liberal-farrer/10852828
    Mr Brooks stops the ute beside one of his failed canola paddocks. It is sparse, barely a few feet high and he hasn’t bothered to harvest it.
    NSW irrigator Chris Brooks says the fact farmers have no access to water this year is not about drought, but poor management.

    At its centre, a huge pivot irrigator, responsible in good seasons for watering large-scale crops, sits unused and silent.Irrigators here have received 0 per cent of their water allocation this year.That means, despite their licence and entitlement, they have had access to no water for their crops….

    That irrigators in those states could receive their full entitlement, is a result of complex water sharing arrangements drawn up long ago….
    In Victoria and South Australia irrigators soak up a high-reliability water share, while the New South Welshmen await what is called a general security allocation.

    High reliability is generally a more expensive entitlement, which is allocated first and all-but-guaranteed.
    What is left then makes up the general security allocation.

    (Sounds as if they have gone for low price and niche supply and ‘clever’ management instead of going for 100% reliability and paying upfront.)

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/why-did-northern-territory-sell-darwin-port-to-china-what-risk/10755720
    ‘A seriously dumb idea’: Why did the NT lease Darwin’s port to China?
    (Read and find out.)

    Don’t need to thank us. You’re welcome:
    Australia is ‘frustrated’ by Barnaby Joyce, Nationals deputy says
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/barnaby-joyce-michael-mccormack-national-party-leadership-woes/10889408

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/carnegie-albany-wave-farm-contract-cancelled-by-wa-government/10891934
    Taxpayers wave goodbye to $2.6 million as troubled WA energy project scrapped

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-08/farm-labour-report-says-farmers-rely-on-illegal-labour/10881832
    It comes a day after the Government committed to a national labour hire licensing scheme, and tougher penalties for people who exploit workers.

    The Howe study included a survey of more than 330 growers across Australia, which found 40 per cent had not been able to hire enough workers.

    • Exkiwiforces 20.1
      12 March 2019 at 5:48 pm

      You left this wee gem out of a story, unless you posted it on that Sunday thread which I’ve forgotten the name off.

      https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-10/regenerative-agriculture-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130

      • greywarshark 20.1.1
        12 March 2019 at 6:22 pm

        Red Logix and yourself both are up with the play. He saw the very same item
        and put it up near the top at 2.2.23. I thought it was really informative and
        sounded so effective that I took out the high points and put up a summary.

        It is soundly based, evidence based though heavier on the anecdote than pure stats and science. Anyway farming is understanding all the factors and that they are variable. I feel no-one who has some vim left after all the drought and fire worries would fail to be fascinated and hopefully enthused. We might get somewhere if enough of us can keep stirring the pot.

        While I was going back and forth and building up the quotes, I saw that piece on NT and selling/ leasing the port to the Chinese. So many of these people who have risen to places of eminence are either past their use-by date or have reached their level of incompetence, but know enough to cling to the peak and not climb down for any contenders till they fall down. Actually that fits in with Barnaby Sludge doesn’t it?

        Sunday thread – asks everyone it meets How to Get There?

        • Exkiwiforces 20.1.1.1
          12 March 2019 at 8:08 pm

          Yep, the sale/ lease back of the Port of Darwin is so bloody dodgy that it makes the Fine Cotton stitch up look quite tame compared to this wee folly by the then CLP “So believe faithful Leaders/ Party that should be ruling the NT”.

          Those that aren’t CLP supporters or voters know we are going to get strung with Giles folly in one way or another.

          Old mate Gunner and his merry band of Labour MP’s, is making sure that Labour NT is going to be a one term wonder with more spin and bull dust than willie willie that you would find in the Aussie bush.

          Getting back to port saga, it’s going to be interesting when the Naval Base and the RAAF Base redevelopment starts soon. As there is going to be a lot of sea and land traffic coming through the port for the next 5-10yrs. That’s on top the annual Navy and Airforce Ex’s that happen during the Dry Season especially when the 5th Gen NAC Aircraft start operating out of Darwin and Tindal AFB to South of Darwin at weather we would see an increase of China’s intelligence gathering in Northern Australia either as Covert, Overt intelligence gathering missions.

          A number of the major players with the Port aka CLP, The National and Liberal Parties ended up working with the Chinese or in Giles’s case Gina Rineheart Companies and it’s Chinese connections. Funny that and they all said the deal was at arm’s length? Yeah right mate, someone’s got very short arms as the locals say up here in Darwin.

  21. Eco Maori 21
    14 March 2019 at 8:34 am

    Kia ora The AM Show Yes it school students strike tommow it won’t be as affective to March on a Saturday Eco Maori says that climate change is the biggest issue our school students will face in 20 life times.
    I don’t think Britain will settle for a no deal brexit.
    Your poll seem to not register the people actually view on climate change 65 % believe its a major threat.???? See last year it was a no no to talk about hybrid cars time are changing but we need to step the changes up by %100 Using the poll to minupulate the people.
    Yes paul manafrort deserves the xtra years added on to his jail time.
    Neanderthals (don’t have a happy healthy future) looking after ones future is of the utmost importance why make plans for the future if the future is not of the utmost I see the bulges in your hip pockets lol. I, Donna as a grandparents you think about the Mokopunas tamarikis future more than when we were parents empty nessters ect. Climate change
    We are like a frog in hot water if the pot is boiling a frog will hop out of the boiling water but if the water is increased slowly the frog will stay in the water and slowly cook that is what climate change is going to do to human kind if we don’t change NOW. Ka pai Donna for you championing climate change and becoming Maori Climate Commissioner .
    Yes its very important that people take their children in to get their vaccination done all people need to make sure they get Vaccnaed. Thanks for talking about the student strike for climate The AM Show
    O it’s OK to take time off for a holiday while air fares are cheaper we all. Know the air fares are cheaper before and after school and public holidays. Yes our cousin in the Pacific are going to feel the brunt of sea levels rising because of climate change we need to Respect our nabours situation and fight climate change together.
    Ka kite ano

  22. Eco Maori 22
    14 March 2019 at 8:52 am

    Kia ora The AM Show a budget is a must to plan for your future Eco Maori backs budgeting %100 have a budget running in my mind all the time Ka kite ano

  23. Eco Maori 23
    14 March 2019 at 11:40 am

    Eco Maori know what to focouse on and that is no Britian WE NEED to focouse on climate change I CHAMPION OUR Students striking for FASTER ACTION mitergating climate change Kia kaha tamariki its your futures you are fighting FOR
    We won’t stop striking’: the New York 13 year-old taking a stand over climate change
    Alexandria Villasenor is among the American student activists joining the global fray and helping to organize the first nationwide strike on 15 March
    ‘My generation knows that climate change will be the biggest problem we’ll have to face,’ said student climate activist Alexandria Villasenor. Photograph: SARAH BLESENER/The Washington Post/Getty Images
    Alexandria Villasenor looks a slightly incongruous figure to stage a lengthy protest over the perils of catastrophic global warming. The 13-year-old, wrapped in a coat and a woolen hat, has spent every Friday since December seated on a frigid bench outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City with signs warning of climate change’s dire consequences.
    Most passersby, probably hardened to confronting New York street scenes, scurry past, eyes diverted downwards. But some mutter words of support, while the odd passing driver rolls down their window to offer a thumbs up.
    There is media interest, too. On a recent Friday protest stint, a microphone was being pinned to a shivering Villasenor by an NBC crew. “I stayed out there for four hours and I lost circulation in my toes for the first time,” she said afterwards.
    Cold weather in winter is routinely used by Donald Trump to disparage climate science – in January the president tweeted “Wouldn’t be bad to have a little of that good old fashioned Global Warming right now!” – but Villasenor has experienced enough in her nascent years to grasp the scale of the threat.

    Her concern has driven her to help organize the first nationwide strikes by US school students over climate change, on 15 March. More than 100,000 young people are expected to skip school on the day and attend rallies demanding radical cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
    Villasenor was born and raised in Davis, California, in the teeth of the state’s fiercest drought in at least 1,200 years. She recalls seeing the dead and dying fish on the shores of nearby Folsom Lake as it dried up. In November, Davis was shrouded in a pall of smoke from record wildfires that obliterated the town of Paradise, 100 miles to the north.
    “I have asthma so it was a very scary experience for me, I couldn’t leave my house at all,” Villasenor said. “Just walking to the car would make my eyes sting. We rolled up towels and put them under the windows. A lot of my friends were going out in the smog and I was texting them to see if they were OK, as I’m the mom of the group.”
    Villasenor’s family subsequently moved to New York, the switch hastened by concerns over her health due to the smoke. The young student then swiftly became an activist after reading how warming temperatures are making the western US far more prone to the sort of huge wildfires that menaced her hometown.
    After bouncing around a few youth-led climate groups, Villasenor struck up a rapport with fellow students Isra Hirsi, in Minnesota, and Haven Coleman, from Colorado. The trio set about creating Youth Climate Strike US, the first .
    Ka kite ano links below OUR MOKOPUNAS futures is a taonga/treasured by ECO MAORI

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/12/climate-change-student-activists-environment

  24. Eco Maori 24
    14 March 2019 at 3:55 pm

    Burnie knows a con when he see one this confidentiality agreement is just a coverup agreement .
    Cannot have crown civil servents held accounable for all the cheating that has gone on at Pike River Mine they NEVER admit to being BENT as a dogs hind leg they just keep turning this into a bigger MESS .
    Pike River families’ spokesperson Bernie Monk quits after confidentiality agreement
    The leading spokesperson for a group representing victims of the Pike River mine disaster has quit over requests to sign a confidentiality agreement.
    The Pike River Recovery Agency (PRRA) works in partnership with Pike River Families Reference Group, which has created a confidentiality agreement to ensure officials will trust them with sensitive information.
    The group acts as a conduit between the families of the 29 men who died in the mine explosions in 2010, and police and officials leading the re-entry effort.
    The members were not forced to sign the agreement but did so voluntarily.

    “Whether other members of the group have other agendas, I don’t want to be a part of that” – Spokesperson Bernie Monk
    “Whether other members of the group have other agendas, I don’t want to be a part of that” – Spokesperson Bernie Monk
    Spokesperson Bernie Monk told Morning Report some of the families he represented were upset they might be excluded from information.
    “The thing is that the family group was set up to be the eyes and ears for the recovery of the drift – as far as I’m concerned that job has been done.
    “If a family member rings me up today and asks me a question, I want to be able to tell them today. As I am still spokesperson for the Pike River families, I’ve always said that my door is open 24 hours a day seven days a week and I want to keep it that way.
    “There are things that I want out in the public and I just can’t see it being done the way the FRG is trying to set it up.”
    Although he had originally signed the document, Mr Monk said he changed his mind after talking with the families.
    “I went back and I said, ‘look, you’ve got to trust us on this and we will feed you the information when it’s better tabled’ and stuff like that. Some of them were quite upset.
    “They said ‘Bernie, we’ve gone back to the old days…’
    “I thought about it overnight and I thought well these families are right. I shouldn’t be doing that, that wasn’t my job, that wasn’t what I was put there to do.”
    Mr Monk said he didn’t want to be muzzled by the agreement.
    “I think that just to sign into things and be muzzled, whether it’s a memorandum or confidentiality [agreement] or whatever, I just don’t want to be a part of that so I just walked away.”
    Despite leaving his role, Mr Monk said he still expected to receive regular updates from the authorities.
    “There’s no reason why I can’t just go to the Agency and ask for myself, the police have already stated that they’ll feed me any information from them, exactly what the FRG are getting.
    “If the FRG want to get in contact with me on other things I’m doing, I’m only too pleased to share that with them.”
    However, the new spokesperson for the group, Anna Osborne, said Mr Monk wanted to look into the cause of the second explosion at the mine and that was different to the group’s focus.
    “We respect what Bernie wants to do, but we’re focused on what we promised to the families and that was to get a phased re-entry of the drift and to make sure that we can get any evidence and stuff like that brought to the surface so that hopefully prosecution can be held in the future.”
    Families representatives’ for Pike River Bernie Monk and Anna Osborne. Photo: RNZ/Tracy Neal
    The aim of the agreement was to tighten up the way it handled sensitive information it received from PRRA and police, Ms Osborne said.
    “Because at some stage, you know, we will be trusted with information that can’t quite go out to the families just yet, whether that be around dates of certain events happening.
    “In the past, families have been let down so many times that we don’t want to give them false hope by thinking that there’s something that’s going to happen at a certain date and then it goes by without it happening so to prevent things like that.”
    Ms Osborne said it also reinforced the respect they had for the PRRA and police’s trust in them.
    “The Agency or the police want to be able to talk openly and freely to the FRG members … so what it is, is just making sure we have everything tight and what we can release we certainly will do, and what we can’t or what we should sit on just for now, is something that we also need to respect. Ka kite ano link below P.S kia kaha Bernie

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/384684/pike-river-families-spokesperson-bernie-monk-quits-after-confidentiality-agreement

  25. Eco Maori 25
    14 March 2019 at 4:44 pm

    Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4
    The sandflys know they are playing with ahi but the actors they throw at me are clue less

  26. Eco Maori 26
    14 March 2019 at 6:32 pm

    Kia ora Newshub It’s a shame that there are idiots out there who would do dumb shit like attacking Jamie Shaw
    People make mistakes are you advocating that they pay for their mistakes for their whole life the driving instructor with prior conviction .
    BUGGER
    ECO Maori doesn’t use face book by my tamariki do lol I will give them shit about Facebook crashing.
    There is a way to sort out Auckland traffic congestion. We need to invest in RAIL fast what a waste of time and money in traffic jams.
    Its a shameful sad state in Syria all those people being killed in the war and dieing in refuge camps this should not be happening in 2019.
    Lloyd it looks like Britain wants to stay in the European Union.
    I believe that the SFO should have kept a close eye kept on its quiet easy for them to come up with a report clearing simon and letting water flow under the bridge time to let everyone forget about his donations scandle and clear him he has close ties to the NZ police. Ka kite ano P.S it not like these government department are squeaky CLEAN

  27. Eco Maori 27
    14 March 2019 at 6:51 pm

    Kia ora Te ao Maori News it good that the kuia is going to get her whare kitted out to cater for her disabilities being blind and wheelchair bound with no ramps in her whare.
    I that was a stupid attack on our Green Party co leader Jamie Shaw
    I think that there should be 15 Maori seats not 7 I say we are 20 % of the population.
    Ka pai for the first Maori Chief justice to be sworn in Justice Winkelmann Congratulat I do hope that things will change with her appointment I have my doubts though with the way the sandflys treat my right. Ka kite ano P.S don’t believe there spinning it got tutai all through it

  28. Eco Maori 28
    15 March 2019 at 8:26 am

    Kia ora The AM Show Yes its students climate change strike today I hope that the tamariki rise up and show a united force all around the Papatuanukue . Ka pai young Wahine for your Tau toko the climate change strike for your futures.
    Its quite disturbing to hear that nothing about climate change is being taught in our school that shows me how much control the neo liberals rightneck have on our school systems.
    I would walk and bike myself more but I would incounter to many muppets puppets.
    Come on duncan with the amount of climate change denier money flowing into the system its amazing that our youth even know about climate change + The fact that climate change is happening here and NOW is not being taught in school when this fact has been known for 30 to 50 years tells Eco Maori that oil barron suppression has been emence. Richard that’s what Aotearoa farmers have to do diversify Sheep milk is a great new product that Aotearoa could make heaps of export $$$$$ having all our eggs in one market is not very wise at all as you can see shonky is not as smart as he thought he was putting all OUR eggs in one big kite.
    Ka pai Phil that’s the way I could see you are a protector he tangata best interests in Auckland Kia kaha
    dick duncan it’s not Maori family’s that the blame of the bad stats of our tamariki lies with it the system of Maori suppression that breaks the family apart is the CAUSE of the bad stats. 10 years ago my whanau were all on a big farm making above average money now we are all stuck in town struggling to keep afloat because shonky decided to flood farm jobs with overseas workers rents are huge the cost of living is huge and ((YOU BLAME MAORI WHANAU.))
    How’s whale oil judy you are one of the muppets who forced those changes and suppression on lower class people. I’m going to be rude you look like you still have the viruses judy. Why do you think think that Eco Maori points the true fact out and discridet the rightneck all around Papatuanukue because they have made life extremely hard for the lower classes of Papatuanukue.
    Here is the logical phenomenon behind a chase if you CHASE any thing 9/10 they will run bit hard for people with a low IQ to figure that out. If the prosess in the police chasing people in vehicles was excerlint than why Are so many people ending up DEAD after a police chase??? ¿???!?! ¿¿¿!! ¿?? ¡¿!. Not sure about your poll politicising police chasing and people ending up dead The police main job is to provide a save country for us it is public safety that is there formost job discription so chasing people and putting the public at risk is a subject should be taken very seriously. Climate change needs to be risen above the oil barron $$$suppression so a Maori Climate Change Commissioner will get the subject publicity. What is a commissioner going to do for the broken family that this western society system has produced don’t blame the family because a family is not whole with grandparents dieing early because the health system provides inferior services to many Maori. And the unjustifiable system grabs the father and never let’s them go producing broken families.There are many factors that are causing the bad stats for Maori families and they all come back to a system that discriminates against the lower classes who Maori have been forced to join and become a majority of YOU ARE USE THE Stats that you are getting to pick topics to put down Maori and you deserve the WARTH OF ECO MAORI DICK.
    Amada the courts of our laws pay more attention to $$££££$$$$ Than They do to provideing fair JUSTICE MJ case point. Ka kite ano P.S bullshit grame this is a very good reason for tamariki to make a strong stand on Wahine are more intelligent than men full stop

  29. Eco Maori 29
    15 March 2019 at 10:16 am

    Some Eco Maori Music for the minute
    https://youtu.be/hT_nvWreIhg

  30. Eco Maori 30
    15 March 2019 at 11:58 am

    Some Eco Maori Music for the minute
    https://youtu.be/fKopy74weus
    Ma te wa koire

  31. Eco Maori 31
    15 March 2019 at 1:49 pm

    Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
    https://youtu.be/LHCob76kigA
    Whanau Mahi

  32. Eco Maori 32
    16 March 2019 at 8:02 am

    Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
    https://youtu.be/7UH4erOQ43E
    Out of respect for Te tangata that lost there lives I will not be posting today condolences to Te tangata who lost love ones in this tragic event

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.