Open mike 12/04/2013

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 12th, 2013 - 158 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

158 comments on “Open mike 12/04/2013 ”

  • Comments are now closed

    • Colonial Viper 1.1
      12 April 2013 at 8:30 am

      Workers co-op…let the workers take over the plant when the corporates or the government abandon it.

      • BM 1.1.1
        12 April 2013 at 8:50 am

        In a worker co-op what happens if the co-op loses money?
        I’m guessing everyone have to stump up with extra coin to bail it out.

        Which is the probably the main reason you don’t see too many co-ops, lets face it the average person wants to go to work do his /her 8 hours and go home, they don’t want to worry about not being paid or losing their shirts if the co-op goes tits up.

        • muzza 1.1.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 8:56 am

          How about when the the banks lose money a la, Cyprus – Who got the hair-cut then genius!

          The quality of, *right* comments here has fallen dramatically, the thinking has become som sub par!

          BM, C73, for christs sake its low grade!

        • felix 1.1.1.2
          12 April 2013 at 10:29 am

          BM workers lose their shirts and don’t get paid when just about any enterprise goes tits-up. (Although National and Novopay are working on extending that to functioning enterprises too.)

          • BM 1.1.1.2.1
            12 April 2013 at 10:42 am

            Yes employees do lose a bit of coin, but they’re not liable for any debts that the company they work for owe.
            With a co-op they become owners and are liable for monies owed.
            Most people aren’t too enthusiastic about that and prefer to just be employees and there’s nothing wrong with that.

            • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.2.1.1
              12 April 2013 at 11:07 am

              Yes employees do lose a bit of coin, but they’re not liable for any debts that the company they work for owe.

              So why is it that they’re the ones paying? It’s almost always the employees and sub-contractors that wear the loss when a business fails. We saw that when Mainzeal collapsed.

              Most people aren’t too enthusiastic about that and prefer to just be employees and there’s nothing wrong with that.

              I didn’t know you knew most people.

              The reports I’ve seen about those factories in South America that were taken over by the workers the workers were more than happy and felt that it had opened up their horizons. I suspect that the same would be true of the workers in NZ. The problem is, IMO, getting over the cultural concept that we need bosses. If we work together we don’t.

              • BM …
                12 April 2013 at 11:21 am

                Yes, the subbies get shafted but that’s the risk you take when you go into business.
                It’s a trade off, more money = more risk.
                The employees lose their wages that is all which may be a week or two + some holiday pay.

                I talked to many people about self employment most if not all are happy just doing a 40 hr week.
                This is especially true in a small business setup as the employees see first hand how much time and effort goes into keeping a small business running.

                • freedom …
                  12 April 2013 at 11:32 am

                  http://www.nceo.org/articles/employee-ownership-100
                  like these 100 ‘small’ employee owned businesses BM

                  better check the expiration date of your wingnut juice, you guys are becoming an embarrasment to your masters

                  • BM …
                    12 April 2013 at 11:40 am

                    Bud, I couldn’t give a shit if people want to get together and form a co-op, I wish them all the luck in the world.
                    A co-op is no different to any business that starts up, anyone who succeeds especially in the current economic climate deserves plenty of praise.

                    • McFlock …
                      12 April 2013 at 1:28 pm

                      Of course, the existence of a number of large cooperatives suggests a certain sample bias in the people you speak to, ” most if not all are happy just doing a 40 hr week”.

                      Besides, I thought the nacts were running an excellent, business-friendly economy that really helps the job producers in NZ. Can’t think where I got that impression from.

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  12 April 2013 at 3:03 pm

                  Yes, the subbies get shafted but that’s the risk you take when you go into business.
                  It’s a trade off, more money = more risk.

                  The problem with that is that the subbies aren’t getting more money.

                  This is especially true in a small business setup as the employees see first hand how much time and effort goes into keeping a small business running.

                  And in a co-op they’d be able to share it around.

            • Te Reo Putake 1.1.1.2.1.2
              12 April 2013 at 2:41 pm

              “With a co-op they become owners and are liable for monies owed.”

              Not always, BM. It would depend on how the coop was set up, particularly the initial set up costs. Just like any other Ltd Co. in NZ, there would likely be bank overdrafts to tide of temporary dips in trade and should the business fail, then it would depend on the ownership structure, the securities and how personal the liabilities were before any shareholder would be liable.

              NZ has famously soft bankruptcy provisions, and an established business environment that allows the broke Acme Widgets to fold and then Acme Widgets 2013 Ltd. to rise from the ashes with the same ownership and management.

              So, what I’m saying is that a coop is subject to the same business laws and operating dynamics as any other kiwi business. And the same (limited) risks. The key question would be how much it costs to set it up. Buying an existing, but bankrupt, business is obviously way cheaper than starting from scratch, so individual workers may have very small exposure in the event of it failing. And if the ownership is vested in a trust, then it is the trust that would go broke, not the individual worker/owners.

            • North 1.1.1.2.1.3
              12 April 2013 at 5:59 pm

              BM @ 1.1.1.2.1: in your fervour to disseminate elitist neo-liberal rubbish you don’t even understand, you prove an appalling ignorance which disqualifies you from pushing even that shit-barrow.

              Your minimalisation – “Yes employees do lose a bit of coin……” followed by the contradistinction – “but they’re not liable for any of the debts that the company they work for owe.” – is ignorant bullshit !

              170 plus finance companies gone down the gurgler for billions of dollars in recent years. In the main their directors and shareholders walked away, as a matter of law owing not a skerrick of debt. Not because they were NOT co-operatively themed enterprises but because they were incorporated as limited liability companies. So your attempt at highlighting a “sufficient” quid pro quo is ignorant bullshit !

              There is NOTHING to stop a co-operatively themed enterprise meeting the legal requirements for incorporation as a limited liability company. In which case the “owners” of the “co-operative” walk away just like your wide-boys.

              What you’re really saying is that you don’t like the IDEA of co-operatively themed enterprises because that runs counter to the gospel according to Thatcher, Reagan, Key and ACT. And, in keeping with the neo-liberal “wisdom”, workers are essentially inferior and incapable. Well come right out and say it then and be judged for the lunacy of that assertion. Just don’t bullshit about the legal and commercial facts.

              I don’t know whether you’re a two-bob Tory or not. You sound like one. Certainly you are in the nature of a cheap snob, an ignorant and wrongheaded one at that.

              • BM …
                12 April 2013 at 6:35 pm

                I thought you were my friend 😐

              • felix …
                12 April 2013 at 7:04 pm

                BM is a fucking child.

                He’s deftly demonstrated that he knows next to fuck all about how most enterprises are structured, yet he thinks he can dictate the ownership structure, liability, and finance arrangements of a hypothetical enterprise he wants no part of.

                Well done BM, you’ve just proved that a co-op imagined by an idiot could well be a miserable failure.

                • BM …
                  12 April 2013 at 7:18 pm

                  Once again I couldn’t give a fuck if some people want to start a co-op.
                  Big fucking deal,.
                  The thing is, I’m not some ideologically driven wanker such as yourself where everything must follow a particular path,
                  if a co-op rocks your boat, go for it.
                  If you want to start and run your own business and employ people, whoo hoo more power to you.
                  If you’re happy to be a wage slave, good for you, whom am I to judge.

                  The one size fits all theoretical bull shit is what holds the left back.

                  • felix …
                    12 April 2013 at 7:28 pm

                    “The thing is, I’m not some ideologically driven wanker such as yourself where everything must follow a particular path”

                    lolz, according to your comments above anyone starting a co-op must follow a very particular path. And as it happens it’s a stupid, poorly conceived path which I imagine no-one would be particularly interested in following.

                    And that, my dim-witted little chum, is why why can’t see many examples of the type of stupid, poorly conceived strawman co-ops that you brilliantly imagined.

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    12 April 2013 at 10:21 pm

                    The thing is, I’m not some ideologically driven wanker such as yourself where everything must follow a particular path,

                    Yes you are. You believe that everyone must submit to the capitalist paradigm, that the rich are the saviours and that everyone else is a loser. So as not to consider yourself a loser you model yourself upon the rich and thus becoming the biggest loser of all as you lose yourself.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      12 April 2013 at 10:36 pm

                      Isn’t it funny. The most ardent idealogues always believe that their view is the only rational, correct one, and that all other peoples are deluded.

      • red rattler 1.2.1
        12 April 2013 at 10:44 pm

        Co-ops are just a way of allowing workers to take over bankrupt businesses to keep their jobs.
        They still have to go to the banks for funds, play by all the rules, so in itself its not at all an alternative to capitalism.
        The co-ops in Argentina that came out of the 2001 Argentinazo were enabled by a law which allowed them to contest with the boss for ownership in lieu of unpaid wages. Where they won the workers ended up as legal shareholders, no different to a capitalist business except they decide collectively what they can pay in wages rather than a boss.
        Co-ops can play a progressive role if worker-owners come to see them as more than running a business and part of a wider strategy of socialisation that means taking over the whole economy.
        The co-ops in Argentina that joined forces and tried to set up a co-op trading system inside the capitalist economy were heading in the right direction. In the process they see the need to plan production on a large scale rather than be concerned only with their own success.
        But without state banks, and without socialisation of more strategic industries, which means a socialist government and socialist plan, co-ops will always remain a fringe activity unable to break out of the global capitalist economy.

        • Colonial Viper 1.2.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 10:48 pm

          A reason why Mondragon built and uses its own bank.

          A network of collective and and mutual organisations can work together to gain a degree of independence from the retail banks.

          Building societies and credit unions working hand in hand with manufacturing and service collectives.

  2. mickysavage 2
    12 April 2013 at 7:25 am

    Marie Schroff has suggested that anyone wondering if they are being spied on by the GCSB should ask if this is so.

    So I thought I would do so and have emailed on the following terms. Other Standardistas may wish to do the same.

    “info@gcsb.govt.nz

    Request for personal information

    Dear Ian

    I note the GCSB is alleged to have illegally spied on 88 New Zealanders over the past few years. The allegation is contained in the Kitteridge report which somehow was recently leaked to the media.

    I can’t imagine why but I wondered if I was one of the 88. So pursuant to the Official Information Act 1982 and/or the Privacy Act 1993 can you tell me if I am on that list and if so what information you obtained about me?

    My full name is #### and my date of birth is ####.

    Looking forward to your reply.

    Yours etc”

    • mickysavage 2.1
      12 April 2013 at 7:47 am

      And my email bounced back …

      According to the GCSB website the email is right.

      Maybe their email address is a secret one?

    • veutoviper 2.2
      12 April 2013 at 12:40 pm

      I have decided to do the same after hearing Keith Locke and others talking about this on Checkpoint last night. We all have the right to know whether we have been subject to the interest of the GCSB and/or the SIS, and if so, what they have – irrespective of whether or not we might be one of the 88.

      So my OIA/Privacy Act request will not refer to the latter – just be a general inquiry, probably in the form of a written letter by snail mail (registerd?) rather than letting them know my email …..

      The devil in me would like to see them inundated with such requests.

  3. The Al1en 3
    12 April 2013 at 8:01 am

    Surprise, Key goes non stick, and Labour, yet again, mess up another open goal chance. Two left feet, not likely.
    Gower trots out the spin, the public are becalmed, and the ‘main’ opposition still collect the wage packets despite being totally crap and ineffective.

    Good work, numb nuts.

    • JK 3.1
      12 April 2013 at 8:28 am

      Can you clarify please The Allen – what’s Labour done/said now ? I missed the news …..

      • The Al1en 3.1.1
        12 April 2013 at 8:40 am

        Gower on three news this morning spinning the nat company line and bringing Labour’s latest failure [The swing and a miss at the overseer] to the surface for all to see.
        Still, it’s not like voters don’t already know dead ducks, fish and toxic shit float.
        Better luck next time, Grant.

        [rob: your email address in last 2 comments is incorrect, I am fixing it for you, please check…]

        • The Al1en 3.1.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 8:47 am

          Sorry about and thanks for that mate, some arsehat gcsb hacker agent must have planted the extra letter in my email address when I wasn’t looking.
          A lesson for all to remain vigilant like Rob. 😆

    • tc 3.2
      12 April 2013 at 8:32 am

      Yes it just makes them all the more gung ho and they will go for broke now having got the bumbling DS and old guard entrenched till 2014.

      Watching DS/Curran/King/mallard etc and it’s job done, they look like the useless troughers the NACT are in terms of getting middle, lower NZ out of the intentional dive they’ve been put in.

  4. muzza 4
    12 April 2013 at 8:39 am

    http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/11/uk-cyprus-bailout-gold-idUKBRE93A0JS20130411

    Heavily indebted euro zone nations such as Italy and Portugal could come under pressure to put their bullion reserves to work as a result of plans for Cyprus to sell gold to meet its financing needs.

    NZ handed over its gold reserves to the IMF in 1961, and have been implementing the conditionalities policies , which came with the loans , ever since!

    This will be the continued M.O, to ensure that the real currency (no fiat), continues to find its way to the tip top of the pyramid!

    Now why would it be of such high priority/interest to get hold of the gold!

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      12 April 2013 at 11:35 am

      Now why would it be of such high priority/interest to get hold of the gold!

      Good question especially considering how useless gold is.

      • muzza 4.1.1
        12 April 2013 at 2:01 pm

        Are you suggesting that being forced to hand over gold reserves, should provide loss of *no value*?

        Seems to be of value when using to service a nations own fraudulant debt, consisting of paper, digital figures, etc.

        Someones think its of value B, thats really the important part of the discussion!

        • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 3:08 pm

          Are you suggesting that being forced to hand over gold reserves, should provide loss of *no value*?

          Yep, pretty much.

          • muzza 4.1.1.1.1
            13 April 2013 at 9:27 am

            Would you like to put come context around that last Draco?

            • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.1.1.1
              13 April 2013 at 11:54 am

              Money is always fiat. I’ve explained this before and so those debts aren’t fraudulent except in how they came about (countries don’t need to borrow as they have the resources needed to maintain themselves). The big thing about debt is that the person or government in debt can always renege on it. That’s the risk of loaning money to people and/or governments.

              Now, consider the uselessness of gold. Most of it gets dug up, turned into bars and sealed in a vault somewhere.

              What I’m getting at here is that there’s a belief that gold is valuable when it actually isn’t. Same can be said of money really.

  5. muzza 5
    12 April 2013 at 8:42 am

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9988358/Cyprus-bailout-cost-surges-to-23bn.html

    Cyprus bailout cost surges to €23bn

    The financial crisis ravaging Cyprus deepened on Thursday after the cost of the country’s bail-out surged from €17.5bn to €23bn – larger than the size of the country’s economy.

    BOOM – Just like that, 34% increase in the cost of the *bailout*!

    Next Stop….

  6. aerobubble 6
    12 April 2013 at 9:35 am

    Yippy! No need for Austerity in the UK!
    Turns out Thatcher squirreled away billions
    by not giving it to Europe!!!

    Propaganda swept away criticism of Thatcher,
    that even after her death she still has them working
    to twisted logic to make her look good.

    They could not find anything to justify their
    adoration of her, but then they remembered
    she saved all that money from being paid
    to the Eu, despite ignoring the horrendous
    Austerity program they are rolling out due to
    her market economic ideology failing so
    spectacularly. Tories still delusional dills.

    In NZ the Pike River Mine families find out
    that deregulation of their industry by
    parliamentarians led to their loved ones death.

    Lucky that hey, that the only people in the
    system who can’t be held to account, MPs,
    who did away with a upper chamber to cut corners,
    who did away with regulations of mines, to the
    chorus of the-market-will-provide, are not now
    accountable.

    Its was a massive herding by media to stop, distort,
    dismiss, criticism of favored politicians. Politicians
    who thought it would never catch up to them.

      • aerobubble 6.1.1
        12 April 2013 at 1:09 pm

        When asked about Thatchers legacy, a british MP said that she saved Britian billions by standing up to the EU over the budget refund. I took offense to this considering the wasteland caused by
        Austerity, how is the great gamble that has left Britain in such fiscal crisis placated by this one off temporary victory that failed to save UK from ravages of the GFC.

        • muzza 6.1.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 2:06 pm

          LOL, the would have been refering to the UK, EU rebate!

          Needless to say its like paying your yearly tax bill, then receiving a fraction of it back as * a return*. and believing that you’re up on the deal!

          • aerobubble 6.1.1.1.1
            13 April 2013 at 12:03 pm

            Its rich, that Conservatives are beating themselves up to find a good reason to justify their adoration for Thatcher by citing how she got them a rebate, have they seen the effects of debt, of austerity, of polarization, she has left in her wake.

    • North 6.2
      12 April 2013 at 6:30 pm

      Hey…….Bunter Brownlee’s going to London for the the Vile Old Bag’s send off.

      Be a bugger if he’s flying Samoa Air which apparently wants to levy a significant surcharge for obesity.

      Apologies for my churlishness but I still well remember ’72 when all the brainiac Tories could say about Norm Kirk was this – “Well, if he can’t control his own weight how can he control a country ?

      No apologies re the Vile Old Bag. Pensioners died from the cold while she hosted Pinochet. And lauded the “reasonable” people in the Khmer Rouge. And declaimed Nelson Mandela as a terrorist.

      • Morrissey 6.2.1
        12 April 2013 at 7:42 pm

        And praised the Taliban as freedom-fighters. And supported Saddam Hussein. And turned her hateful gimlet eye on the Irish hunger-strikers, and let them die.

  7. johnm 7
    12 April 2013 at 9:49 am

    More Austerity class war dispatches from the Artist Taxi drive from the U$K

    Who are the True Blues?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GueMzVfhvc&list=UUGThM-ZZBba1Zl9rU-XeR-A&index=2

    **G8 Special** BBC Sucks O Cocks News
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcmkrShK-GM&list=UUGThM-ZZBba1Zl9rU-XeR-A&index=1

    “This bloody government are laughing at the poor. Remember when they were told that cuts must be made to welfare…..all the bloody Tories CHEERED like the evil pigs that they are. This myth of a so called recession is just a cover to take everything away from the poor and disabled and give it to the filthy rich!!! Keep telling it like it is Mark!”
    “Oh my god. I have just heard a load of fucking celebrities are going thatchers funeral. It is a fucking pr stunt. They are glorifying this bitch and her policies so they can bring more of them in. What the fuck has Jeremy Clarkson got to do with it? The bbc is true blue for sure. 7 hours of necrophilia in parliament and now this. This is just fucking weird. Are one direction going to perform karma chameleon at the funeral?”
    “Keep it going Mark!! This drooling over Thatcher has made me physically sick. And the BBC calls those of us who are not shedding a tear anarchists?! Try telling that to my Dad…one of thousands of Thames Lightermen who lost their jobs in the 1980s because of her. He won’t even talk about it to this day. Honest working people who never claimed a days benefit ripped apart. And we’re seeing it all over again. I will never forgive Thatcher.”
    “Well said mark it’s an all out attack on the vulnerable while gov blood sucking parasites claim thousands in tax payers money. Its about greed. Smoke and mirrors media whoring about scroungers. I’m too disabled at 58 to work I’m raging angry too. I’ve no heat with chronic body spasms and chronic asthma triggered by cold to pay this bedroom tax. It’s either no heat little food or evicted from my home.Six worn discs, chronic pain, and housebound. Atos!!! says I’m fit to work!!!! Utter disgrace!!!We need to redo this gov”

    • ianmac 8.1
      12 April 2013 at 11:06 am

      Give that frigate a $100,000 fine and a prison sentence. How dare they protest!

    • Murray Olsen 8.2
      12 April 2013 at 2:10 pm

      We’ve fallen a long, long way. Shearer would probably want to pay Blackwater’s Ocean Division to send a ship, given his love of mercenaries. And seeing that the testing has stopped, the protest would probably be for the French to start up again.
      It felt good to be a Kiwi when Big Norm sent that ship. Since then, it’s mostly just felt embarrassing. Even Lange’s witty slapping down of a frat boy from Jerry Falwell College was just a diversion from what Douglas was doing.
      Now we have a Labour Party that believes in what? That we’re lucky to have them in opposition because they hold the government to account? Great, that seems to be their plan for the foreseeable future.

  9. chris73 9
    12 April 2013 at 11:20 am

    So I’ve got a decision to make, in my new job I (I left my old one a month ago because I hated it) I have the opportunity to join the PSA

    On the one hand I think unions are out for themselves at the expense of others but on the other hand I do like to get more than others for doing the same job…decisions, decisions

    • The Al1en 9.1
      12 April 2013 at 11:24 am

      “in my new job I (I left my old one a month ago because I hated it)”

      90 day sack law you voted for come back and bite you on the arse did it?

      • chris73 9.1.1
        12 April 2013 at 11:44 am

        I left my old job (had been there 4 years) because I hated it and have found a new job doing what I actually like

        • The Al1en 9.1.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 11:51 am

          Yeah, you would say that. 😆

          • chris73 9.1.1.1.1
            12 April 2013 at 12:00 pm

            I agree with the 90 day law, I think its a good thing and working well (I notice Labour or the Greens don’t talk about it much anymore)

            But thats what you do if you’re in a job you don’t like, you leave when you can and find a better job…don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner

            • The Al1en 9.1.1.1.1.1
              12 April 2013 at 3:49 pm

              “But thats what you do if you’re in a job you don’t like, you leave when you can and find a better job…don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner”

              Should have just exploited the fact most bosses are shit and take liberties with employment contracts and work place relations.
              Two for two at the era, so far, and it would have been a threepeat had I not settled for a new pair of boots and an apology, saving the jobs of one, maybe two staff who would have been let go to afford the expected payout.
              Social conscience cost me more than a few grand, but ninety day sack laws are tools of the weak.

              • chris73 …
                12 April 2013 at 4:03 pm

                “Should have just exploited the fact most bosses are shit and take liberties with employment contracts and work place relations.”

                – There was nothing wrong with the job, I just didn’t like it so why would I have anything to do with that when I was the one with the problem?

                • The Al1en …
                  12 April 2013 at 4:26 pm

                  “There was nothing wrong with the job, I just didn’t like it so why would I have anything to do with that when I was the one with the problem?”

                  No other reason than to say bosses are shit and I’m a lot better than at least three of them are 🙂

            • Draco T Bastard 9.1.1.1.1.2
              12 April 2013 at 7:30 pm

              Key’s broken promise on raising wages
              Has a lovely graph on it showing the precise amount of difference that the 90 day fire at will bill made on unemployment.

        • fender 9.1.1.2
          12 April 2013 at 11:57 am

          ‘ ….found a new job doing what I actually like’

          Good luck finding someone to pay you for jerking off.

        • North 9.1.1.3
          12 April 2013 at 8:18 pm

          Chris73 you better keep your trolling mouth shut at the new job that you like because you open it and they’re gonna think you’re an arsehole and a wanker and a wannabe Key Cargo Cultist.

    • freedom 9.2
      12 April 2013 at 11:26 am

      “I think unions are out for themselves at the expense of others but on the other hand I do like to get more than others for doing the same job”

      you do realise what you just said right?

      if more people joined the union, more people would have more

      love your work man, 😎

      • chris73 9.2.1
        12 April 2013 at 11:48 am

        I didn’t explain myself as well as I could have (the perils of concentrating on marvel avengers alliance)

        Basically I know I might get more benefits for myself by joining the psa however the more I get has to come from somewhere plus it’d make me a hypocrite if i did join…

        • One Anonymous Knucklehead 9.2.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 11:51 am

          “has to come from somewhere”

          Yep – it would come from the power that association brings, and it would boost profits for the owners too – cf: Australia, Germany etc.

          • chris73 9.2.1.1.1
            12 April 2013 at 12:06 pm

            Except in this its a government job so the extra benefits would I guess be paid for by tax payers

            • Blue 9.2.1.1.1.1
              12 April 2013 at 12:45 pm

              If you’ve taken a public service job you’re already a hypocrite.

              • chris73 …
                12 April 2013 at 12:51 pm

                Not really, just the job I’m doing falls under the banner.

                • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                  12 April 2013 at 6:48 pm

                  …not to mention your bludging off the taxpayer in the army. What? You think one public service job is somehow different from another?

        • freedom 9.2.1.2
          12 April 2013 at 11:54 am

          or you could acknowledge the subconscious event and accept you might have grown a little 🙂

          Maybe you realised, deep down inside, that a little less profit to create a bit more pay
          is a lot better for everybody

          • chris73 9.2.1.2.1
            12 April 2013 at 12:04 pm

            I agree withe unions in theory, what i dont like are unions like the teachers union who are more concerned with protecting their members as opposed to helping (and in some cases) protecting students

            • Murray Olsen 9.2.1.2.1.1
              12 April 2013 at 2:20 pm

              You must really hate the Police Association, who are more concerned with protecting their members as opposed to campaigning for and protecting the accused. Or is that not a union, and therefore allowed to act on behalf of its members?
              What on earth do you think unions are for? Have you ever stopped to think that they may have some other purpose than giving Slater a hardon every time he types out “union scum”?
              You probably think consumer associations should protect the rights of employers, as should employer associations.
              On another note: which organisations do the most to attack and fail to protect young people, the Teachers’ Unions or your beloved Tory government?

              • chris73 …
                12 April 2013 at 2:45 pm

                You must really hate the Police Association, who are more concerned with protecting their members as opposed to campaigning for and protecting the accused.

                – They also have gone too far in terms of putting their own interests first, it is a tough one though because some of their concerns are actually about life and death situations

                – But like anything unions (and we’ll go with unions in NZ) started out with great intentions and did some excellent work but as the saying goes a little bit of power…I’m sure we all remember the strikes in the 70s-80s,especially the interislander (for me the very late 70s)

                • North …
                  12 April 2013 at 8:30 pm

                  Chris73 do you realise what an arch-idiot you are saying what you said about teachers and their union(s) ? Teachers don’t care about the kids ???? Fuck off ! You’re no better than that flatulent lump from Waitakere with all her facile bullshit.

                  And if I ever saw a ridiculous non-sequitur you provide it in your comment about Police Association not protecting and campaigning on behalf of the accused.

                  How can a punkarsed neo-liberal like you presume to speak pejoratively about tenuously identified “self-interest” in others ?

                • felix …
                  12 April 2013 at 9:25 pm

                  “but as the saying goes a little bit of power…”

                  In case you’ve genuinely forgotten the rest of that sentence, allow me:

                  A little bit of power and nek minit workplace safety, meal breaks, holidays, penal rates, a wage that supports a family, job security, allowances for costs, right to collective bargaining, legal representation.

                  You’re welcome.

            • One Anonymous Knucklehead 9.2.1.2.1.2
              12 April 2013 at 7:56 pm

              Why do you always talk such shit, Chris73?

              Regarding your hatred of teachers, put up or shut up, asshole.

        • Tigger 9.2.1.3
          12 April 2013 at 12:07 pm

          Describing your penis as ‘Marvel Avengers Alliance’ is not only sad, I suspect it’s breaching Disney’s copyright.

          • chris73 9.2.1.3.1
            12 April 2013 at 12:16 pm

            Hulk smash!

            • McFlock 9.2.1.3.1.1
              12 April 2013 at 1:37 pm

              Um – if your knob has swelled massively and (more importantly) turned green, I suggest you examine whether PSA membership includes any health benefits.

              • chris73 …
                12 April 2013 at 2:34 pm

                To paraphrase Don Brash:

                “I don’t think the moderators want any posters to be talking about my gentlemens sausage to be quite frank”

    • RedBaronCv 9.3
      12 April 2013 at 7:27 pm

      Careful now Chris – you need to get past the 90 days – before you haven’t wasted your money on union fees

  10. Professor Longhair 10
    12 April 2013 at 11:21 am

    Just another day in the Occupation
    Israeli troops shoot Palestinian photographer in the face

    He was recording their invasion of a refugee camp in Aida.

    Next time some halfwit tries to tell you that Israel is a democratic country, say: “Then explain this, Dr. Bassett”….

    http://972mag.com/photos-palestinian-photographer-shot-in-the-face-by-israeli-troops/68897/

    • Murray Olsen 10.1
      12 April 2013 at 2:25 pm

      I don’t see how that makes Israel a non democratic country, Prof. A country run by a brutal state that doesn’t give a shit about minority rights, international law, or human decency, sure. I just don’t see what it is about democracy that makes those things impossible.

  11. Sam 11
    12 April 2013 at 11:33 am

    Great to see David Cunliffe raising the questions that need answering about taxes and multinationals in the NZH today. About time we saw some good thought leadership happening from our politicians.

    This is the kind of vision stuff the country is craving. Ties in the economic and social arguments and gets people thinking.

    Why on earth aren’t they using Cunliffe more? Given every time he speaks/ writes at the moment, he effectively exposes the Government’s flaws. Good stuff. We want more!

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10877012.

    • Murray Olsen 11.1
      12 April 2013 at 2:27 pm

      I suspect they would rather lose the next election and hold onto their jobs and salaries rather than actual challenge neoliberal orthodoxy, even to the extent that Cunliffe does. They won’t use him because their beliefs are closer to Key’s than they are to his.

    • RedBaronCv 11.2
      12 April 2013 at 7:00 pm

      And by the look of the comments the punters agree. Way to go David.

  12. Rogue Trooper 12
    12 April 2013 at 12:13 pm

    3: “hospital meals, may be a week old after preparation before consumption.”
    South Korea : Watch-con too.
    “Noahs Ark” project-the tiger, the lion and the grizzly bear; “and the lambs shall lay with…”
    Reinsurance flows will increase the $ / TWI

    mango or Shelly, shark-infested swamps?

    CL: Cadmium;” Heavy metals are part of our economy (super=phosphate)
    oh, kidney failure? wait…breast cancer, testicular cancer
    residues 5 x in dairying / agricultural fields
    highest levels in their systems-vegetarians, unfortunately, and wheat consumers.
    good evidence kiwis exceed safe limits of ingestion most nights (potatoes)
    un-marketable offal? goes into blood and bone

    (turnips” will suck it up privately, turnips)
    sooo, now land values and food security are questionable; an Energizer bunny indeed.

    threat of Zespri staff being arrested in the home of the goose-berry; Key- “it’s an important market, we need to grow that.” PSA? Hello, cat got your memory? or is just an ornament to the side of the stocking. (don’t forget the bed of fire-clay in the coal mine then).

    thank goodness we can relax ourselves with the 50th anniversary of the good Dr (on Prime)
    -“run you clever boy, and remember”
    (Celia Imrie, whoar) pointless being a monk and fez are not fetching for every one.
    “hoovering up data and hoovering up people”.

    see, 101 places to be; 🙂

    Morning Report-” 3 more years of house prices rising steply in Ak, Well. and ChCh; Forbidden cities indeed.

    proverb you won’t read on kiwiblog:
    4.20 expiration am, gears loose wearing, mystery won’t see them again. Dingle (Keyser alarm saze) the exhaust pyrometer is climbing into the red.

    • Lanthanide 13.2
      12 April 2013 at 1:07 pm

      Talk about paranoid:

      A couple of very low flying UPS 767s that have me questioning whether or not all planes that are painted to APPEAR to be a regular commercial traffic; if not, then who is running this utterly massive global operation?

      Who is the boss? Who can compromise every single Federal agency that might be capable of figuring it out?

      http://weatherwars.info/

      It’s actually a nice role that wikileaks offered, really. You can say to all these conspiracy nuts: “if this really is such a massive coverup, how come no one has leaked it to wikileaks yet?”.

    • muzza 13.4
      12 April 2013 at 2:13 pm

      Why are you reading it then posting it here PB?

      Make you feel safe/confident in yourself that you know whats going on by doing so?
      Then seeking affirmation from the site herd, that you’re *in the know* about this….

      You got Joe90, and Lanth – SCORE!

      Joe -Still waiting for your reponse about SFO, as it related to that picture you posted the many days ago now!

      • Pascal's bookie 13.4.1
        12 April 2013 at 2:28 pm

        “Why are you reading it then posting it here PB?”

        Because it’s fucking funny muzza.

        • McFlock 13.4.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 2:38 pm

          lol

        • muzza 13.4.1.2
          12 April 2013 at 2:43 pm

          Why would a subject with high likelihood of serious negative consequences, which are going to impossible to measure/forecast the fallout of, be so funny to you!

          Best hope its not happening eh bro, if you want to keep that attitude up!

          • McFlock 13.4.1.2.1
            12 April 2013 at 3:04 pm

            Approaching the point, Muzz.

            [sigh]
            You are assuming a highly complex explanation based on scant evidence. You then interpret all subsequent data so that it fits your hypothesis. To the point of absurdity and, yes, humour.

            And for my part I’m assuming that your confirmation bias is the result of stupidity, and not part of some elaborate social “experiment” you are conducting without documentation, peer review, ethics committee authorisation or participant consent.

            How is Project Onan going, by the way?

            • muzza 13.4.1.2.1.1
              12 April 2013 at 3:46 pm

              As I said to P’s B, best hope its not actually happening then eh, McFlock!

              And perhaps keep the stupidity for the perception bias you’ve formed about my online handle here, I’ll leave perception bias to the un-evolved, and wait for them to catch up, which will be a wee way of for most, if ever!

              Scant evidence – McFlock, its only the threat to the egos of the *self styled*, who want to believe this, as it’s an affront to all they believe to *know*, about the world, and the self esteem is not prepared to accept that sort of abuse, as yet!

              P’s B (below comment) – Monkton, has only ever been an attempt to distract, which many have brought into. He represents various interests and plays the role, somewhat effectively, although it looks like he has a whole new set of issues to deal with, and I would expect him to disappear from the stage pretty quickly, or change tact.

              • McFlock …
                12 April 2013 at 4:37 pm

                Best hope that the zombies don’t attack you tonight, eh!

                Given that now you’re blaming your handle for perceptions about your beliefs regarding contrails, are we to infer that your contrail obsession is actually a contrivance constructed as part of your social “experiments” here, muzz?

                But we do agree that monckton is an intentional distraction. I think he’s a shill for the dying fossil fuels industry. You think he’s a cover-up for what: contrail-engineered global warming? Cui bono – who benefits?

                • muzza …
                  13 April 2013 at 9:55 am

                  Zombies – What are you on about McFlock, watching too many movies, or getting stuck into the *bath salts* perhaps.

                  The experiments are going on at your expense, along with everyone else’s, including my own!

                  All I ‘m doing is commenting on the experiments, which are not yet mainstream, and watching people live completely unaware of what is going on around them. Even those who somewhat are aware, still have constraints which are allowing the experiments you refer, to continue, and its all an experiment, which should have the science types super excited, so be part of it!

                  As always, it will be a time lag before people, including those who ridicule (out of fear mostly), begin to accept whats going on above them, and go through the intermal critique which is necessary, before humanity can move forward meaningfully.

                  Better hope you’re right McFlock, have an honest self evaluation of how confident you are in your position, then ask whose position has a larger probable downside, yours or mine!

                  I’m wrong, (great, ill be happy to be so), no damage to people or the environment. etc.

                  You, and those sharing your position wrong, and the consequence, could be all the way down to the bottom, for everyone/everything!

                  • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                    13 April 2013 at 10:03 am

                    I’m happy that you’re wrong too.

                    • muzza …
                      13 April 2013 at 10:52 am

                      Needless to say, you’re one of those who could do with some inward reflection!

                      The underwhelming lack of confidence in your words, exposes your *truth*, as always!

                      Consider them the twin, of the insults you throw about!

                    • One Anonymous Knucklehead …
                      13 April 2013 at 10:55 am

                      Attacking me at your weak spots makes them no less yours, you tiresome cretin.

                  • McFlock …
                    13 April 2013 at 1:18 pm

                    Did you see a chemtrail as the point flew over your head?

                    Muzz, if you’re wrong then nutbars like you have been used to discredit folk with genuine environmental or political concerns for the last forty years. If your think that that is zero-harm behaviour then you’re a bigger idiot than you pretend.

          • Pascal's bookie 13.4.1.2.2
            12 April 2013 at 3:10 pm

            Don’t get me wrong Muzza.

            Nothing would please me more than that everywhere Monckton went he was confronted by people with oversized hi-res printouts of chemtrails demanding to know why he was covering up the real scandal.

    • Murray Olsen 13.5
      12 April 2013 at 2:36 pm

      Soon there’ll only be one true sovereign person/freeman/knower of the truth on the whole planet. All else will be controlled opposition.

  14. MrSmith 14
    12 April 2013 at 12:54 pm

    You got to love the way the Jap’s and Yank’s are printing money hand over fist then banking some of it here, all because of our high interest rates, inflation and rising dollar which will keep rising because of demand and shortage, so a win win for the money traders, all the while Billygoat English and the Reserve bank sit by doing nothing.

    We need to start Printing Money now before it’s to late, if English and The Reserve bank thinks they can just sit around while 2 of the worlds largest economies print trillions of dollars then I would suggest they are as corrupt as Key or stupid or both.

  15. veutoviper 15
    12 April 2013 at 1:12 pm

    Another twist to the ongoing GCSB saga etc which really doesn’t fit under any of the other posts to date, referred to in a comment on Russell Brown’s Key Questions post on Public Address.

    The Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) have recently put up a RFP tender (38883) on the http://www.gets.govt.nz site for a “Security Sector Professional Development Programme”.

    I have not looked at the detail of the RFP as you need to register on the site to do so, but apparently it is looking for

    ” an innovative supplier to provide a professional development programme for executives and senior officials within the security sector. The focus of the programme is to equip officials with the knowledge and skills required to deal with the myriad of security challenges that threaten New Zealand’s wellbeing and prosperity.”

    The fact that it is a DPMC-initiated tender for a programme across the ‘security sector’ is in line with the changes and structure of the sector outlined in Chris Trotter’s revealing post on The Daily Blog

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/04/11/breaking-worse-than-we-thought-rebecca-kitteridge-and-the-new-community-of-spooks/

    I recommend this post as a ‘must read’ as it is a good piece of investigative journalism giving an insight into what has been going on behind the scenes – almost up to Karol’s high standard!

    I had almost given up on Trotter over the last year or so, but this post, and one or two of his other posts over the last month or so, have started to restore him in my eyes.

  16. ianmac 16
    12 April 2013 at 2:31 pm

    Under “Feeds” in the side panel (about 15 down at the moment) is “Citizen with Keith Locke & Selwyn ManningThe Jackal | 2013-04-11”
    It is yet another daunting set of opinions re the GSB. Keith Locke was there during the 2003 Act passage and is adamant that the NZ citizens were definitely exempt from spying in spite of the Key spin that the Act is ambiguous. Keith reckons that the first thing in a Court of Law would be to look at the intent of the Act and it would be impossible to argue ambiguity. The Government would hate to see it before the Court! A great session but not sure how to link directly.

  17. Rogue Trooper 17
    12 April 2013 at 2:41 pm

    Exhausted:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDStHQLSQWQ – pieces of 8
    “got a friend in End casino and it’s getting close to Harvest time
    she was kinda cute if a little pass her Prime”

    tired now. have an Excellent weekend.a DVD and Scrabble for the Rogue : carry on, as you were, at ease.
    now
    ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZyVZFJGX5g )
    *much?

    -my name it is Sam Hall, may the Good Lord bless you all. 😉

  18. ghostrider888 18
    12 April 2013 at 2:53 pm

    Parallel Lines
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZZXOTRU75Q
    for Christina
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkbaRJuZ3A8

    -“Momma always said I’d go like this if I didn’t change my ways…stretched between a dead cyborg motorbike and a really better cyborg motorbike impaled on the tip of a bullet train in the japanese badlands.”
    The Ghost Rider.

  19. gobsmacked 19
    12 April 2013 at 3:08 pm

    David Shearer was interviewed and took calls on Radio Live (1pm to 2.15).

    It’ll be on the Radio Live website if you want to hear it, but don’t bother, I did it so you don’t have to.

    Summary – he likes Winston Peters, he thought Tamihere was going to be first Maori PM, he agrees with Prince Charles about housing, his bank account same old same old, and he sang along with Sinatra and Tamihere (mercifully brief). Nothing terrible, nothing memorable, nothing very political, and nobody listened.

    He is stuttering less than before, so he is still saying nothing much, but he’s saying nothing less badly.

    • karol 19.1
      12 April 2013 at 3:13 pm

      Oh. Is Shearer still here? I thought he must have abdicated or summat.

      • gobsmacked 19.1.1
        12 April 2013 at 3:30 pm

        Maybe he has.

        Compare and contrast …

        https://twitter.com/DavidShearerMP

        https://twitter.com/grantrobertson1

        One has said nothing for a week. The other is leading the Labour party.

        • Rhinocrates 19.1.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 9:07 pm

          It would be head/desk if my head had metaphorically ever left my desk in order to pound against it again. Mumblefuck’s beyond hope and finally even his own caucus knows it, but doesn’t know what to do with him while Mallard makes Zaphod Beeblebrox look modest and prudent and Robertson persists in thinking that elections are vending machines into which you keep inserting press releases until government falls out.

          They’re so desperate not to lose control of the party, they can’t win for the people they claim to represent.

  20. Jokerman 20
    12 April 2013 at 3:13 pm

    gotta Fly
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092618/
    weeds are Pilling up. thanks Lyn n

  21. Pascal's bookie 21
    12 April 2013 at 3:35 pm

    Ken Orr, the “Right to life” guy, ‘deplores’ the recent attack on a nurses car, but can’t see why anyone would value the victim:

    http://righttolife.org.nz/2013/04/12/vandalism-of-abortion-nurses-car-deplored/

    That’s because he’s a fuckwit, for those keeping score at home.

  22. rosy 22
    12 April 2013 at 6:45 pm

    On the fightback in Spain

    Suing banks over evictions – and winning.

    Because he put up a fight, the European Court of Justice ruled against the Spanish eviction law. Other judges can now refer to that ruling and pre-empt or suspend other evictions.

    And in Andalusia

    The Andalusian regional government, a coalition between the Socialist Workers Party and the United Left, is taking control of properties belonging to banks for a period of three years if families living there are “at risk of exclusion” and threatened with eviction.

    The decision, which will come into force on April 11, has come at a time when the new mortgage law is under discussion in the national parliament. The legislation imposes fines on banks that own unoccupied housing, which they refuse to rent out.

    The fightback gained momentum a few months ago when locksmiths and police put their jobs on the line by refusing to help with evictions

    The Union of Security Locksmiths, an industry association that represents roughly 40% of Spain’s locksmiths, recently said its members won’t do any more evictions involving “extreme” situations—such as pregnant or infirm adults or families with young children—because the emotional strain of throwing people out on the street is too much for locksmiths to handle.

    In a parallel move, the Joint Union of Police recently said it would offer legal support to officers in the ranks who don’t want to participate in evictions.

    …
    The problem took on another dimension over the past couple months as participants in evictions said several homeowners committed suicide just before they were to be put out of their homes. In the ensuing political uproar, mayors of several towns threatened to withdraw municipal funds deposited at banks that were carrying out evictions

  23. Penny Bright 23
    12 April 2013 at 6:52 pm

    (Apologise for the length of this post – but some may find it useful? )

    ‘Open Letter’ / formal request to the CEO of the Finance Markets Authority (FMA) to conduct an investigation into the Mighty River Power prospectus.

    12 April 2013

    Sean Hughes
    Finance Markets Authority CEO

    Dear Sean,

    Please be reminded of your statutory duties arising from the Finance Markets Authority Act 2011:

    http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2011/0005/latest/DLM3231068.html

    9FMA’s functions

    (1)The FMA’s functions are as follows:

    (a)to promote the confident and informed participation of businesses, investors, and consumers in the financial markets, including (without limitation) by—

    (i)collecting and disseminating information or research about any matter relating to those markets:

    (ii)issuing warnings, reports, or guidelines, or making comments, about any matter relating to those markets, financial markets participants, or other persons engaged in conduct relating to those markets (including in relation to 1 or more
    particular persons):

    (iii)providing information about its functions, powers, and duties under this Act and other enactments (including promoting awareness by investors that all investments involve risks and that it is not the role of the FMA to remove those risks):

    (iv)providing, or facilitating the provision of, public information and education about any matter relating to those markets:

    (b)to perform and exercise the functions, powers, and duties conferred or imposed on it by or under the financial markets legislation and any other enactments:

    (c)to monitor compliance with, investigate conduct that constitutes or may constitute a contravention of, and enforce—

    (i)the Acts referred to in Part 1 of Schedule 1 (and the enactments made under those Acts); and

    (ii)the Acts referred to in Part 2 of Schedule 1 (and the enactments made under those Acts) to the extent that those Acts or other enactments apply, or otherwise relate, to financial markets participants:

    (d)to monitor, and conduct inquiries and investigations into any matter relating to, financial markets or the activities of financial markets participants or of other persons engaged in conduct relating to those markets:

    (e)to keep under review the law and practices relating to financial markets, financial markets participants, and other persons engaged in conduct relating to those markets:

    (f)to co-operate with—

    (i)any other law enforcement or regulatory agency (including under section 30):
    (ii)overseas regulators (including under section 30 or 31).

    (2)Subsection (1)(b) and (c) do not limit the functions, powers, and duties conferred or imposed on any other person in respect of financial markets legislation.

    (3)The fact that some other person has functions, powers, and duties in respect of financial markets legislation does not limit or restrict the FMA’s functions, powers, and duties in respect of that legislation.

    (4)Except as expressly provided otherwise in this or any other Act, the FMA must act independently in performing its statutory functions and duties, and exercising its statutory powers, under—

    (a)this Act; and
    (b)any other Act that expressly provides for the functions, powers, or duties of the FMA (other than the Crown Entities Act 2004).
    Compare: 1978 No 103 s 10

    _______________________________________________

    Schedule 1
    Financial markets legislation
    s 4
    Part 1
    Auditor Regulation Act 2011
    Financial Advisers Act 2008
    Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008
    Parts 4 and 5 and Schedules 1 and 2 of the KiwiSaver Act 2006
    Sections 45U and 45V of the Public Finance Act 1989
    Securities Act 1978
    Securities Markets Act 1988
    Securities Transfer Act 1991
    Securities Trustees and Statutory Supervisors Act 2011
    Superannuation Schemes Act 1989
    Unit Trusts Act 1960
    Schedule 1 Part 1: amended, on 1 July 2012, by section 82 of the Auditor Regulation Act 2011 (2011 No 21).
    Schedule 1 Part 1: amended, on 30 June 2012, by section 11 of the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Act 2012 (2012 No 45).
    Schedule 1 Part 1: amended, on 1 October 2011, by section 60(2) of the Securities Trustees and Statutory Supervisors Act 2011 (2011 No 10).

    Part 2
    Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009
    Building Societies Act 1965
    Companies Act 1993
    Co-operative Companies Act 1996
    Corporations (Investigation and Management) Act 1989
    Sections 220, 228, 229, 240, 242, and 256 to 260 of the Crimes Act 1961
    Financial Reporting Act 1993
    Friendly Societies and Credit Unions Act 1982
    Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1908
    Limited Partnerships Act 2008
    Part 5C of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989
    Trustee Companies Act 1967

    _________________________________________________________________________

    http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1988/0234/latest/DLM140405.html

    8A Who is information insider

    (1) A person is an information insider of a public issuer if that person—
    (a) has material information relating to the public issuer that is not generally available to the market; and

    (b) knows or ought reasonably to know that the information is material information; and

    (c) knows or ought reasonably to know that the information is not generally available to the market.

    (2)A public issuer may be an information insider of itself.
    Section 8A: inserted, on 29 February 2008, by section 5 of the Securities Markets Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 47).

    http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1988/0234/latest/DLM140407.html

    8BMeaning of inside information

    In this subpart, inside information means the information in respect of which a person is an information insider of the public issuer in question.
    Section 8B: inserted, on 29 February 2008, by section 5 of the Securities Markets Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 47).

    8C Information insider must not trade

    An information insider of a public issuer must not trade securities of the public issuer.
    Section 8C: inserted, on 29 February 2008, by section 5 of the Securities Markets Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 47).

    8D Information insider must not disclose inside information

    An information insider (A) of a public issuer must not directly or indirectly disclose inside information to another person (B) if A knows or ought reasonably to know or believes that B will, or is likely to,—

    (a )trade securities of the public issuer; or
    (b) if B is already a holder of those securities, continue to hold them; or
    (c) advise or encourage another person (C) to trade or hold them.

    Section 8D: inserted, on 29 February 2008, by section 5 of the Securities Markets Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 47).

    8E Information insider must not advise or encourage trading
    An information insider (A) of a public issuer must not—

    (a) advise or encourage another person (B) to trade or hold securities of the public issuer:
    (b) advise or encourage B to advise or encourage another person (C) to trade or hold those securities.
    Section 8E: inserted, on 29 February 2008, by section 5 of the Securities Markets Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 47).

    8F Criminal liability for insider conduct

    A person who contravenes any of sections 8C to 8E commits an offence (see section 43 for the maximum penalty of 5 years’ imprisonment and a $300,000 fine for an individual or a $1,000,000 fine for a body corporate) if the person has actual knowledge—

    (a) that the information is material information; and
    (b) that the information is not generally available to the market; and
    (c) in the case of a contravention of section 8D, of any of the matters set out in section 8D(a) to (c).
    Section 8F: inserted, on 29 February 2008, by section 5 of the Securities Markets Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 47).
    ________________________________________________________________________

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8465532/Call-to-ban-ministers-from-share-float

    Three-quarters of Sunday Star-Times readers believe we should follow Australia and prohibit cabinet ministers from buying shares in state-owned companies they decide to sell.

    The pre-registration for the Mighty River Power share float closed on Friday with more than 440,000 signed up, but the sale of state assets remains divisive.

    We asked our readers if they wanted a similar rule to Australia’s “Standards of Ministerial Ethics” that require ministers “to divest themselves of all shareholdings other than through investment vehicles such as broadly diversified superannuation funds or publicly listed managed or trust arrangements”.

    It’s a rule that would prohibit buying into a state-owned asset float while in power and 75 per cent of the 788 people polled were in favour of it.

    Cabinet ministers have agreed to a voluntary “moratorium” preventing the purchase of shares by all ministers, and some of their staff, until 90 days after the initial sale.

    Finance Minister Bill English’s office said: “Cabinet also agreed that ministers and the staff in those offices . . . should use their best endeavours to ensure that their partners and dependent children adhere to the same moratorium.”

    But our readers say that is not long enough and want a more permanent solution.

    As one pro-asset sales reader said, a ban on share purchases would “prove they don’t have a vested interest or conflict of interest”.

    Another said: “It would help to keep our politicians openly accountable to public scrutiny. As corruption and lobbying increases in countries around the world this is just another small way we can try and stay relatively ‘clean’ for longer and assists in enhancing our international reputation as an honest country to deal with.”

    But a conflict of interest in an asset sale would, many felt, last longer than 90 days, and dozens cited fears of insider trading. One reader said: “They would probably have ‘insider knowledge’ of how MRP or any other state-owned companies were trading, and if in a downward spiral, would be able to offload them without getting hurt.”

    Not everyone wants ministers forced to sell all their shares, something that might discourage successful people from standing for office.

    Some cited the example of John Key, whose wealth is managed through a “blind trust” over which he says he has no control.

    “Good practice would be for all ministers to put their financial affairs into a blind trust type arrangement,” one reader said.

    Some also felt the suggested rule would do nothing to stop ministers from taking up roles such as directorships on assets they sold even after leaving office.

    The MPs from NZ First, Labour, and the Greens have all pledged not to buy Mighty River Power shares to demonstrate their opposition to the sale.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/?ui=2&ik=18afffb768&view=att&th=13ddc0c862efa428&attid=0.0&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P-I5Cd-lIWIP7LzmJSi9erv&sadet=1365196872571&sads

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    RISKS and INFORMATION which have arguably not been fully disclosed in the Mighty River Power prospectus, thus potentially misleading investors :

    1) Over-supply of wholesale electricity now.

    2) Further over-supply of the wholesale electricity market if the Government partially-privatises State-Owned Enterprises Meridian and Genesis.

    3) The consumer boycott of Mercury Energy, Mighty River Power’s main retail electricity provider by the Switch Off Mercury Energy community group. http://www.switchoffmercuryenergy.org.nz

    4) Failure to attempt to quantify the cost to Mighty River Power, if Rio Tinto does not reach a deal with Meridian Energy.

    5) Cabinet Ministers responsible for setting a ‘good’ price for Mighty River Power, John Key, Bill English, Steven Joyce and Tony Ryall are not prohibited by law from purchasing shares in Mighty River Power, so are potentially ‘information insiders’ as per
    http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1988/0234/latest/DLM140405.html

    8A Who is information insider

    (1) A person is an information insider of a public issuer if that person—
    (a) has material information relating to the public issuer that is not generally available to the market; and
    (b) knows or ought reasonably to know that the information is material information; and
    (c) knows or ought reasonably to know that the information is not generally available to the market.

    (2) A public issuer may be an information insider of itself.
    Section 8A: inserted, on 29 February 2008, by section 5 of the Securities Markets Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 47).

    (OFFICIAL INFORMATION REPLY FROM MINISTER FOR STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES TONY RYALL):

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/ung4048v4cgtul7/Slevel6.3-c13031716040.pdf

    This information has not been disclosed to investors.

    7) Mighty River Power is also arguably misleading investors , because it advertises investors to ‘share’ in a company that they arguably already own, as currently a ‘State-Owned Enterprise’.

    Yours sincerely,

    Penny Bright
    ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
    A Spokesperson for the Switch Off Mercury Energy Group

  24. Morrissey 24
    12 April 2013 at 7:23 pm

    Superior edition of The Panel this afternoon
    Finlay Macdonald gets his act together and delivers
    Radio NZ National, Friday 12 April 2013
    Jim Mora, Sam Johnson, Finlay Macdonald

    Jim Mora’s Panel program has been pretty effectively purged of dissenting voices. Regular listeners will remember two of the victims of Radio NZ’s clobbering machine, AKA the “management”. Gordon Campbell on one episode challenged the bullying ex-cop Graham Bell and forced him to back down, after Bell had indulged in a wandery, foam-flecked rant against Jeanette Fitzsimmons. Entertainingly, on another occasion Campbell also embarrassed the godawful Richard Griffin into backing down and apologizing after he had made a foolish and ignorant comment about Hugo Chavez. Griffin has since then been appointed to the chair of the Radio New Zealand Board of Governors—and Campbell has never again appeared on the program. In 2011, Panelist Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury dared to criticize the Prime Minister after Key had been involved in some typically hare-brained and reckless behavior in parliament; Bradbury was banished almost instantly for this act of lèse majesté.

    The few “left” or “liberal” voices that are still allowed on the Panel pose no such dangers. With the occasional exception, they are unlikely to spoil the convivial atmosphere, or to ruffle the smooth and unexamined prejudices of either Mora or the other guest, who will be almost inevitably a National Party supporter or something even further to the right.

    Occasionally, though, the token liberal actually does a good job. One of the occasional exceptions is Finlay Macdonald, who this afternoon managed to actually stay on message and say something coherent…

    JIM MORA: The BBC says it will continue to play “Ding Dong The Witch is Dead” even though it’s an obvious dig at Baroness Thatcher. What do we THINK of this?
    SAM JOHNSON: I admired her will, and her strong character!
    FINLAY MACDONALD: Well it’s all a bit obvious, really. There were plenty of songs actually inspired by Maggie Thatcher. Let’s face it: she was detested, especially in the north.
    SAM JOHNSON: I liked her leadership!
    FINLAY MACDONALD: She was never as popular as has been asserted recently.
    SAM JOHNSON: [doubtfully] Oh, okay.
    FINLAY MACDONALD: Sam, you need to remember she said some pretty terrible things. She once said that there are “reasonable people in the Khmer Rouge”.
    JIM MORA: Did she actually say that?
    SAM JOHNSON: She also said many clever things. “The lady’s not for turning.” That was one of her good ones.
    MORA: So what do we think? Should the BBC ban this like it banned “Lola” and it bowdlerized “Fairy Tale in New York”?
    FINLAY MACDONALD: Play it, I say! Play it!
    SAM JOHNSON: Many people admired her resolve!
    MORA: Oh okay. She’s a good witch in the eyes of a lot of people. And a bad witch to others of course.

    Soapbox…

    Finlay Macdonald’s contribution was a thoughtful and serious rumination on the pernicious and cynical use of the phrase “systemic failure”. The continual resort to such official codewords, he said, is a sign of the corruption of our intellectual and political life.

    Macdonald made his case so compellingly that Mora actually contributed something intelligent instead of doing something flippant like countering with a quote from some right wing ideologue in the New York Times. Sam Johnson, too, showed that he is more than the ambitious young-man-on-the-make he has too often appeared to be. For a short time, The Panel was an intelligent and interesting forum.

    What a pity it doesn’t happen more often.

    • North 24.1
      12 April 2013 at 9:19 pm

      Thanks Morrissey for that analysis. Poor guy. You are now obliged to furnish the same on a daily basis. MacDonald was great. No bones about it. Play the bloody thing !

      Aunty Affable Mora was dying to clutch her pearls over the “unseemliness” of celebrating The Vile Old Bag’s going off with 666 stamped all over her arse for delivery purposes but obviously thought better of it, for fear no doubt of Finlay showing him up for the Semi-Hurrah-Henry dick he is.

      The seminal thing for me about TVOB and her vaunted love of freedom and democracy is “Nelson Mandela is a terrorist”. What ??? Gimme Terrorist Nelson over you and your alarmingly inbred looking arms-dealing spawn Mummy, any day.

      Saw some comedy thing the other night where this wit (Englishman) said the send-off will be the first ceremonial funeral in history where the 21 gun salute shoots the coffin.

      • Morrissey 24.1.1
        12 April 2013 at 10:10 pm

        Saw some comedy thing the other night where this wit (Englishman) said the send-off will be the first ceremonial funeral in history where the 21 gun salute shoots the coffin.

        That was Frankie Boyle, from Scotland. He was speaking four years ago, following a rumour that she had died. Here’s the clip….

    • Te Reo Putake 24.2
      12 April 2013 at 10:40 pm

      Good summary, Moz. I heard the latter half, and then a Mora inspired waffle about why ‘systemic failure’ was a catch all for any modern enquiry. Actually, its not. It’s what kills kiwi workers at record levels. And a finding of systemic failure does not preclude individuals being fully prosecuted for personal failings. It’s not an either/or as Mora seemed to think.

      • Colonial Viper 24.2.1
        12 April 2013 at 10:45 pm

        It seems that very few of these top executives are worth the risk-free pay they demand.

        • Te Reo Putake 24.2.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 11:02 pm

          Any chance the SST is calling for the jailing of Peter Whittall? Nah, thought not.

          • Morrissey 24.2.1.1.1
            13 April 2013 at 8:29 pm

            Any chance the SST is calling for the jailing of Peter Whittall? Nah, thought not.

            The SST has officially come out in support of the exploding gas.

  25. rosy 25
    12 April 2013 at 7:27 pm

    Why is Gerry Brownlee wasting money by going to Thatcher’s funeral? Isn’t that the job of the High Commissioner, who is already paid and in-country?

    • felix 25.1
      12 April 2013 at 7:39 pm

      Because he’s pretty much sorted Christchurch now and has nothing pressing to do.

      • rosy 25.1.1
        12 April 2013 at 7:56 pm

        🙂 Aha! That’s the answer, definitely.

        Nothing at all to do with sycophantic need to be seen at a bombastic, jingoistic tory political rally.

        • felix 25.1.1.1
          12 April 2013 at 8:38 pm

          Actually you wanna know the real answer?

          It’s because Key knows everything he does is being watched and scrutinised and analysed and criticised for a change. Otherwise he’d be there already.

          • felix 25.1.1.1.1
            12 April 2013 at 8:44 pm

            Also Gerry heard the baby back ribs will be made from real babies.

          • rosy 25.1.1.1.2
            12 April 2013 at 8:54 pm

            Yeah, I immediately thought Key would be taking the long way home from China if he could get away with it. Then I wondered why anyone should be going at all.

            Hmm if Gerry wears the “Full Day Ceremonial without swords” he can hide some spare ribs in the scabbard for later.

  26. Penny Bright 26
    12 April 2013 at 8:02 pm

    Sticking up for the NZEI on Kiwiblog! 🙂

    http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/04/the_nzei_campaign.html/comment-page-1#comment-1125119

    There is no electorate ‘mandate’ for ‘charter’ schools.

    The ACT Party did NOT campaign on this issue in the 2011 election, and neither did the National Party.

    http://www.act.org.nz/policies/education

    http://www.national.org.nz/PDF_General/Education_in_Schools_policy.pdf

    The ‘business’ model for other essential public services has proven to be a disaster for the public – where is the evidence that it will work for students / parents or the public?

    Where is the transparency and accountability under this model?

    Where will the money go and who will benefit?

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-stanford/wall-street-charter-schools_b_2467608.html

    Wall Street Behind Charter School Push
    Posted: 01/15/2013 1:31 pm

    About a quarter of the kids in the San Antonio Independent School District attend charter schools. Most are the low-income, minority students we think about when we imagine providing innovative opportunities for kids stuck in failing public schools in bad neighborhoods. For a long time, school reform has targeted only kids from poor families. You know, the lucky ones who get those free lunches.

    Starting this fall, though, no longer will Texas exclude upper-middle class white kids like mine from the gravy train of school choice. Last November, the State Board of Education approved a charter allowing Great Hearts Academies to open a school in North San Antonio, the wealthier, whiter section of a majority-Hispanic city.

    Great Hearts Academies operates out of Arizona, where they survive not just on public funding that would normally go to public schools but also on mandatory fees as well as contributions from students’ families, pricing Great Hearts out of reach for most San Antonio families. In other words, upper-middle class Anglos are finally getting a taxpayer-subsidized private school. Our long nightmare of being stuck in high-performing, better-funded public schools is almost over.

    If that’s not what you have in mind when you think of school choice, you’re not alone. Great Hearts tried this in Nashville, but the school board rejected the charter application, arguing reasonably that creating a government-funded private school to serve an affluent, white neighborhood constituted segregation. It’s exactly what they’re planning in North San Antonio, except our school board approved it.

    Private tuition and public subsidies only provide enough money to pay the teachers, buy textbooks and keep the lights on. To build schools, you need to go into massive debt. But don’t worry, because our need to borrow millions of dollars creates an investment opportunity for Wall Street investment bankers.Apparently charter schools are “a favorite cause of many of the wealthy founders of New York hedge funds.” The word you’re probably looking for is “yippee.”

    Public school bonds are a safe investment, but low risk means lower reward, in this case an average 3 percent return on general-obligation funds used to raise money to build schools. But debt for charter schools runs an average of 3.8 percent higher than general-obligation bonds, and charter schools even qualify for federal tax credits under the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000.

    As every investment prospectus says in small type, investments carry risk. In this case, 3.91 percent of charter-school bonds are in default versus 0.03 percent for public schools. And since 1992, 15 percent of charters have closed, including 52 in Texas.

    Despite the risks, charter schools are big business. Pearson, the company that sells tests and curricula to public schools, also sells tests and curriculato charter schools, and JPMorgan Chase of worldwide economic meltdown fame is bullish on charter school construction.

    “Many charter schools have expanded access to academic opportunities for students in all types of communities, so we shouldn’t let tough economic times bring them down,” said JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon.

    This is the same Jamie Dimon who thought mortgage-backed securities were foolproof, who was forced to take $25 billion of our money in the bank bailout, who wrongly foreclosed on military families, whoovercharged 4,000 other military families by $2 million, and who then lost $2 billion of our money in what amounted to the kind of gambling that only happens after 4 a.m. in Las Vegas. Let’s absolutely have this guy underwrite our schools. What could go wrong that hasn’t already many times over?

    Subjecting our public school system to the free market requires us to accept that hopped-up Wall Street bankers will mess up, schools will close, and sooner or later, someone will have to choose between increasing shareholder returns and improving some kid’s education. Failure is not only an option. When it comes to Wall Street, failure is inevitable.

    The specter of resegregating our schools along racial and economic lines under the cloak of school choice presents a more daunting future for a state that is growing poorer, browner, and younger. When it comes to schools, the question isn’t whether we’re going to have charter schools or public schools. We have both now. When it comes to schools, the real choice is whether we are all in this together or if it’s every man for himself.”

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    So – if Wall St bank$ters are behind Charter Schools – and neither ACT nor National campaigned for Charter Schools during the 2011 election – did this idea actually come from John Key?

    (Just asking……. 🙂

    Penny Bright
    ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
    2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate

  28. Jenny 28
    12 April 2013 at 9:54 pm

    PETROBRAS – 2 FOR 1 SPECIAL!!!
    COASTAL OIL SPILL WRECKS SAO PAULO BEACHES AND MASSIVE PIPELINE BLOWOUT IN EQUADOR (5500 BARRELLS OF CRUDE!) IN ONE DAY!!!

    Dear Simon Bridges,

    Right now, Petrobras, the company your government permitted to drill for oil in the Raukumara Basin, is responsible for both a catastrophic oil spill off the beautiful San Paulo coast, and part of a consortium that owns a massive pipeline that has ruptured, causing over 5500 barrels of crude oil to spew into the biodynamic Esmeraldes Province in Ecuador. Right now. When it comes to environmental disaster, this company gives you value for money – 2 for 1, on the same day!!

    Yeah, your government accused us of scaremongering, said these accidents hardly ever happened. But they do happen. And they happen all the time for Petrobras. And they more in countries where governments falsely separate economic development from environmental integrity.

    You use words like ‘reckless’ and ‘criminal’ to describe those of my iwi who would stand up against deep sea oil drilling. These accidents could have happened here, because you and your government would have let them. You have no adequate regulation in place for these activities, yet you waste what precious time you have dreaming up new anti-protest jurisdiction you already asserted you had – instead of addressing the real issues. You are mistaken if you think peaceful protest and those seeking to protect the environment are the problem. You, and people who enable companies like Petrobras to do irreparable damage to the environment and get away with it, are the problem. You can’t fix that problem by silencing dissent. You can’t fix that problem by refusing to be accountable. You can’t fix that problem by threatening us. You can’t fix that problem by pretending the industry will safely regulate itself. And until you start addressing the real problem, we can assure you we will not be moving.

    Dayle Takitimu

    SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
    08/04/2013
    There is crude oil flowing into the coastal marine area, and volunteer crews are struggling against all odds to contain it. It has been described as an ‘environmental disaster’ for the area, which relies heavily on the marine area for tourism and fishing industries.
    The crude oil spill has hit the coastal cities of Sao Sebastiao and Caraguatatuba, which are a popular resort area along Sao Paulo’s Atlantic Ocean coast where residents of the state’s capital flock to relax from the hustle and bustle of Brazil’s largest city. The two cities sit across a marine channel from another popular tourist destination, an island known as Ilhabela.
    Sao Paulo state environment regulator Cetesb said it had fined parent company Petrobras 10 million Brazilian reais ($5 million) for an “operational failure” during refueling of a Transpetro ship at the terminal. Cetesb was still finalizing a report that will be submitted to state prosecutors, which could result in charges filed against the company, the regulator said.
    While Transpetro has removed globs of oil from the beaches and replaced soiled areas with fresh sand, Sao Sebastiao’s environment secretary, Eduardo Hipolito do Rego, said other environmentally sensitive areas remained contaminated.
    “Rocky coastal areas and other ecosystems, such as mangrove swamps, still have oil and will require special care” to be cleaned,” Mr. Hipolito said via telephone. “Starting now, a more delicate operation will be required.”
    A crop of mussels raised at an offshore farm was completely lost because of the spill, Mr. Hipolito said. Eight beaches in the Sao Sebastiao and Caraguatatuba areas also remain unfit for swimming, according to Cetesb.
    Transpetro said it will constantly monitor areas affected by the spill. The environmental fallout is expected to be huge, and long lasting.
    As many as 500 workers and 37 ships were mobilized to contain and clean up the spill, Transpetro said.
    The crude oil from the spill is currently “fouling three popular Brazilian beaches as slicks drift north off the coast of Sao Paulo state, complicating clean-up efforts. The area is north of the Terminal Almirante Barroso, where fuel spilled from an offshore pier Friday.”
    ____
    ESMERALDAS, ECUADOR
    08/04/2013
    At the same time, right now, in Ecuador, a pipeline part-owned by Petrobras is spilling heavy crude all over the place, wrecking havoc on the environment. The officials are just struggling to contain and mitigate the spill. Its still under emergency status, and they haven’t even repaired the pipe yet. So far 5500 barrels have been spilt, and the clean up has not even started. The true environmental impacts will be massive.

  29. Don't worry be happy 29
    13 April 2013 at 5:27 pm

    Can someone please tell me how I ‘know’ that Clare Curran was behind the contacting of contributors to The Standard (through matching their user names with the same names and registration details on Red Alert?)

    I thought I ‘knew’ that people who belonged to the Labour Party and who were commenting or blogging on The Standard were told to stop backing Cunliffe over Shearer for Leader or leave the Party and that she was behind this as the Labour Party IT go to person.

    I met Ms Curran today. She said the claim was false. She said she would come on The Standard today and defend herself (so long as no one was abusive).

    I have an invitation from her to go to her Electorate Meeting and from another Labour Party official to go to the Dunedin North Meeting. Can anyone help?

    • Colonial Viper 29.1
      13 April 2013 at 6:03 pm

      I have met some of the frequent commentators/mods on The Standard and they know my bona fides.

      Firstly, pick an electorate/branch with an active membership and one with people you can get along with. Each electorate (and each branch within that electorate) has a different demographic of membership and different emphasis in terms of what their usual focus is. Find one which suits you.

      Secondly, Labour Party meetings are supposed to be about the party, its policies, and the activities of the membership. I’m speaking where Labour”s “Party” and it’s “Parliamentary wing” are two very distinct and separate entities. Unfortunately, in too many electorates these days, the meetings have become a kind of “MPs supporters club”. Which I believe is the presumption behind how you worded your question, and which I believe is a concept worth identifying and then canning nice and early. Candidates come and go, MPs come and go. The party and your support for it are supposed to go much deeper than just that.

      Lastly, you can trust Curran as far as you can throw her with both hands tied behind your back.

    • Colonial Weka 29.2
      13 April 2013 at 6:18 pm

      I don’t think you have got your questions quite right there. Important because after all we wouldn’t want the wrong question to be put to Curran and then for her to miss out on being able to answer truthfully.

      Here’s an overview http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/238634/curran-hits-out-online-critics

      And if you want more specifics on the discussion here, look at the conversations in the week preceding and around that article.

    • Mongoose 29.3
      14 April 2013 at 11:47 am

      DWBH, It would indeed be a good idea to take up both offers and attend both meetings in order to make up your own mind about any MPs credibilty. Also, it’s an opportunity to see the workings of LEC or branch meetings, especially if you are interested in finding our more about the workings of the NZLP.

      Colonial Viper’s comments are made in bad faith – an obvious personal vendetta – so surely it would be best to make up your own mind?

      Unfortunately blogsites such as this encourage a torch and pitchfork mentality without the benefit of many unknown facts behind the scenes.

      If an MP says a claim is false then I would imagine you yourself would want an opportunity to defend your integrity were you to find yourself in a similar position.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 27

    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    16 mins ago
  • Ticket To Anywhere

    You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    58 mins ago
  • Stories of varying weight

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 hours ago
  • Balancing External Security and the Economy

    New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    18 hours ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: The unravelling of the offsets

    The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago
  • What makes us tick

    This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    24 hours ago
  • Foreshore and seabed 2.0

    In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission report into abuse in care

    Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 26-July-2024

    Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago
  • God what a relief

    1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

    The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway

    The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Update on global IT outage

    Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

    New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 'Pacific Futures'

    President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests.    Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone.    Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-07-27T00:43:05+00:00