Open mike 12/06/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, June 12th, 2023 - 15 comments
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15 comments on “Open mike 12/06/2023 ”

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    • Patricia Bremner 1.1
      12 June 2023 at 8:31 am

      Thank you bwaghorn. Christopher Luxon got lower and lower, and redder and redder.

      He very nearly squirmed.

      Having his beneficial property ownership advantages spelled out was very revealing.

      The "Monopoly " game rules are affecting his wealth so he wants to change them. imo.

    • Bearded Git 1.2
      12 June 2023 at 10:50 am

      So Luxon has a clear and significant COI worth potentially millions.

      Meanwhile Michael Wood owned one millionth of AIA (not one ten thousandth as calculated by Luke Malpass) which could never be called a COI. Peanuts. And he donated the 13k to charity when he sold the AIA shares

      The rules have to change.

    • tsmithfield 1.3
      12 June 2023 at 12:15 pm

      I am struggling to see what the problem is here. Firstly, Luxon has declared the properties as required. Secondly, he isn't actually in a position yet to make good on any promises with respect to housing. Thirdly, it would be difficult for many MPs to make any policy about housing because the vast majority of MPs have a declared interest in property in one way or another, and thus are conflicted to one degree or another.

      And, people seem to miss the point of declaring potential conflicts of interest. The point is so that conflicts of interest can be managed. It might be that the Cabinent office instructs Luxon to divest himself of said properties for instance. Or, there may be some other acceptable way to manage any perceived conflict.

      • AB 1.3.1
        12 June 2023 at 2:53 pm

        I half agree with you. I'd agree more if existing systems for managing COIs were effective in managing them (whatever 'managing' means) or even-handed in identifying them in the first place. It seems unlikely that they can be – because COIs can be eliminated as a factor in decision-making only if people don't have interests at all. John Rawls has a famous thought experiment along these lines called "The Original Position" where decisions are made under the veil of ignorance. . But it is not helpful in practical terms.

        The fact is that people do have interests and they conflict with the interests of others. The determination of which interests should win out or what compromises between them should be made, is the stuff of day to day politics. Therefore the greatest value in all this is simply having Luxon's potential COIs drawn to public attention rather than continuing to lurk in obscurity. Having some light cast on them in this way is therefore useful and healthy because of the limitations of official systems that attempt to mitigate COIs.

      • bwaghorn 1.3.2
        12 June 2023 at 3:59 pm

        The labour mps made policy that lowered the returns to the ones that own rental s.

        Luxon if elected intends to increase the returns to himself and any other mps that on investment properties.

        Clear enough!!

      • Bearded Git 1.3.3
        12 June 2023 at 6:34 pm

        I posted the definition of a COI a few days ago….for a COI to exist the matter causing the potential COI (the shareholding in this case) had to be of such significance that it might affect the decision making process of the holder. In this case Wood owns one millionth of AIA (13000 worth) so any gain he might make would be so tiny that it is fanciful to suggest this would influence any decision he made as transport minister

        Luxon on the other hand has a clear COI where he supports law changes that will cause him to benefit greatly from his 16 million house portfolio while not explaining to the public that this will be the case.

      • newsense 1.3.4
        12 June 2023 at 11:09 pm

        All we need now is deportation or death penalty for stealing bread.

        We’ve got a parliamentary property owning oligarchy demonising the poor and those off the ladder.

        Much of this recent gain is made because the government propped up the economy during the pandemic. That’s not a model of virtue or hard work equaling reward. And the latest National policy or failure of policy is going to replicate that evaluation bubble bounce.

  2. Cricklewood 2
    12 June 2023 at 8:30 am

    This makes for an interesting and at the same time very concerning read. It's doubtful we'll ever get the full truth behind covid but it seems more and more likely that it was essentially self inflicted.

    The Times link is behind a paywall.

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/inside-wuhan-lab-covid-pandemic-china-america-qhjwwwvm0

    This one isn't

    https://archive.is/BoPrc

  3. The Chairman 3
    12 June 2023 at 11:00 am

    So National and ACT oppose the Green's new tax plan.

    Yet, both of them bang on about increases in crime while offering little (if anything) to solve one of the main drivers of crime, poverty.

    Furthermore, both talk about wasteful Government spending failing to realise that the expense of taking a hard line on crime without addressing the causes of crime is an enormous waste of spending.

    For example, National's bootcamp proposal. Which is a rehashed tried and tested failure.

    What the Greens are offering is a step in the right direction to help solve not only growing crime but also many of our other social ills.

  4. Visubversa 4
    12 June 2023 at 12:30 pm

    Goodness – how un-inclusive of them. Men's Health Week!

    https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/menshealthweek

  5. weka 5
    12 June 2023 at 1:08 pm

    Good lord.

    The CEO and editor-in-chief of RNZ, Paul Thompson, has given his first interview since last Friday’s revelations that several stories about Ukraine and Russia published on the national broadcaster’s site had been altered by an editor to provide a more Kremlin-sympathetic slant. Speaking to Kathryn Ryan on the public broadcaster’s own Nine to Noon programme, he bemoaned “a serious breach of standards”, which had seen “pro-Kremlin garbage” propagated by RNZ. He said: “It is so disappointing. I’m gutted. It’s painful. It’s shocking … Clearly our editing systems are not as robust as they need to be.” Thompson apologised to RNZ audiences, staff and the Ukrainian community.

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/live-updates/12-06-2023/its-painful-its-shocking-rnz-boss-speaks-on-pro-kremlin-garbage?utm_source=spinoff-share-button&utm_medium=web

    • Belladonna 5.1
      12 June 2023 at 5:41 pm

      It seems as though it was not 'editing' that was at fault – but rather a deliberate decision by a journalist to slant the news stories in a pro-Russian manner.

      Comment from the original complainant:

      “We don't really know who the person is, we'll find out probably shortly, it could be a paid agent of influence or it could be what we call a ‘useful idiot’, a person who honestly believes he's expressing his own views but in reality expressing the enemy propaganda,” he said.

      At least one complaint was made 8 months ago – both to the broadcaster and to Willie Jackson – with apparently no action from RNZ (for which they should hang their heads in shame)

      https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/06/11/exclusive-rnz-received-complaint-over-russian-propaganda-months-ago/

      The "digital journalist" concerned is now claiming that they have been slanting the reporting for 5 years!

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/491843/pro-russia-edits-at-rnz-may-have-been-happening-for-years

      This is deeply concerning. RNZ has a reputation for being an unbiased news source – something more precious than gold in this world of dubious data. To have a journalist bragging of deliberately slanting news is a huge shock to their credibility.

  6. Joe90 6
    12 June 2023 at 4:59 pm

    As the Kakhovka reservoir is emptying the remains of both Soviet and German WW2 dead are being exposed.

    Germany's Volksbund will collect, identify, take care of, and in some cases, be able to return the remains of German war dead to their families.

    The remains of the Soviet war dead will continue to litter the banks of the Dnipro because unlike the Germans, nobody will ever come for them.