I see POAL has finally admitted leaking Cecil Walkers’s private details to Whaleoil. Still trying to weasel out of responsibility though, blaming Walker for being uppity. I’m looking forward to the Privacy Commissioner putting them right about that.
The instant answer MS and social medias made Paid Parental Leave a big issue in a slow news week. They even explored and publicised the options that might stop it.
Did this hand National the NO option on a plate?
By the third reading, probably next year, the economic outlook may be looking much better. Starting to nervously eye the 2014 election and with less justification to be miserly National may have found it very difficult to stand in the way of the PPL.
But it’s been easy for Bill English to commit to a NO now.
Never was-been MP unravels, ironically, on the same social media he sneers at, using a current topic to demonstrate his ability to say something should have happened later on, but only if the situation changes, and that if it does, the result will not be what was intended.
Then a young chap who does not understand the English language, the influence of time or government in general, comments that it is hypocrisy to mention things you do not understand.
Interesting when Labour was in and brought in parental leave for 3 months.The mother and leader of the party at that time Helen Clark was asked why they didn’t do 6 months like other countries? She replied we looked at it but it was unaffordable.
So it was unaffordable then in better economic times than now . Why would it be affordable now?
Very hypocritical for the Labour party to even be supporting the bill.This is the issue I have with the Labour party there is no pragmatism,and realism.
It’s not affordable now. But with an improving economy and re-prioritising spending it could be affordable in the future?
Why not proceed with the bill and time the phasing in for when it can be afforded? Even if that means delaying it by a year or two, that doesn’t waste the time and effort of the bill going through the parliamentary process.
But making it a political football like this…
Sponsor Sue Moroney says the Government is being arrogant by making this premature announcement as the bill has not even had its first reading in the House.
The Family First lobby group says the Government is running scared of robust debate on the issue.
Why can’t Sue Moroney give some figures to her bill – she baulked and baulked on radio this morning.
Surely if you put a bill up you have costed it ????
Glad you asked, if only because it confirms your ignorance, Fortran.
Full costings are done during the process, not at the start. Usually, a bill gets amended, commented on in the house, submitted on in the committee, amended again, polished and finalised and the finished product is fully costed before it goes back for its final reading.
But, of course, that’s the process used in a democracy, not in Dipton’s dictartorship.
Probably what Labour meant was it unaffordable for them to go for more than 3 months at first on the basis of getting re-elected when it would be sure to strike hostility from the business sector and many of those who have no children, no desire to have children personally or have delayed having them.
Attitudes can of course change individually when a baby comes along and a woman with good earning rate and education wants to ensure that she can decide to follow her natural course in life but not drop out of her level in the modern employment market in its present construction.
This whole debate amazes me at the lack of fundamental questions being asked. The obvious one is can we afford it? That is fraught with political edges so I am not even going to go there.
Some questions I think relevant:
* why cant a family live on one income?
* why are careers considered more important than childrens upbringing?
* why are there not more men at home doing the child raising?
Looking at history and the low respect for wives who were just dependents of their husbands and even in the 1960s not able to open a shop account in their own name without a guarantee from a man, it is important that women can stay in the workforce, and be seen to be people to be reckoned with not despised or patronised.
What womens lib wasn’t able to achieve was an acceptance that everybody owes their being to the action of their mother carrying and giving birth and watching over them till self-reliance was learned. A decent intelligent society would make allowance for that. Parenthood is still just an annoying hobby to many employers, some of them women who have adopted the dominant male attitudes.
Good valid points. I think the bit I find worst about dependence is the need for two incomes to pay for the necessities. No easy answers there either, just a trend for wages to diminish relative to costs, and for a household to have to work longer to survive.
Bored I agree. Two wages were the key to advancing quickly and so getting a house and some things of one’s own. You both got down to work and got established and felt there was a point to the sacrifices required of time and tight schedules.
Then it all went to custard and now two wages are needed for the basics as you say. Nobody really felt the sharp end of the oncome of this though, as there was so much credit available and the economy seemed to be swinging nicely so it was all right to borrow future wages for things for now. Sorry Joe public this was an illusion but it wasn’t one of the well-known ones so passed unnoticed (no rabbits, no lady sawed in half.)
Some questions I think relevant:
* why can’t a family live on one income?
* why are careers considered more important than childrens’ upbringing?
* why are there not more men at home doing the child raising?
Agreed!
I stayed home with my sons, as my mother did with us. (She would have anyway, I chose to, and needed to.)
I feel very sorry for women who have to rush from the delivery suite home, and then back to work, dumping the child in a childcare warehouse on the way. (Or – who feel they have to!)
Sorry posted this in the wrong area interesting story developing here bigger than Nick Smith and a letter will it get the same coverage.
Can anyone tell me what the Meatworkers union has been doing with all the funds it has been receiving as it certainly hasnt been fully declaring them. Surely they havent been ripping off the workers ?
CEO Hamish Simson says the union has not declared its total income, and has failed to disclose what it does with its members’ contributions.
“It appears from the union’s published financial statements that only a fraction of its total income has been declared,” says Mr Simson.
“Affco workers contribute over $500,000 to the union each year, paying $5.95 each per week. Affco workers represent less than 10 percent of the 23,000 members the Union says it has and yet it only declares revenue of just over $700,000 per annum”.
More support from overseas Union affiliations for our workers facing incredibly hostile employers http://cms.iuf.org/?q=node/1586
It’s been interesting as well as welcoming to see how supportive overseas Union allies have been towards the viscious assualts from both POAL and Talleys/AFFCO towards their workforce.
James,
Yesterday I posted this link http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/6723730/SFO-complaint-over-union-accounts
on open mike. Is this what you are referring to?
If so, you’ll see there are two sides to that story. I would be more concerned about the hostile actions of Talleys referring the MWU to the SFO. I think you’ll find that that their reasons for doing so are baseless. Given that Unions often struggle financially I would assume and that the MWU isn’t likely to be smuggling gazillions away and that this is simply a desparate bid from a bad employer to destroy their enemy, which is how they seem to view their Union partner
Doing this the day before the commencement of mediation is particularly aggressive and stupid. It is as if Talley’s don’t want to sort things out peacefully with the Union …
I agree with with you Mickey. It does seem that Talleys have no commitment to or or intention to peacefully settle withe their Unionised employees.
We can’t forget that this is a business who made large donations to the National Party election campaign in 2005 – to the “Bosses Party”. Perhaps they now find themselves in a climate where they won’t be held to account for their oppressive actions. So now is their time to really rachet up the anti Union campaign
Quite rightly so to Jim Helen Clark said it was unaffordable to give six months at the time Labour brought in 3 months. I have to agree with her ,and economic conditions have only got worse.
Its parliament who pass the laws in this country, not the government of the day – if a majority of parliament vote in favour of something then by rights it shouldnt be shut down ahead of time by a veto from government.
heres a tiny experiment for you – what would be your reaction if it was labour in government doing this to a bill put forward by national that.. hmm… sought to cut business taxes?
You forgot the rest of the story Jimmy111 – PPL was gradually extended, from 12 weeks in 2002 for parents who had worked for the same employer for a year to 14 weeks in 2005 and including parents with 6 months service and self-employed mothers. It was expected to increase again if Labour won the 2008 election. The issue was not whether 6 months was unaffordable, but whether it was affordable all at once.
The bill was sponsored by Laila Harre – an Alliance Party minister and picked up as Labour Party core policy.
We can be assured that this government will make them work (but at what cost?)
Will the management of a school be able to turn “potential undesirable” children/families away? Will they be able to manipulate their rolls? What will happen to “stood down” pupils?
When the PM said he wanted all children to be above average, did he mean just the children of charter schools measured against the rest of the education system?
so you’ve had a bad day, you need to unwind, so you do what you love, you go cycling over the ranges. You do that a lot, you’re quite good at it. Its rare for anyone to turn up behind you, or you’ve never been on that track, or that track is unfamiliar since most times anyone has passed you there has been room. Anyway, this guy comes up behind you, wants to get past, and its one of those days you just need to be left alone. But they are not going to. Why not? Why can’t he just stop on a rise, take a breath for a few minutes and you will be far off someplace. Its the generous thing to do since you’ve never encountered this problem before, someone wanting to get past you on a tight track, maybe after a coffee, a shower, a good nights sleep you’d realise (or more likely rsubconcious would), how to move over and be generous to the nuisence behind you wanting to get past. And what’s his problem anyway, cars in back lanes sometimes have to slow down until there is a passing zone, you don’t actually see cars come to a halt to let cars pass them. Any experience rider would ‘get’ that their egos might get the better of them and actively find weakness in other riders a way to boast their egos even more. And then there’s the personal mp3 player, this get out of the way isn’t going to happen card, how would anyone behind even get noticed by someone wanting to get past. So I ask what mistakes did he make when he got up that day? was it going out cycling? no, was it giving any conscious thought to the guy behind him? Hell yes. If he’d just ignored the guy behind he’d never have gotten into the altercation and so never have the police looking for him. So why did he stop and start having a conversation? Why when he had ???been forced to stop??? did he not then let the guy pass silent, smirkin and a figure in the air, was he having a mental fart, a moment of insanity trying to argue with a moron on adrendlin. Was it the insanity every middle aged guy hits, with the notion that there were now young fitter cyclists who wanted to pass him and could easily beat them in a race, faced with his own aging and weakness. You can quite understand why a younger adrenalin junky, who premedatatively took a camera with him, to allegedly haze some older rider for the laugh, and make the effort of carrying it on his head worthwhile would be so pleased with the exposer but its not a good outcome for cycling since it teaches only that sometimes you will meet up with an old fart on the track and how easy it is to start a altecation with them, a handbook in how to make cycling fun in all the wrong ways. So the lesson is when you next meet up with the old fart slowing you down, just hope they arent wearing any mp3 player, and tell them that you will stop for a few minutes to let them get ahead so you dont bump into them quite as much. They might just feel twisted inside, see themselves as a bully hogging the track and let you pass, but what you don’t do is haze the guy for he might be carrying a knife and have just been let out of the psychoward.
In other mean spiritedness, the V8 Hamilton races have stopped a car driver accessing their own private driveway one too many times and now look set to suffer either a court action that will stop the race, or worse, the racing industry will look like an petrol head excuse who tramps all over the average car owners (who don’t worship cars). Go figure. But hey, adrendlin motor heads and cyclists are drug uses too. The responsible reasonable approach is to back off and let them pass, or stop putting yourself in their face without any concern for later consequences. i.e both parties have an obligation to back off, but the druggies have to be aware that its can be an offense to disturb the peace – being high on adrendlin is no excuse. They don’t have a right to impose themselves on others and expect the outcome they want. So don’t give it to them.
Its obvious to me that the offending mountain of a biker votes ACT. No other bugger would demand everything their way at the expense of everybody else.
In other mean spiritedness, the V8 Hamilton races have stopped a car driver accessing their own private driveway one too many times and now look set to suffer either a court action that will stop the race, or worse,
Let’s hope so! My sympathies are with the driver and his family…
The Auckland Blues have lost five out of their first six games, so of course there’s only one possible reason: too many darkies, both playing and coaching.
Well, that’s what “they” have been saying on the internet and on Radio Sport and NewstalkZB. And some of the people who ring in are almost as racist as the hosts.
Yet, in spite of the recent denunciations of the “gutless cowardly boofheads who hide behind the anonymity of the internet” there is little evidence that anyone, even the victims, are prepared or willing to confront the main culprits. Instead, the victims themselves have chosen to pretend that the racism infesting the airwaves is due to some vague ethereal “anonymous” presence…
Yesterday an emotionally distraught Pat Lam publicly fingered what he said was the source of these comments: “It’s the faceless people,” he blubbed. On radio this morning, Blues CEO Andy Dalton repeated that message: we don’t know who they are, these “faceless people”.
Yesterday on NewstalkZB, Larry Williams, without missing a beat, told Mark Watson that that “we get this garbage too”, and that it “goes straight into the rubbish bin.”
Listen to Susan Wood this morning on NewstalkZB: “The cowardly boofheads …anonymity of the internet….gutless…”
ENOUGH ALREADY! What Wood and Williams and (most of all) Pat Lam know perfectly well is that the source of the most vitriolic anti-Polynesian, anti-Maori comments is right under their noses. NewstalkZB/Radio Sport hosts Murray Deaker, Paul Holmes, Tony Veitch, Leighton
Smith are notorious for their racially charged comments, and their demeaning of Maori and Polynesians.
The people responsible for these ugly racist comments are not “faceless”, they are the colleagues of Wood and Williams. It’s an indictment of Lam and Dalton that they lack the courage to state this plainly.
Unfortunately not. The HRC, Privacy Commissioner and BSA have decided to not even acknowledge complaints from me anymore, which is unbelievably undemocratic! The Ombudsman is also delaying indefinitely many of my complaints well past the allowable timeframe, which is all designed to dissuade me from making them.
Our Forensic Psychologist viewed that Pat Lam interview and laughingly pointed out the way Pat managed to stop being emotional at least twice in the news footage to look up straight faced at the interviewer in what our Psychologist called a look of ”am I believable”,
Pat using ”emotion” to head those calling for His head off at the pass so to speak…
Its bloody ugly, you note there are never complaints when the team is going well, they could not have enough darkies then!
Couple of things to note:
* In my experience I have never heard Deaker making “racist” noises, I have heard him being brave enough to address the real problems of age size differences in school rugby that touch upon ethnicity that can bring charges of racism. He may be many things but he is definitely not a racist.
* Auckland rugby is suffering badly and the Blues are symptomatic of this. A few years back the Auckland provincial and Super teams had token Palangis and Maoris, the team was very Samoan. The fear was that “smaller” players (read pakeha) were being forced out of the game and that the top level would suffer from a reduced player base. I was involved with kids rugby on the North Shore when the local unions went to great lengths to ensure that the player drain of non Polynesians was staunched, and that weight / age grades etc were promoted. When you look at the Blues and Auckland now you can see the results, the team naturally has a large Polynesian content, Auckland after all is the largest Polynesian city.The teams ethnicity is now far more mixed. It looks a bit like the local population you would see walking down the road.
Time for all Aucklanders to get behind their team, cut the crap and support Lam.
Ah come on Morrissey, I did not call you out on Paul Holmes, Tony Veitch, Leighton
Smith because I never listen to them ( and maybe because its on the record that they are as you describe)!
Deaks…now that’s different, listen all the time as he is prepared to ask the hard questions and listen for the answers. Have I missed an episode? Can I get it on replay? He is very much like the Mad Butcher, a real enthusiast, I doubt he would treat you differently if you were a Martian.
I stand corrected…Deaks has used the term “nigger” it appears from your article and I don’t see it as acceptable in any context. I will however go by Willie Loses interpretation that the term is wrong but the man is not a racist.
Some confusion by our good friend Bored, when he writes: “I will however go by Willie Loses interpretation that the term is wrong but the man is not a racist.”
So… he uses a racist word, repeatedly and calculatedly, but he is not a racist.
Willy Lose’s bizarre and illogical claim can partly be explained by the fact he was speaking as a colleague and was afraid of provoking the notoriously belligerent Deaker. What is your motivation for writing such nonsense?
Motivation? I happen to like the work he does on rugby and I happen to believe he is not a racist. That’s my opinion, on that we obviously differ. I tend to give people a chance before I condemn, your evidence does rather lead me to reconsider. Whats is your motivation?
Deaks…now that’s different, listen all the time as he is prepared to ask the hard questions and listen for the answers.
“Prepared to ask the hard questions?” Deaker? You’re dreaming, my friend. Obviously you were asleep when he was toadying after John O’Neill and Vernon Pugh in 2002. Deaker accepted every single word they said as they hijacked New Zealand’s games for the 2003 World Cup. What hard questions are you talking about? His advocacy of the Blackheart campaign in 2003? What “hard questions” did he ask then? When he is not acting as a sycophant and asking patsy questions, bellowing his disdain for Maori and Polynesian footballers, he’s opining for hour after hour about how “dark skinned people lack the necessary concentration to play cricket”.
Have I missed an episode? Can I get it on replay?
Are you serious? Are you trying to suggest that Deaker’s racist ranting has been confined to just a few episodes that you happen to have missed?
He is very much like the Mad Butcher, a real enthusiast,
That’s a very charitable assessment of the talent-free zone known as the Mad Butcher.
I doubt he would treat you differently if you were a Martian.
Lucky for the Martians then. Just a pity he’s such a crude bigot towards Maori and Polynesian people.
Jeez Morrissey, just read your deconstruct and fell about laughing (genuinely, it is amusing), especially about the Mad Butcher. Just to put you straight here the Butcher may be talent free as far as you are concerned BUT he has an immense and demonstrable talent for charity and kindness. Now that’s talent.
Deaks also amused me with his constant questioning of Henry over his “judge me by the results” (hard questions perhaps).
All up I have admitted I got it wrong, you wont however get me regarding Deaks as a racist.
I can see you are a very kind and decent person, Bored. But there are a couple of points I still disagree with…
1.) “[The Mad Butcher] has an immense and demonstrable talent for charity and kindness.”
He certainly has a talent for publicising how much money he gives away.
2.) Deaks also amused me with his constant questioning of Henry over his “judge me by the results”
He’s had to shut up about that now, although you have to wonder how obnoxious he would be towards Henry and the All Blacks if there had been an unbiased referee in the World Cup final last year.
3.) you wont however get me regarding Deaks as a racist
National Radio, 9:50 a.m., Thursday 12 April 2012
Foreign Correspondent slot is increasingly a forum for lunatics
Who chooses the guests for this 9:50 slot? Many of them (Jack Hitt and Ray Moynihan, for instance) are excellent, but listeners have also had to suffer through such substandard and toxically biased commentators as Irris Makler, Jason Morrison, and Kate Adie.
Kathryn Ryan’s guest this morning is…uh, oh…. the notoriously unbalanced (in every sense) Dame Ann Leslie.
Dame Ann rants dyspeptically about the five Islamic men about to be sent to the United States on terrorism charges—she calls one of them, Abu Hamza, “Captain Hook”. Ryan giggles at that, and giggles continuously throughout Dame Ann’s unhinged ranting against the International Criminal Court, but never challenges her or asks her to explain herself. Then she moves it onto another topic…
RYAN: The teachers’ unions have been in the news, Dame Ann–
DAME ANN LESLIE: Arrrrgggh.
RYAN: He he he he!
DAME ANN: Every year we have to listen to the militant rabble rousingof the teacher unions!
RYAN: What are their concerns?
DAME ANN LESLIE: They never agree to any method of reforming our LOUSY education system. They need a full SIX WEEKS in the summer,… The unions have opposed EVERY EFFORT to improve the education system. All attempts to improve these schools are stifled. We are absolutely FED UP with them.
The spluttering and snarling continues for several more minutes, punctuated occasionally by Kathryn Ryan’s giggles.
National are ideologically blinded by neoliberalism. Under a John Key government, New Zealand has had to borrow billions to cover tax cuts for the wealthy. Additional consultancy fees directly attributed to cuts in public sector employment will also ensure our indebtedness for the foreseeable future…
I’m a contractor and wouldn’t even get out of bed for $2300/day, but I have to pay insane amounts of tax to fund all the dpb bludgers and dole payments of unionists who refuse to work, so can’t afford to get out of bed for such a pittance.
But I guess that is why you all pay >$2 litre for petrol – to keep me in the lifestyle that I’m accustomed to.
What a stirrer you want to be mister m. Stick to stirring the brown stuff that’s tea and leave the smelly stuff alone, it rubs off, smells foul and then your fine self will find high pay is no compensation.
M my man, just keep paying the ridiculous amounts of tax, enjoy the lifestyle and reflect upon your higher status as a generous person (even if you don’t want to be). And should you feel you pay too much tax, just pay it. Fear the IRD above all others.
It will disappoint you soon enough, being a proud capitalist, and a somewhat ignorant capitalist. That you think this is a world where opposites do not exist, that there is no opposing force to your pride, is a sad gap in your education. It’s even more depressing than your grasp of English. You see, no capitalist who understands capitalism, past its immediate appeal to self-interest and avarice, would say they love being a capitalist. It is like a tragic character, unaware he is a player, announcing to the audience he loves the idea he is about to never be the same, eager to leave behind his hubris and egotistical utterances in exchange for, usually, death, but in our context, risking something much worse – a living death.
It would be equally disappointing to find a communist – the modern capitalist’s arch rival – who is proud to be a communist. Capitalism sows the seeds of its own demise with its demand for increased production of things it cannot sell and in meeting the opposing force of communism, both perspectives are irrevocably changed. Once the two forces face off and struggle to the point of exhaustion, society is either reduced to the instinctual barbarism of human necessity as a result or we all move forward together in a new way; without our present isms and divisions. There is little to be proud of, once you realise the risks, unless you are mentally deranged – whichever side you stand on.
In the words of the Bard “M” sounds like ” a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”…..
Forget the money – you can’t take it with you. Get out of bed at dawn, don’t turn the light on, eat fruit and grains, drink a cup,of tea (without milk), walk somewhere and smile and say hello to the other walkers. Leave your cell phone at home.
“Along with everything else, the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath created new openings and potentials for working people in the struggle against neoliberalism. A number of struggles initially opened up, including factory occupations, efforts to defend pensions and the rights of younger workers. There were important political struggles, as well, as in Wisconsin, along with newer projects to link labour and communities, in the Occupy movement.”
All neo-liberalism means is there way, you have no say. But the fact is you have a lot of say, your consent is required for a civil society to provide the efficiencies to carry all those ‘extra’ rich (and they know it and will do everything to distort, distract and misdirect).
Just heard about the death of Jack Tramiel another great computer innovator like Steve Jobs. He introduced the Commodore Pet the first accessable home computer. I knew of the computer but not the innovator – this guy was a great clever doer and survivor. Jack Tramiel has died aged 84 years in the Usa Obit from the Washington Post.
Started with a Vic 20 then went C64, C128 and Amiga. Picked up a Plus/4 along the way.
Dabbled in machine code and learned to program in basic – which still comes in handy with Excel in particular.
It was those retired people in the C64 clubs who were impressive. They could do things with machine code on their 64’s I could only dream about.
I remember one group in Wanganui had worked out how to get their names to appear on the screen instead of Commodore when you turned it on.
I think they used a modded chip and machine code combination.
Boulderdash, Impossible Mission, Bubble Bobble, Armalyte, Pool Of Radiance, Wizball, IK+, Buggy Boy, Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, all the Magnetic Scrolls games, Zamzara, BC’s Quest for Tires, speech synthesis, GEOS – ahh the list is endless.
Can’t forget of course those tape loading screens:
I/S on No Right Turn in “If all you have is a hammer…” makes a couple of noteworthy observations.
The first is the fact that Nationals policy announcements consists of just a load of waffle with no actual detail whatsoever – It is quite an effective strategy, albeit a darkly cynical one given the importance of the issues paid only lip service to. For those wanting to critique the ‘plans’ or even to understand them there is nothing to grasp onto. An educated or informed response is impossible when slogans are all that we have been given.
But where is the critique in the media of the lack of detail? Nationals policy announcements are about as convincing as a new years resolution and their Ministers should be laughed out of their press conferences for daring to turn up and make proclamations that are a deliberate study in vagueness.
Secondly I/S highlights the growing use of ‘the children’ as an excuse for implementing unpopular policies or reform. Once again it is only the most darkly cynical who would deliberately use peoples concern for their children to promote a course of action – when a hostage taker holds a gun to the head of someone’s child and demands obedience the violence of the act is rightly condemned by law and society – yet the governments modus operandi is now little different.
It is time that the government stopped implying that children will suffer if we don’t accept their austerity and their radical hard right agenda or that children will benefit if we do.
Austerity harms economies and harms society. The Nats don’t care about kids any more than the hostage taker does.
Great Minds Thinking Hard about the Big Questions
NewstalkZB, Thursday 12 April 2012, 1:28 p.m.
As always at NewstalkZB, it’s an atmosphere of moral panic and befuddlement as confused callers try to come to grips with the question of the day. Today’s big topic is “teenagers committing burglaries—who’s to blame?”. As usual, there’s an easy answer for it—it’s all because parents are no longer allowed to punch, kick and whip their children. A caller called Shannon rings up host Danny Watson to share her wisdom….
SHANNON: The government took away our rights as parents when they brought in the anti-smacking law. And, yes, I KNOW there’s abuse and there’s children that get killed rah rah rah but seriously Danny—
DANNY WATSON: It’s still going on by the way. The killing.
What a surprise, farmers whinging about being held accountable for their destructive actions.
The interim dairy rule is a council initiative to improve water quality in Southland based on recommendations from the Office of the Auditor-general’s report on water policy and the council’s own State of the Environment report.
“Council can make the rules, you can police the rules, but without the people in the back of this room there will be no effect on the environment,” he said.
They’re basically complaining that they won’t be able to pollute unhindered.
I also find it amusing that they’re calling it an attack on democracy when it was the actions of farmers that resulted in the sacking of ECan and the implementation of a dictatorship in its place because they didn’t like the democratic result – rules that enforced environmental protection.
Southland Farmers are also complaining about an increase in rates that attempts to recoup the costs incurred by the industry. Dairy farmers claim they don’t want subsidies and yet that is what is occurring when the external costs of the industry continue to be covered by general ratepayers and taxpayers.
“Once an offender has been conclusively identified as a person who will never be safe around the vulnerable – particularly children – their “rights” very much take second place to the rights of children to play, or even to sleep, without a Lloyd McIntosh waiting for his chance to grab them and commit unspeakable crimes.”
David Garratt, a criminal convicted of an unspeakable crime against a child, in a guest post on Kiwiblog.
Yesterday I heard National Radio quoting Garrett’s most shameless defender, Garth McVicar, about a law and order question.
Following the brutal 2008 knife-killing of a boy in South Auckland, McVicar loudly defended the killer, and for day after day expressed scorn and contempt for the victim and his family. Yet he is still referred to by National Radio and other media outlets as a “victims’ advocate”.
Garrett and McVicar must be two of the most loathsome and hypocritical creatures in the country, yet they are still accorded respect.
Or possibly it is because the National Radio producers are indolent, and go to McVicar because he always has something incendiary to say, even if it makes little sense.
… and let the poor guy know that the SSTs favorite sheriff’s legal team have been stripped of their law licenses. It looks like Joe has more to worried about that Obama. TBH.
Great to see the pressure coming on Gillard in Aussie now in Australia she is admitting that Australia must focus on productivity thats enough to have the Union leaders over there having seizures they arent use to improving productivity.
Just as we need to improve productivty here at POAL, and the Affco plants
No Morrisey its all true you can watch it on sky channel 90. The other interesting thing is now that Labour has virtually been thrown out of Queensland and can only form a party because the liberals are being nice to them ie they dont have enough seats.
The Liberals have just announced they are taking $7000 stamp duty of buying a home. Halfing the Labour premieres fare increases on public transport. I bet the people of queensland are so happy to have pragmatism rather ideology rulingthem again.
What is “productivity” to you James ?
I suspect it is a measure of how much product comes out of the works and how much cargo unloaded and despatched per worker.
So you have more workers producing the same amount for a lesser wage per worker or fewer workers producing the same amount for a higher wage per worker, or you have some workers producing more than others but the average produced is the same and you pay the more productive workers more to allow for the “loafers”, or you only employ higher producing workers and contract them to maintain their higher production or lose the contract.
How do you decide which is best ?
4) And to bring back the right for the lord of the land to deflower any virgin serf of his choosing on her 16th birthday. Well any of the ones who are left by then.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said his party had not discussed the bill, which was drawn out of the private members ballot last week, and neither National nor the bill’s sponsor had discussed it with him.
“What is happening is government through media columns. It actually does not work in practice.”
For God sake why do We do it, watch that bloke Campbell make a mockery of journalism on our TV that is,
To-nights revelation that earnings of 80 grand a year are somehow putting people in the line of poverty makes us lot wonder if wee John doesn’t fall about the studio in mad fits of laughter once the lights have gone down on the nights offerings,
If 80 grand a year is sliding dangerously close to the poverty line,(according to John and the family featured),then what the fuck do these people make of the pittance those forced to survive on the minimum wage and benefits get every week…
The irony is that the people writing in saying “yeah were pulling $120,000 and we’re only just keeping our heads above water” are, I reckon, the same kinds of people that complain that solo parents with kids surviving on a fraction of that are living a luxurious lifestyle at their personal expense.
I did have some sympathy for the family featured though (interestingly viewers weren’t invited to go through their accounts with a fine toothed comb to criticise their expenditure as happens in stories about beneficiaries). I’m sure they do work very hard. The cost of living is ridiculously high, and ordinary people who expect a middle-class lifestyle are working longer and longer hours to stay still, a far cry from what that aspirational bullshit tells them is their due. Most of the middle-class is moving down economically. Unfortunately the anger is generally directed at those who have it much harder and not those with the power to make a difference. And it’s a pity the cost of living isn’t something that can be acknowledged when those who are really hard-up speak out.
I had UMR ring me up tonight and survey on a bunch of political questions relating to Sky City pokies and the Paid Parental Leave veto and that bootfaced cow Judith Collins as well as the usual. I can’t remember whether UMR has a publically released poll like Roy Morgan, does anyone know? Or was I just being surveyed by the Nats? I’m curious, as they’ve rung me before.
Tomorrow afternoon, if things go really really badly, I may find myself down to one eye. People who used to sneer at me on Twitter will no doubt say So what's changed? Nothing, that's what, you one-eyed lefty.I don’t mean to be dramatic, it’s just a routine bit of cataract ...
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
All your life is Time magazineI read it tooWhat does it mean?PressureI'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationaleBut here you are with your faithAnd your Peter Pan adviceYou have no scars on your faceAnd you cannot handle pressureSongwriter: Billy Joel.Christopher Luxon is under pressure from all sides. The reviews are ...
After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Ngāi Tahu wants to introduce contamination charges to address contamination in Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, the High Court has been told.In the second week of the two-month case against the Attorney-General over wai māori (freshwater), Dr Elizabeth Brown, the Rangatira of Taumutu, which sits on the lake’s edge, told Justice Melanie ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra ASIO chief Mike Burgess has warned that over the next five years Australia’s security environment will become more dynamic, diverse and degraded, with “more security surprises” in the second half of the decade than in ...
There is certainly plenty of room for better police training for dealing with protest activity that starts with a rights-based approach to ensuring people can fully exercise their human rights. ...
“We are thrilled that this Bill is making its way through the House and looks set to become law,” said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Gumbariya/Shutterstock The Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time in four years has triggered a round of celebration. Mortgage holders are cheering the fact their monthly repayments are now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Housing supply in Australia will be a key battleground in the election campaign. With home ownership more and more out of reach for young and not so young Australians, red tape and low productivity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Korolev, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UNSW Sydney The United States and Russia agreed to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine at high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Ukrainian and European representatives were pointedly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock Sleep is the holy grail for new parents. So no wonder many tired parents are looking for something to help their babies sleep. A TikTok trend claims ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjana Gupta, Senior Lecturer, Accounting Department, Auckland University of Technology Jirsak/Shutterstock The profit made on every breakfast bowl of weet-bix is tax exempt, giving Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an advantage over other breakfast food companies. ...
A closer look at some of the homegrown talent currently commanding television screens around the globe. The new season of The White Lotus hit our screens this week, and with it a familiar face in New Zealand actor Morgana O’Reilly. To secure a role in one of the world’s most ...
"This is a crisis of the Government’s own making and the unit is another sign of desperation," said PSA acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Perugia, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University Australia’s housing crisis has created a push for fast-tracked construction. Federal, state and territory governments have set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years. Increasing housing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ash Watson, Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock When we’re uncomfortable we say the “vibe is off”. When we’re having a good time we’re “vibing”. To assess the mood we do a “vibe check”. And when the atmosphere in ...
What’s up with the man from Epsom? The leader of the Act Party has been in plenty of headlines in the last two weeks, ranging from a controversial letter to police on behalf of constituent Philip Polkinghorne (written before David Seymour was a minister) to an attempt to drive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University Newly published research has found clear evidence that openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer+ (LGBTIQ+) Australian politicians were disproportionately targeted with personal abuse on social media at the ...
Gilmore Girls, Schitt’s Creek, even The Vampire Diaries – they’re all set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. So what is it like to actually know your neighbours? My favourite television shows are set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. Characters attend town meetings where they debate local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and ...
Wellington travellers say their buses are so hot they’re often forced to get off early and walk. Shanti Mathias explores the impact of non-functioning air conditioning on public transport. When Bella, a young professional living in Wellington, thinks about taking the bus, her first thought is “Ugh”. The bus might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Kroen, Research Fellow Planning and Transport, RMIT University The cleanup is underway in northern Queensland following the latest flooding catastrophe to hit the state. More than 7,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, most of them for inundated homes and other ...
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I see POAL has finally admitted leaking Cecil Walkers’s private details to Whaleoil. Still trying to weasel out of responsibility though, blaming Walker for being uppity. I’m looking forward to the Privacy Commissioner putting them right about that.
I hope they get put right in a severe way!
Have pro PPL people helped condemn it?
The instant answer MS and social medias made Paid Parental Leave a big issue in a slow news week. They even explored and publicised the options that might stop it.
Did this hand National the NO option on a plate?
By the third reading, probably next year, the economic outlook may be looking much better. Starting to nervously eye the 2014 election and with less justification to be miserly National may have found it very difficult to stand in the way of the PPL.
But it’s been easy for Bill English to commit to a NO now.
http://yournz.org/2012/04/12/have-pro-ppl-people-helped-condemn-it/
Irony unleashed on The Standard:
Never was-been MP unravels, ironically, on the same social media he sneers at, using a current topic to demonstrate his ability to say something should have happened later on, but only if the situation changes, and that if it does, the result will not be what was intended.
http://yournz.org/2012/04/12/have-pro-ppl-people-helped-condemn-it/
Then a young chap who does not understand the English language, the influence of time or government in general, comments that it is hypocrisy to mention things you do not understand.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12042012/comment-page-1/#comment-458168
Interesting when Labour was in and brought in parental leave for 3 months.The mother and leader of the party at that time Helen Clark was asked why they didn’t do 6 months like other countries? She replied we looked at it but it was unaffordable.
So it was unaffordable then in better economic times than now . Why would it be affordable now?
Very hypocritical for the Labour party to even be supporting the bill.This is the issue I have with the Labour party there is no pragmatism,and realism.
It’s not affordable now. But with an improving economy and re-prioritising spending it could be affordable in the future?
Why not proceed with the bill and time the phasing in for when it can be afforded? Even if that means delaying it by a year or two, that doesn’t waste the time and effort of the bill going through the parliamentary process.
But making it a political football like this…
…makes it easy for National to just keep saying no.
The bill’s best chance of success is to look for ways of making it possible, and minimising National’s chances of saying no.
It’s affordable – if we stop giving too much to those who don’t deserve it. What we can’t afford is the rich.
Why can’t Sue Moroney give some figures to her bill – she baulked and baulked on radio this morning.
Surely if you put a bill up you have costed it ????
Glad you asked, if only because it confirms your ignorance, Fortran.
Full costings are done during the process, not at the start. Usually, a bill gets amended, commented on in the house, submitted on in the committee, amended again, polished and finalised and the finished product is fully costed before it goes back for its final reading.
But, of course, that’s the process used in a democracy, not in Dipton’s dictartorship.
Probably what Labour meant was it unaffordable for them to go for more than 3 months at first on the basis of getting re-elected when it would be sure to strike hostility from the business sector and many of those who have no children, no desire to have children personally or have delayed having them.
Attitudes can of course change individually when a baby comes along and a woman with good earning rate and education wants to ensure that she can decide to follow her natural course in life but not drop out of her level in the modern employment market in its present construction.
This whole debate amazes me at the lack of fundamental questions being asked. The obvious one is can we afford it? That is fraught with political edges so I am not even going to go there.
Some questions I think relevant:
* why cant a family live on one income?
* why are careers considered more important than childrens upbringing?
* why are there not more men at home doing the child raising?
Looking at history and the low respect for wives who were just dependents of their husbands and even in the 1960s not able to open a shop account in their own name without a guarantee from a man, it is important that women can stay in the workforce, and be seen to be people to be reckoned with not despised or patronised.
What womens lib wasn’t able to achieve was an acceptance that everybody owes their being to the action of their mother carrying and giving birth and watching over them till self-reliance was learned. A decent intelligent society would make allowance for that. Parenthood is still just an annoying hobby to many employers, some of them women who have adopted the dominant male attitudes.
Good valid points. I think the bit I find worst about dependence is the need for two incomes to pay for the necessities. No easy answers there either, just a trend for wages to diminish relative to costs, and for a household to have to work longer to survive.
Bored I agree. Two wages were the key to advancing quickly and so getting a house and some things of one’s own. You both got down to work and got established and felt there was a point to the sacrifices required of time and tight schedules.
Then it all went to custard and now two wages are needed for the basics as you say. Nobody really felt the sharp end of the oncome of this though, as there was so much credit available and the economy seemed to be swinging nicely so it was all right to borrow future wages for things for now. Sorry Joe public this was an illusion but it wasn’t one of the well-known ones so passed unnoticed (no rabbits, no lady sawed in half.)
Agreed!
I stayed home with my sons, as my mother did with us. (She would have anyway, I chose to, and needed to.)
I feel very sorry for women who have to rush from the delivery suite home, and then back to work, dumping the child in a childcare warehouse on the way. (Or – who feel they have to!)
Extending PPL is affordable — if the tax cuts for the rich were reversed by lunchtime.
You would be able to afford heaps of other things as well. Things that shouldnt be expected to make a ‘profit’.
Sorry posted this in the wrong area interesting story developing here bigger than Nick Smith and a letter will it get the same coverage.
Can anyone tell me what the Meatworkers union has been doing with all the funds it has been receiving as it certainly hasnt been fully declaring them. Surely they havent been ripping off the workers ?
CEO Hamish Simson says the union has not declared its total income, and has failed to disclose what it does with its members’ contributions.
“It appears from the union’s published financial statements that only a fraction of its total income has been declared,” says Mr Simson.
“Affco workers contribute over $500,000 to the union each year, paying $5.95 each per week. Affco workers represent less than 10 percent of the 23,000 members the Union says it has and yet it only declares revenue of just over $700,000 per annum”.
Do try and keep up, Jim Jim. The funds aren’t missing and the Affco boss has made a total tit of himself.
More support from overseas Union affiliations for our workers facing incredibly hostile employers
http://cms.iuf.org/?q=node/1586
It’s been interesting as well as welcoming to see how supportive overseas Union allies have been towards the viscious assualts from both POAL and Talleys/AFFCO towards their workforce.
why havent the Meat workers union declared all of the funds they receive Rosie where is it going?
James,
Yesterday I posted this link
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/6723730/SFO-complaint-over-union-accounts
on open mike. Is this what you are referring to?
If so, you’ll see there are two sides to that story. I would be more concerned about the hostile actions of Talleys referring the MWU to the SFO. I think you’ll find that that their reasons for doing so are baseless. Given that Unions often struggle financially I would assume and that the MWU isn’t likely to be smuggling gazillions away and that this is simply a desparate bid from a bad employer to destroy their enemy, which is how they seem to view their Union partner
Aye Rosie.
Doing this the day before the commencement of mediation is particularly aggressive and stupid. It is as if Talley’s don’t want to sort things out peacefully with the Union …
I agree with with you Mickey. It does seem that Talleys have no commitment to or or intention to peacefully settle withe their Unionised employees.
We can’t forget that this is a business who made large donations to the National Party election campaign in 2005 – to the “Bosses Party”. Perhaps they now find themselves in a climate where they won’t be held to account for their oppressive actions. So now is their time to really rachet up the anti Union campaign
The Tallys blunder by believing something Cameron Slater said was credible.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10798107
Listening to RadioNZ now and Double Dipton is essentially saying fuck Parliament.
Quite rightly so to Jim Helen Clark said it was unaffordable to give six months at the time Labour brought in 3 months. I have to agree with her ,and economic conditions have only got worse.
thats got zero to do with it james.
Its parliament who pass the laws in this country, not the government of the day – if a majority of parliament vote in favour of something then by rights it shouldnt be shut down ahead of time by a veto from government.
heres a tiny experiment for you – what would be your reaction if it was labour in government doing this to a bill put forward by national that.. hmm… sought to cut business taxes?
I’m inclined to think any bill ought to be vetoable if it necessitates expenditure that hasn’t been budgeted for.
You forgot the rest of the story Jimmy111 – PPL was gradually extended, from 12 weeks in 2002 for parents who had worked for the same employer for a year to 14 weeks in 2005 and including parents with 6 months service and self-employed mothers. It was expected to increase again if Labour won the 2008 election. The issue was not whether 6 months was unaffordable, but whether it was affordable all at once.
The bill was sponsored by Laila Harre – an Alliance Party minister and picked up as Labour Party core policy.
Harre, who is now working hard for the Greens.
Charter Schools
We can be assured that this government will make them work (but at what cost?)
Will the management of a school be able to turn “potential undesirable” children/families away? Will they be able to manipulate their rolls? What will happen to “stood down” pupils?
When the PM said he wanted all children to be above average, did he mean just the children of charter schools measured against the rest of the education system?
Gossiping yesterday I was told that Shonkey’s bach in Hawaii cost $40 million (NZ I would think). Should I ask Whaleoil – he would know all about it?
so you’ve had a bad day, you need to unwind, so you do what you love, you go cycling over the ranges. You do that a lot, you’re quite good at it. Its rare for anyone to turn up behind you, or you’ve never been on that track, or that track is unfamiliar since most times anyone has passed you there has been room. Anyway, this guy comes up behind you, wants to get past, and its one of those days you just need to be left alone. But they are not going to. Why not? Why can’t he just stop on a rise, take a breath for a few minutes and you will be far off someplace. Its the generous thing to do since you’ve never encountered this problem before, someone wanting to get past you on a tight track, maybe after a coffee, a shower, a good nights sleep you’d realise (or more likely rsubconcious would), how to move over and be generous to the nuisence behind you wanting to get past. And what’s his problem anyway, cars in back lanes sometimes have to slow down until there is a passing zone, you don’t actually see cars come to a halt to let cars pass them. Any experience rider would ‘get’ that their egos might get the better of them and actively find weakness in other riders a way to boast their egos even more. And then there’s the personal mp3 player, this get out of the way isn’t going to happen card, how would anyone behind even get noticed by someone wanting to get past. So I ask what mistakes did he make when he got up that day? was it going out cycling? no, was it giving any conscious thought to the guy behind him? Hell yes. If he’d just ignored the guy behind he’d never have gotten into the altercation and so never have the police looking for him. So why did he stop and start having a conversation? Why when he had ???been forced to stop??? did he not then let the guy pass silent, smirkin and a figure in the air, was he having a mental fart, a moment of insanity trying to argue with a moron on adrendlin. Was it the insanity every middle aged guy hits, with the notion that there were now young fitter cyclists who wanted to pass him and could easily beat them in a race, faced with his own aging and weakness. You can quite understand why a younger adrenalin junky, who premedatatively took a camera with him, to allegedly haze some older rider for the laugh, and make the effort of carrying it on his head worthwhile would be so pleased with the exposer but its not a good outcome for cycling since it teaches only that sometimes you will meet up with an old fart on the track and how easy it is to start a altecation with them, a handbook in how to make cycling fun in all the wrong ways. So the lesson is when you next meet up with the old fart slowing you down, just hope they arent wearing any mp3 player, and tell them that you will stop for a few minutes to let them get ahead so you dont bump into them quite as much. They might just feel twisted inside, see themselves as a bully hogging the track and let you pass, but what you don’t do is haze the guy for he might be carrying a knife and have just been let out of the psychoward.
In other mean spiritedness, the V8 Hamilton races have stopped a car driver accessing their own private driveway one too many times and now look set to suffer either a court action that will stop the race, or worse, the racing industry will look like an petrol head excuse who tramps all over the average car owners (who don’t worship cars). Go figure. But hey, adrendlin motor heads and cyclists are drug uses too. The responsible reasonable approach is to back off and let them pass, or stop putting yourself in their face without any concern for later consequences. i.e both parties have an obligation to back off, but the druggies have to be aware that its can be an offense to disturb the peace – being high on adrendlin is no excuse. They don’t have a right to impose themselves on others and expect the outcome they want. So don’t give it to them.
Its obvious to me that the offending mountain of a biker votes ACT. No other bugger would demand everything their way at the expense of everybody else.
Let’s hope so! My sympathies are with the driver and his family…
“Faceless people” attacking Pat Lam? YEAH RIGHT.
The Auckland Blues have lost five out of their first six games, so of course there’s only one possible reason: too many darkies, both playing and coaching.
Well, that’s what “they” have been saying on the internet and on Radio Sport and NewstalkZB. And some of the people who ring in are almost as racist as the hosts.
Yet, in spite of the recent denunciations of the “gutless cowardly boofheads who hide behind the anonymity of the internet” there is little evidence that anyone, even the victims, are prepared or willing to confront the main culprits. Instead, the victims themselves have chosen to pretend that the racism infesting the airwaves is due to some vague ethereal “anonymous” presence…
Yesterday an emotionally distraught Pat Lam publicly fingered what he said was the source of these comments: “It’s the faceless people,” he blubbed. On radio this morning, Blues CEO Andy Dalton repeated that message: we don’t know who they are, these “faceless people”.
Yesterday on NewstalkZB, Larry Williams, without missing a beat, told Mark Watson that that “we get this garbage too”, and that it “goes straight into the rubbish bin.”
Listen to Susan Wood this morning on NewstalkZB: “The cowardly boofheads …anonymity of the internet….gutless…”
ENOUGH ALREADY! What Wood and Williams and (most of all) Pat Lam know perfectly well is that the source of the most vitriolic anti-Polynesian, anti-Maori comments is right under their noses. NewstalkZB/Radio Sport hosts Murray Deaker, Paul Holmes, Tony Veitch, Leighton
Smith are notorious for their racially charged comments, and their demeaning of Maori and Polynesians.
The people responsible for these ugly racist comments are not “faceless”, they are the colleagues of Wood and Williams. It’s an indictment of Lam and Dalton that they lack the courage to state this plainly.
Re: Paul Holme’s racist outbursts.
Did The Jackal ever get a reply to his complaint to the HRC about Holmes article on Watangi Day?
Unfortunately not. The HRC, Privacy Commissioner and BSA have decided to not even acknowledge complaints from me anymore, which is unbelievably undemocratic! The Ombudsman is also delaying indefinitely many of my complaints well past the allowable timeframe, which is all designed to dissuade me from making them.
Our Forensic Psychologist viewed that Pat Lam interview and laughingly pointed out the way Pat managed to stop being emotional at least twice in the news footage to look up straight faced at the interviewer in what our Psychologist called a look of ”am I believable”,
Pat using ”emotion” to head those calling for His head off at the pass so to speak…
Its bloody ugly, you note there are never complaints when the team is going well, they could not have enough darkies then!
Couple of things to note:
* In my experience I have never heard Deaker making “racist” noises, I have heard him being brave enough to address the real problems of age size differences in school rugby that touch upon ethnicity that can bring charges of racism. He may be many things but he is definitely not a racist.
* Auckland rugby is suffering badly and the Blues are symptomatic of this. A few years back the Auckland provincial and Super teams had token Palangis and Maoris, the team was very Samoan. The fear was that “smaller” players (read pakeha) were being forced out of the game and that the top level would suffer from a reduced player base. I was involved with kids rugby on the North Shore when the local unions went to great lengths to ensure that the player drain of non Polynesians was staunched, and that weight / age grades etc were promoted. When you look at the Blues and Auckland now you can see the results, the team naturally has a large Polynesian content, Auckland after all is the largest Polynesian city.The teams ethnicity is now far more mixed. It looks a bit like the local population you would see walking down the road.
Time for all Aucklanders to get behind their team, cut the crap and support Lam.
In my experience I have never heard Deaker making “racist” noises… He may be many things but he is definitely not a racist.
You obviously have not listened to Murray Deaker for very long.
Your defence of him is based on fantasy.
Ah come on Morrissey, I did not call you out on Paul Holmes, Tony Veitch, Leighton
Smith because I never listen to them ( and maybe because its on the record that they are as you describe)!
Deaks…now that’s different, listen all the time as he is prepared to ask the hard questions and listen for the answers. Have I missed an episode? Can I get it on replay? He is very much like the Mad Butcher, a real enthusiast, I doubt he would treat you differently if you were a Martian.
I presume you’re accepting of Deaker using the N word then Bored?
I stand corrected…Deaks has used the term “nigger” it appears from your article and I don’t see it as acceptable in any context. I will however go by Willie Loses interpretation that the term is wrong but the man is not a racist.
Some confusion by our good friend Bored, when he writes: “I will however go by Willie Loses interpretation that the term is wrong but the man is not a racist.”
So… he uses a racist word, repeatedly and calculatedly, but he is not a racist.
Willy Lose’s bizarre and illogical claim can partly be explained by the fact he was speaking as a colleague and was afraid of provoking the notoriously belligerent Deaker. What is your motivation for writing such nonsense?
Motivation? I happen to like the work he does on rugby and I happen to believe he is not a racist. That’s my opinion, on that we obviously differ. I tend to give people a chance before I condemn, your evidence does rather lead me to reconsider. Whats is your motivation?
Deaks…now that’s different, listen all the time as he is prepared to ask the hard questions and listen for the answers.
“Prepared to ask the hard questions?” Deaker? You’re dreaming, my friend. Obviously you were asleep when he was toadying after John O’Neill and Vernon Pugh in 2002. Deaker accepted every single word they said as they hijacked New Zealand’s games for the 2003 World Cup. What hard questions are you talking about? His advocacy of the Blackheart campaign in 2003? What “hard questions” did he ask then? When he is not acting as a sycophant and asking patsy questions, bellowing his disdain for Maori and Polynesian footballers, he’s opining for hour after hour about how “dark skinned people lack the necessary concentration to play cricket”.
Have I missed an episode? Can I get it on replay?
Are you serious? Are you trying to suggest that Deaker’s racist ranting has been confined to just a few episodes that you happen to have missed?
He is very much like the Mad Butcher, a real enthusiast,
That’s a very charitable assessment of the talent-free zone known as the Mad Butcher.
I doubt he would treat you differently if you were a Martian.
Lucky for the Martians then. Just a pity he’s such a crude bigot towards Maori and Polynesian people.
Jeez Morrissey, just read your deconstruct and fell about laughing (genuinely, it is amusing), especially about the Mad Butcher. Just to put you straight here the Butcher may be talent free as far as you are concerned BUT he has an immense and demonstrable talent for charity and kindness. Now that’s talent.
Deaks also amused me with his constant questioning of Henry over his “judge me by the results” (hard questions perhaps).
All up I have admitted I got it wrong, you wont however get me regarding Deaks as a racist.
PS Nice to get off the “political” for a change.
I can see you are a very kind and decent person, Bored. But there are a couple of points I still disagree with…
1.) “[The Mad Butcher] has an immense and demonstrable talent for charity and kindness.”
He certainly has a talent for publicising how much money he gives away.
2.) Deaks also amused me with his constant questioning of Henry over his “judge me by the results”
He’s had to shut up about that now, although you have to wonder how obnoxious he would be towards Henry and the All Blacks if there had been an unbiased referee in the World Cup final last year.
3.) you wont however get me regarding Deaks as a racist
Unfortunately, no matter how indulgently or charitably one wants to look on Deaker, his own record acts as a prosecutor against him….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21032012/#comment-449711
I will keep being kind and decent, but I promise you if I hear him being deliberately racist I will telephone in with the wrath of Bored.
National Radio, 9:50 a.m., Thursday 12 April 2012
Foreign Correspondent slot is increasingly a forum for lunatics
Who chooses the guests for this 9:50 slot? Many of them (Jack Hitt and Ray Moynihan, for instance) are excellent, but listeners have also had to suffer through such substandard and toxically biased commentators as Irris Makler, Jason Morrison, and Kate Adie.
Kathryn Ryan’s guest this morning is…uh, oh…. the notoriously unbalanced (in every sense) Dame Ann Leslie.
Dame Ann rants dyspeptically about the five Islamic men about to be sent to the United States on terrorism charges—she calls one of them, Abu Hamza, “Captain Hook”. Ryan giggles at that, and giggles continuously throughout Dame Ann’s unhinged ranting against the International Criminal Court, but never challenges her or asks her to explain herself. Then she moves it onto another topic…
RYAN: The teachers’ unions have been in the news, Dame Ann–
DAME ANN LESLIE: Arrrrgggh.
RYAN: He he he he!
DAME ANN: Every year we have to listen to the militant rabble rousingof the teacher unions!
RYAN: What are their concerns?
DAME ANN LESLIE: They never agree to any method of reforming our LOUSY education system. They need a full SIX WEEKS in the summer,… The unions have opposed EVERY EFFORT to improve the education system. All attempts to improve these schools are stifled. We are absolutely FED UP with them.
The spluttering and snarling continues for several more minutes, punctuated occasionally by Kathryn Ryan’s giggles.
Blowing the budget
National are ideologically blinded by neoliberalism. Under a John Key government, New Zealand has had to borrow billions to cover tax cuts for the wealthy. Additional consultancy fees directly attributed to cuts in public sector employment will also ensure our indebtedness for the foreseeable future…
Bill lists the targets for his scythe: public servants in Health, Social Development, Education.
Be afraid, be very afraid…
The benefits of being a scab contractor:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10798223
How many unionists are on $2300/day????
I’m a contractor and wouldn’t even get out of bed for $2300/day, but I have to pay insane amounts of tax to fund all the dpb bludgers and dole payments of unionists who refuse to work, so can’t afford to get out of bed for such a pittance.
But I guess that is why you all pay >$2 litre for petrol – to keep me in the lifestyle that I’m accustomed to.
Fuck, I love being a capitalist!
What a stirrer you want to be mister m. Stick to stirring the brown stuff that’s tea and leave the smelly stuff alone, it rubs off, smells foul and then your fine self will find high pay is no compensation.
M my man, just keep paying the ridiculous amounts of tax, enjoy the lifestyle and reflect upon your higher status as a generous person (even if you don’t want to be). And should you feel you pay too much tax, just pay it. Fear the IRD above all others.
It will disappoint you soon enough, being a proud capitalist, and a somewhat ignorant capitalist. That you think this is a world where opposites do not exist, that there is no opposing force to your pride, is a sad gap in your education. It’s even more depressing than your grasp of English. You see, no capitalist who understands capitalism, past its immediate appeal to self-interest and avarice, would say they love being a capitalist. It is like a tragic character, unaware he is a player, announcing to the audience he loves the idea he is about to never be the same, eager to leave behind his hubris and egotistical utterances in exchange for, usually, death, but in our context, risking something much worse – a living death.
It would be equally disappointing to find a communist – the modern capitalist’s arch rival – who is proud to be a communist. Capitalism sows the seeds of its own demise with its demand for increased production of things it cannot sell and in meeting the opposing force of communism, both perspectives are irrevocably changed. Once the two forces face off and struggle to the point of exhaustion, society is either reduced to the instinctual barbarism of human necessity as a result or we all move forward together in a new way; without our present isms and divisions. There is little to be proud of, once you realise the risks, unless you are mentally deranged – whichever side you stand on.
In the words of the Bard “M” sounds like ” a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”…..
Apparently all of them, according to the POAL and the right wing media.
Forget the money – you can’t take it with you. Get out of bed at dawn, don’t turn the light on, eat fruit and grains, drink a cup,of tea (without milk), walk somewhere and smile and say hello to the other walkers. Leave your cell phone at home.
Canadian workers are struggling against NeoLiberalism :
“THE STRUGGLE AGAINST NEOLIBERALISM: Canadian Workers’ Rights in the Wake of the 2008 Financial Crisis
The Electro-Motive Lockout and Non-Occupation”
Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30234
“Along with everything else, the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath created new openings and potentials for working people in the struggle against neoliberalism. A number of struggles initially opened up, including factory occupations, efforts to defend pensions and the rights of younger workers. There were important political struggles, as well, as in Wisconsin, along with newer projects to link labour and communities, in the Occupy movement.”
All neo-liberalism means is there way, you have no say. But the fact is you have a lot of say, your consent is required for a civil society to provide the efficiencies to carry all those ‘extra’ rich (and they know it and will do everything to distort, distract and misdirect).
Just heard about the death of Jack Tramiel another great computer innovator like Steve Jobs. He introduced the Commodore Pet the first accessable home computer. I knew of the computer but not the innovator – this guy was a great clever doer and survivor.
Jack Tramiel has died aged 84 years in the Usa Obit from the Washington Post.
For those who have nostalgic memories of Commodore computers and Amigas and want to read more about this Jack Tramiel.
http://awesome.commodore.me/
Ahh sad.
Started with a Vic 20 then went C64, C128 and Amiga. Picked up a Plus/4 along the way.
Dabbled in machine code and learned to program in basic – which still comes in handy with Excel in particular.
It was those retired people in the C64 clubs who were impressive. They could do things with machine code on their 64’s I could only dream about.
I remember one group in Wanganui had worked out how to get their names to appear on the screen instead of Commodore when you turned it on.
I think they used a modded chip and machine code combination.
Boulderdash, Impossible Mission, Bubble Bobble, Armalyte, Pool Of Radiance, Wizball, IK+, Buggy Boy, Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, all the Magnetic Scrolls games, Zamzara, BC’s Quest for Tires, speech synthesis, GEOS – ahh the list is endless.
Can’t forget of course those tape loading screens:
I/S on No Right Turn in “If all you have is a hammer…” makes a couple of noteworthy observations.
The first is the fact that Nationals policy announcements consists of just a load of waffle with no actual detail whatsoever – It is quite an effective strategy, albeit a darkly cynical one given the importance of the issues paid only lip service to. For those wanting to critique the ‘plans’ or even to understand them there is nothing to grasp onto. An educated or informed response is impossible when slogans are all that we have been given.
But where is the critique in the media of the lack of detail? Nationals policy announcements are about as convincing as a new years resolution and their Ministers should be laughed out of their press conferences for daring to turn up and make proclamations that are a deliberate study in vagueness.
Secondly I/S highlights the growing use of ‘the children’ as an excuse for implementing unpopular policies or reform. Once again it is only the most darkly cynical who would deliberately use peoples concern for their children to promote a course of action – when a hostage taker holds a gun to the head of someone’s child and demands obedience the violence of the act is rightly condemned by law and society – yet the governments modus operandi is now little different.
It is time that the government stopped implying that children will suffer if we don’t accept their austerity and their radical hard right agenda or that children will benefit if we do.
Austerity harms economies and harms society. The Nats don’t care about kids any more than the hostage taker does.
Somehow I think I/S is close to the truth re National and using children, cynic that I am. Interestingly, Imperator Fish has a relevant Key/English cartoon on his site today – http://www.imperatorfish.com/2012/04/this-weeks-political-gallery.html
Southland dairy farmers attempt to bully Environment Southland into changing new rules with the support of Bill English. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/dairy-farmers-and-bullying-tactics.html
Great Minds Thinking Hard about the Big Questions
NewstalkZB, Thursday 12 April 2012, 1:28 p.m.
As always at NewstalkZB, it’s an atmosphere of moral panic and befuddlement as confused callers try to come to grips with the question of the day. Today’s big topic is “teenagers committing burglaries—who’s to blame?”. As usual, there’s an easy answer for it—it’s all because parents are no longer allowed to punch, kick and whip their children. A caller called Shannon rings up host Danny Watson to share her wisdom….
SHANNON: The government took away our rights as parents when they brought in the anti-smacking law. And, yes, I KNOW there’s abuse and there’s children that get killed rah rah rah but seriously Danny—
DANNY WATSON: It’s still going on by the way. The killing.
SHANNON: Oh I knowwwwww…
What a surprise, farmers whinging about being held accountable for their destructive actions.
They’re basically complaining that they won’t be able to pollute unhindered.
I also find it amusing that they’re calling it an attack on democracy when it was the actions of farmers that resulted in the sacking of ECan and the implementation of a dictatorship in its place because they didn’t like the democratic result – rules that enforced environmental protection.
Southland Farmers are also complaining about an increase in rates that attempts to recoup the costs incurred by the industry. Dairy farmers claim they don’t want subsidies and yet that is what is occurring when the external costs of the industry continue to be covered by general ratepayers and taxpayers.
Quote of the day:
“Once an offender has been conclusively identified as a person who will never be safe around the vulnerable – particularly children – their “rights” very much take second place to the rights of children to play, or even to sleep, without a Lloyd McIntosh waiting for his chance to grab them and commit unspeakable crimes.”
David Garratt, a criminal convicted of an unspeakable crime against a child, in a guest post on Kiwiblog.
Yesterday I heard National Radio quoting Garrett’s most shameless defender, Garth McVicar, about a law and order question.
Following the brutal 2008 knife-killing of a boy in South Auckland, McVicar loudly defended the killer, and for day after day expressed scorn and contempt for the victim and his family. Yet he is still referred to by National Radio and other media outlets as a “victims’ advocate”.
Garrett and McVicar must be two of the most loathsome and hypocritical creatures in the country, yet they are still accorded respect.
Why?
Because they’re part of the old (white) boys club. The only respect such reprobates really get is from people who are racist themselves.
Or possibly it is because the National Radio producers are indolent, and go to McVicar because he always has something incendiary to say, even if it makes little sense.
pssssssst….
any of the petty petit-bourgeois around today.
they wanna ugh umm moderate me?
me.
hook!
Anyone who has bothered to register to comment over at DPF’s place, and wants a free hit on one of the resident birthers;
This thread:
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/04/general_debate_12_april_2012.html#comment-954789
‘Bereal’ talking about how Obama is going to get all busted about his birth certificate because “Sheriff Joe is on the case…..”.
In a later comment he talks about his respect for the rule of law.
point him here:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/04/10/a-little-justice-served/
… and let the poor guy know that the SSTs favorite sheriff’s legal team have been stripped of their law licenses. It looks like Joe has more to worried about that Obama. TBH.
Great to see the pressure coming on Gillard in Aussie now in Australia she is admitting that Australia must focus on productivity thats enough to have the Union leaders over there having seizures they arent use to improving productivity.
Just as we need to improve productivty here at POAL, and the Affco plants
You’re a liar and an idiot.
No Morrisey its all true you can watch it on sky channel 90. The other interesting thing is now that Labour has virtually been thrown out of Queensland and can only form a party because the liberals are being nice to them ie they dont have enough seats.
The Liberals have just announced they are taking $7000 stamp duty of buying a home. Halfing the Labour premieres fare increases on public transport. I bet the people of queensland are so happy to have pragmatism rather ideology rulingthem again.
Wow! It’s on Sky TV? It’s got to be true.
Oh,you mean buying votes?
Right wing asset selling Labor deserved to be tossed out.
But you don’t really understand anything about it Jimbo, as has been proven so many times before.
Get your little digs in, that you think are fun, and maybe you even think you are cool, or that you are winning.
I assure you that you are not, and you can not!
What is “productivity” to you James ?
I suspect it is a measure of how much product comes out of the works and how much cargo unloaded and despatched per worker.
So you have more workers producing the same amount for a lesser wage per worker or fewer workers producing the same amount for a higher wage per worker, or you have some workers producing more than others but the average produced is the same and you pay the more productive workers more to allow for the “loafers”, or you only employ higher producing workers and contract them to maintain their higher production or lose the contract.
How do you decide which is best ?
James, I think you really need to come clean and admit you want to:
1) Ban unions
2) Ban collective bargaining
3) Bring back slavery
Cheers
Millsy.
4) And to bring back the right for the lord of the land to deflower any virgin serf of his choosing on her 16th birthday. Well any of the ones who are left by then.
Something I agree with Winston Peters on:
There seems to be an expectation by some to deal with everything by media instead of using parliamentary process.
(This is related but different to Bill English ignoring parliamentary process to decide the outcome of bills before they have even been in the house.)
For God sake why do We do it, watch that bloke Campbell make a mockery of journalism on our TV that is,
To-nights revelation that earnings of 80 grand a year are somehow putting people in the line of poverty makes us lot wonder if wee John doesn’t fall about the studio in mad fits of laughter once the lights have gone down on the nights offerings,
If 80 grand a year is sliding dangerously close to the poverty line,(according to John and the family featured),then what the fuck do these people make of the pittance those forced to survive on the minimum wage and benefits get every week…
The irony is that the people writing in saying “yeah were pulling $120,000 and we’re only just keeping our heads above water” are, I reckon, the same kinds of people that complain that solo parents with kids surviving on a fraction of that are living a luxurious lifestyle at their personal expense.
I did have some sympathy for the family featured though (interestingly viewers weren’t invited to go through their accounts with a fine toothed comb to criticise their expenditure as happens in stories about beneficiaries). I’m sure they do work very hard. The cost of living is ridiculously high, and ordinary people who expect a middle-class lifestyle are working longer and longer hours to stay still, a far cry from what that aspirational bullshit tells them is their due. Most of the middle-class is moving down economically. Unfortunately the anger is generally directed at those who have it much harder and not those with the power to make a difference. And it’s a pity the cost of living isn’t something that can be acknowledged when those who are really hard-up speak out.
I had UMR ring me up tonight and survey on a bunch of political questions relating to Sky City pokies and the Paid Parental Leave veto and that bootfaced cow Judith Collins as well as the usual. I can’t remember whether UMR has a publically released poll like Roy Morgan, does anyone know? Or was I just being surveyed by the Nats? I’m curious, as they’ve rung me before.
I thought UMR did the internal polling for Labour.