In the last election and possibly in the next election conventional wisdom is that it is a vote loser for the Green Party to play up the danger of climate change as an election issue.
That raising this issue would be a liability on the hustings.
At the last election Green Party candidates were told to tone it down about the climate.
Though I have detected some positive movement away from this view, it seems to be, still, the ruling viewpoint inside the leadership of the Green Party.
When Gina McCarthy first met with Obama in the Oval Office on Jan. 10 to discuss the prospect of heading the Environmental Protection Agency, she recalled, “the first words out of his mouth was the need for EPA to focus on climate.”
In his chief of staff, Denis McDonough, Obama has a policy manager who has written and contributed to several pieces on climate change as a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress think tank in 2006 and 2007. He is a sharp contrast to former Obama chiefs of staff William Daley and Rahm Emanuel, who both privately saw global warming as a political liability for the president.
The shift has alarmed some industry officials, as well as coal allies. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) described the administration as coal’s “adversary”….
…..“You cannot describe this any differently than as a war on coal, and not just in West Virginia or the U.S. but on a global scale,” he said. “They’re using every tool they have to destroy the most abundant, reliable and affordable resource that we have.”
Juliet Eilperin Washington Post: August 11
Senator Joe Manchin is right. This is, “a war on coal”. And it is, being conducted on a “global scale”.
Coal is the single greatest cause of climate change. As James Hanson has said “If we can’t stop coal, it is all over for the climate”.
In talking with Green Party insiders I have been told, (though I have never seen the citation), that it is Green Party policy to oppose all new coal mines. In my opinion this is extremely laudable.
But will this policy be ditched in the quest for cabinet positions?
Will Green Party opposition to the huge new open cast coal mine at Denniston be sacrificed to the view, that raising objections to this climate crime will cost votes?
If its about votes jenny the greens have plenty of other areas that will get them votes as the only coherent alternative to the nact with labour adrift with captain blind and his old boy caucus.
So you’re ignoring the Obama Administration resuming deep sea drilling straight after Deep Water Horizon? Permitting shale oil fracking right across the country? Continuing to plan large pipelines from the Alberta tar sands? Boasting about becoming a major net exporter of oil again?
You don’t think that pissing coal off is a device to push investment into shale oil and shale gas plays?
Still pushing that double negative jenny, the Green Party for your info have a go at National in the House at least once a week over climate change,
Last week it was Kennedy Graeham grilling Tim Grosser which was only not very enlightening because Grosser simply buries all His answers with a pile of hyperbole,
The problem the Green Party has is simple to describe as ‘being able to take the wider electorate with them’ as they seek solutions to drastically reduce CO2 atmospheric levels,
My view is that trying to alter what ‘we’ do now without creating a political backlash is nearly impossible and much more energy should be put into researching and developing the technology with which industrial amounts of CO2 can be removed from the atmosphere and used as a fuel source,
The science and tech surrounding doing this while in it’s infancy shows that this can be achieved and while an expensive exercise in terms of per tonne of CO2 removed from the atmosphere when compared with the cost of even the mildest negative effects of ongoing climate change would in time prove to have been a small price to pay…
it was interesting watching Groser (on behalf of the nats that day) conceding the scientifically supported reality of climate change and it’s relevance to New Zealand economics. Only about a year or so after Bill and Lyn’s excellent posts on The Standard presenting highly probable trends.
As Jenny identifies, poll-based policy abounds.
I don’t think Jenny is too far off the mark, in terms of the general populace’s view on climate change.
Stuff comments are sometimes fairly amenable to left-wing politics, and certainly there are a lot more negative comments about Key/National than there used to be.
But on any story about climate change, there’s a talkback taliban effect of huge numbers of denier comments being rated up, and anyone trying to talk science is voted down harshly.
“Since when has “aspiration” been such a good thing? I have aspirations, as a matter of fact. I aspire to live in a civilised country where women, gays and people of different colours are treated as equals. I aspire to live in a country where nobody is poor (and nobody is so rich that they have to throw money away on million pound bottles of champagne). I aspire to live in a country where the old can live in comfort, where everyone who is sick gets the treatment they need, regardless of cost, where the mentally ill are not stuffed into prison for lack of any better option, where everyone is actually equal before the law, where everyone who wants to can go to university and not have to pay for it. And so on. These are aspirations. They just don’t happen to be selfish ones. How come they don’t count in this bright and shiny new world of the selfish?”
Key looked pudgy, grey and tired on the tele at the pillagers conference over the weekend. I reckon he knows he aint gonna get there at the next election.
Meantime the merry band of looters that was his fawning crowd will continue to take advantage of corporate welfare, business subsidies, tax cuts, weakened RMA, weakened employment laws and take take take. They will offer nothing back to the taxpayers who support these bludgers and will instead blame everyone but themselves for the problems they have exacerbated in their very own communities.
I am preparing for the digital changeover by discontinuing
that monolithic legacy technology known as “tele vision”
which allows US Billionaires like Murdoch to dominate
the worldview and politics of mere nations like ours.
It looks like Bradbury and Selwyn both had their meds run out over the weekend, I hope they get to the chemist for the repeat before tomorrow. Martyn Bradbury is a paid hack of Mana, so you can’t expect much else from him than his usual quasi-Marxist politics of resentment, where the designated traitor is the exclusive foam flecked target of those who regard the achievable as the enemy of the perfect, and the the success of the right/defeat of the moderate left is exulted as a radicalising moment on the road to revolutionary nirvana.
But Tim Selwyn’s piece on farmers is actually a quite disturbing piece of hate speech. No wonder he’s a convicted criminal – if he believes half of the stuff he writes he will inevitably see more of the inside of the holding cells in Albert Street. If it is wrong to objectify and collectively punish beneficiaries, it is equally wrong to objectify farmers.
Taken as a pair, as a body of work that represents the thinking of two high profile Mana party supporters, a rather disturbing picture of that party emerges. A party of full of resentment, tall poppyism, dogmatic obsessions and anti-white racism. A party of losers who have lost to often. If the twin efforts of Bradbury and Selwyn are any guide, Mana can offer the country nothing.
Needn’t be a dick all your life Sanctuary. The healing has begun here at the mighty Standard.
Bomber may be a political hybrid but you underestimate the longer term concept of Mana. A hard left/Māori nationalist unity in action is the the rights worst nightmare so perhaps it is you that needs the meds.
One thing I wish a website like would have is a place to more robustly debate ideology, because this is ideological nonsense of the highest order.
Maori nationalists a la the Harawiras seems to me to be an incredibly reactionary, backward looking movement grounded in the belief that Maori society was this undynamic thing and in a perfect stasis of noble savagery until it was torn asunder by contact with wicked (but more technologically advanced) European cultures. The hard left meanwhile is a bunch of variegated Marxists whose inability to come to terms with the genocides of the USSR and mass murder of Mao let alone the welfare state has seen them floundering about like drowning men in a sea of denial and wishful thinking for the last forty years.
What unites the Māori nationalists and the hard left is a hard line utopianism that pines for a world that never was and a world that can never be respectively, and a desire for revolutionary revenge/redistribution which allows them both to present their ideas using similar revolutionary rhetoric.
The clash between the reactionary Maori nationalism of Turia and the socialist Maori nationalism of Hone Harawira is not one of left vs. right one in the sense either of them is more inclusive than the other. Harawira and co want an apartheid society with a new bunch of brown faces in charge of the means of production; Turia’s model is an apartheid society with an invented Iwi aristocracy in charge. To my mind, neither of these backward looking, racist and nepotistic visions should be particularly attractive to a modern socialist whose primarily interest should be the creation of a society with equality of opportunity for everyone and one that defends the positive liberties that equality of opportunity unlocks for everyone.
At the end of the day, the wider left lost the debate over the last thirty years because it was unable to tell a story of a positive future. The agenda was inverted and socialism was the new conservatism, tiredly defending status quo pragmatism against the message of the zealous change agents of the new right. Socialism became the ideology of the already defeated, seeking constantly to mitigate the disaster via identity politics or accommodation rather than trying to win the war.
I would put it to you that the ambient politics of resentment – or as I call it “loserist politics” – that you get from a lot of Mana supporters is the result of the ideological contradictions that lie at the heart of the alliance of the margins that is Mana. What unites them is what they resent and oppose, and that negativity seeps through to almost all their conversations. To my way of looking at it, the tonal loserism of Mana is just the fag end of that sorry tale of left wing defeat, not the flag bearer of a new socialist way of thinking about the future.
Actually Rogue, I have some sympathy with Sanctuarys interpretation. It exposes some raw edges of the Left that as he says would greatly benefit from some robust debate. There are some sacred cows to be led to the slaughter.
Conversely Santuary’s triumphalism for the Right might also have to go on ice, they have merely generated the same seeds of their own demise as their mirror image, the ideological Left.
re Bonds for earthquake strengthening, echoes some of our own thoughts and discussions on this, and the rental warrant-of-fitness issue. Failure to maintain safety of income-generating assets by property investors in a country that experiences regular, predicted seismic activity and has researched, documented, comparatively cold and damp residential rental stock. (all that extra water vapour in the atmosphere joe transcribes in the climate update below).
and on, and on, Ennfinitum. 🙂
ps. Coleman not gonna cut Defence funding for a few more years, maybe some more Theatres to go with those Sports Stadiums, “over the top Lads, let’s give Gerry what ho!”.
Just been on Gerry’s home turf….we should send Coleman there to be subject to their tender mercies…..really liked the Germans, they might civilise him!
been reading more books instead of blogs. Like on Passchendaele and other tragedies of human history. With an igloo box my friend gets el-cheapo pay-tv (National Geographic, BBC Knowledge etc); there was this programme yesterday on what Wales was like during the copper and iron smelting stages of their industrial (capital) revolution – the ore was shipped to the coal- with the puddling process developed by Cort being adopted in the Ruhr. What was striking was all the chimneys in Wales, belching smoke into the sky at the time, with social conditions such that (maybe only one university) ‘intellectuals’ had to leave the predominantly working-class country to receive higher education.
Yet, all those chimneys – ominous.
sanc all your assumptions are wrong imo but you build a nice little rant platform from them.
Tino rangatiratanga is about looking forwards not backwards.
The last people imo that believe in a non-dynamic Māori perspective are tino rangatiratanga adherents, let alone the ‘perfect stasis’ you propose.
Tino rangatiratanga is not about revenge it is about the opposite of that.
What unites those who believe in tino rangatiratanga and the left are belief in equality and fairness especially for those disregarded in our society – whatever ethnicity.
Mana don’t want an apartheid society.
The Mana Movement is much more than the ‘resent and oppose’ description you use and it isn’t negative at all.
Anyway your big words and puffed-up language cannot disguise your own resentments and your last paragraph is defeatest in tone and content. Great I say because Mana doesn’t need or want people like you imo, you’re better off trying 1law4all.
Rave on; Sanctuary. Neo liberalist capitalism is the fag end of human development, unwilling to even feed and water the worlds people. US imperialism’s annual military budget could do just that laddie.
Just read Tim Selwyn’s column, actually it is uncommonly accurate. It is not hate speech, it merely points out valid realities that should be of real concern to any society seeking some cogency. The farmers advantages are real, the corollary is that others don’t have these advantages. Whether that is good or bad depends on your viewpoint, but it does not make them any less real.
Santuary, is this all your own work? I’m sure I’ve read the same thing written by someone else. Though I suppose if you haven’t got the sense to think for yourself, you may as well copy and paste what someone else has thought.
Thanks for you clever example of Hate Speech double-speak hypocrisy, Sanctuary.
Actually, Bomber is a long term activists, who has embraced the Mana approach to politics, because it is in keeping with his values. From his about page:
He has appeared at numerous political and union functions over the last few years. He is a political consultant to organisations of the left and centre-left and argued for the creation of the MANA Party as a party to the Left of the Greens as a means for the Left to win back Parliament. Mr Bradbury also hosts the current affairs show ‘Citizen A’ on Face TV and was Editor in Residence at the Wintec School of Journalism.
Sanct – your hate-loaded spin avoids mentioning the range of organisations Bradbury hires his services to, and the range of work he does.
Mana is a bit of a mixture, but they are building a movement which will be capable of worthwhile changes. As a low profile supporter, I’m hopeful.
By the way, how the hell do you label John Minto as a loser? He is responsible more than any other one person for changing the way we thought about apartheid. Hone is prepared to stand with the people to halt evictions, to protect working class communities that have grown over many years. Mallard is prepared to sell overpriced tickets to them on Trademe. I know who I consider the loser.
Whilst out of town I heard there had been a significant quake in Wellington. The first thing I thought was “bugger, the rent seekers will now try and make me, Mr Ratepayer pay”. So the above came as no surprise. On the news during the week was another owner (Ian Cassels) calling for earthquake strengthening to be tax deductible.
Ho fekkin hum.
Did you see these self same building owners putting money from their rents aside to pay for strengthening before the Chch quake made the situation urgent? No sir.
Did you see the owners offer to set up a strengthening fund, or some form of buying group to spread the risk? Nope.
Did you see the see the owners actually do any work to mitigate risk whilst there were engineers and trades available (they are now all in Chch)? Hell no, just take the rent and play the risk.
Now you and I are supposed to bail the bastards out of an entirely predictable scenario. Same old story, privatize the profits, socialise the cost. How do we keep these bastards out of our pockets?
And what is more they want to leave things till 2020. One sector commenter said that would create a bottleneck about that time as they will tend to put the work off. Sounds like the old laissez faire that they apply to closing times in the ‘hospitalit-ising’ industry with everyone emerging drunk and stupid and irritable all at the same time.
The chap in Christchurch whose wife was killed in the building collapse there and has been advocating for action ever since is, luckily, not yet speechless at the lack of integrity of the government in its strange and uneven treatment of business, affected by the earthquakes.
My sympathies rest with the man in question: he has been let down by this total lack of integrity. When our wifes, husbands, children die in some red stickered building in Wellington we can expect the same “business” focused response. My take is actually shut the bastards down now before someone dies, and if they cannot strengthen the buildings under the current commercial conditions they should be bull dozed.
In Christchurch many buildings are simply being ignored by workers – they will not work in them as they consider them too dangerous. Makes them worthless and the landlords sharpen up.
The city councillor has unveiled a plan to make strengthening the city’s heritage buildings easier by allowing owners to borrow money using council assets as security.
Central government politicians have welcomed the idea, which would enable building owners to borrow for strengthening work and repay the bonds through a special rate that would be attached to the building, Mr Morrison said.
And when the building owners fail to pay back the bonds will allow central government to force WCC to sell those assets. So, yeah, I can see why this government would be in favour of it.
I doubt if Wellington’s assets will be sufficiant to borrow against for the bonds. Mainly because the council is busily borrowing against them for other purposes.
Wellington CC is actually in deep proverbial…they reckon they have an “asset base” of about $30K per rate payer…..if you were to get real and capitalise the assets they are probably overstated in value several times…and that is if you could sell them. My take is that the figure is more like minus $30K.
The reality for Wellington is that the ratepayer will be obliged to pick up the bill for negligent expenditure by successive councils and Detroit status is merely a disaster away.
Sanctuary@7 – the following portions of your comment above are but glaring non-sequitur;
“Taken as a pair, as a body of work that represents the thinking of TWO high profile Mana party supporters, a rather disturbing picture of that party emerges.” – (capitalisation is mine).
TWO high profile…….supporters ? Just TWO ?
That justifies your assertion – “…….Mana can offer the country nothing.” ?
Glaring non-sequitur as I say. Deployed to deliver a good old rant against a political party you don’t like. That’s fine. We all do it from time to time. It can’t pass as sensible analysis however.
Lolz, thank you sanctuary, your efforts have reinforced my position that the Mana Party in 2014 will be getting my Party Vote, and any other help i can offer them…
I see Pete George is running for Dunedin City Council. Good on him, but doesnt seem to state what policies he will push for? Though, judging from his record, I am picking he will vote to sell assets, and make cuts to libaries and the like, etc.
Like they all do. Seems that council candidates are more into making negative promises (ie cutting this and that to keep rates down) than positive promise. More parks, etc. Apart from when it comes to subsidising professional sports or ‘festivals’ for middle classes of course.
I did a rare visit to KB on Saturday, where he announced his candidacy on their equivalent of OM to rave support (not) there. Some interesting comments, though!
When I can be bothered commenting on the NZ Herald site to assertions of the economic superiority of National, I often refer to the Reserve Bank’s historical data spreadsheet on government debt. When viewed in tandem with elected governments, it becomes apparent that National-led governments tend to drastically increase debt, while Labour-led governments systematically chip away at it.
Have never had a reply to this that disputes this trend.
However, it is interesting to see that the Reserve Bank website update has coincided with a decision to discontinue this statistic as of June 2013, and searching for “government debt” on the site, results in a lot of ambiguous results.
Another source of relevant information, removed from the voting public.
Bill from Dipton does not want you to see that His miraculous Government surplus for years 14/15 will have been created out of monies previously borrowed by Bill’s National Goverment in years 11/12,
Best hide the evidence now befor anyone clicks on to that little fact…
Although some adjustments do occur as a matter of course – some of these reports are major economic indicators and the value of historically gathered and assessed data is lost.
I know the Reserve Bank is supposedly an independent body, but this loss of economic tracking data indicates bias.
Another source of relevant information, removed from the voting public.
National can’t have the people having access to information as the information will always show that National is, as a matter of fact, the worst possible government to have.
I never understood why various commentators were was saying MRP was the “best” of the power companies to be sold, when apparently it actually isn’t all that good?
Sadly, yes, Meridian is on the horizon, but from the little that has come out so far, there will changes to the way this much bigger one is marketed. I heard some mention of these changes on RNZ National this morning but cannot remember when/which programme as I was only half listening.
Re MRP, I am not clued up enough to give any possible explanation re why MRP was considered the “best” – but the performance of the shares so far would not appear to support this.
Humanity is the major influence on the global climate change observed over the past 50 years.
Rapid societal responses can significantly lessen negative outcomes.
“Human activities are changing Earth’s climate. At the global level, atmospheric
concentrations of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases have increased
sharply since the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuel burning dominates this increase.
Human-caused increases in greenhouse gases are responsible for most of the observed
global average surface warming of roughly 0.8°C (1.5°F) over the past 140 years. Because
natural processes cannot quickly remove some of these gases (notably carbon dioxide)
from the atmosphere, our past, present, and future emissions will influence the climate
system for millennia.
Extensive, independent observations confirm the reality of global warming. These
observations show large-scale increases in air and sea temperatures, sea level, and
atmospheric water vapor; they document decreases in the extent of mountain glaciers,
snow cover, permafrost, and Arctic sea ice. These changes are broadly consistent with longunderstood physics and predictions of how the climate system is expected to respond to
human-caused increases in greenhouse gases. The changes are inconsistent with
explanations of climate change that rely on known natural influences.
Climate models predict that global temperatures will continue to rise, with the amount of
warming primarily determined by the level of emissions. Higher emissions of greenhouse
gases will lead to larger warming, and greater risks to society and ecosystems. Some
additional warming is unavoidable due to past emissions.
Climate change is not expected to be uniform over space or time. Deforestation,
urbanization, and particulate pollution can have complex geographical, seasonal, and
longer-term effects on temperature, precipitation, and cloud properties. In addition,
human-induced climate change may alter atmospheric circulation, dislocating historical
patterns of natural variability and storminess.
In the current climate, weather experienced at a given location or region varies from year
to year; in a changing climate, both the nature of that variability and the basic patterns of
weather experienced can change, sometimes in counterintuitive ways — some areas may
experience cooling, for instance. This raises no challenge to the reality of human-induced
climate change.
Impacts harmful to society, including increased extremes of heat, precipitation, and coastal
high water are currently being experienced, and are projected to increase. Other projected
outcomes involve threats to public health, water availability, agricultural productivity
(particularly in low-latitude developing countries), and coastal infrastructure, though some
benefits may be seen at some times and places. Biodiversity loss is expected to accelerate
due to both climate change and acidification of the oceans, which is a direct result of
increasing carbon dioxide levels.
While important scientific uncertainties remain as to which particular impacts will be
experienced where, no uncertainties are known that could make the impacts of climate
change inconsequential. Furthermore, surprise outcomes, such as the unexpectedly rapid
loss of Arctic summer sea ice, may entail even more dramatic changes than anticipated.
Actions that could diminish the threats posed by climate change to society and ecosystems
include substantial emissions cuts to reduce the magnitude of climate change, as well as
preparing for changes that are now unavoidable. The community of scientists has
responsibilities to improve overall understanding of climate change and its impacts.
Improvements will come from pursuing the research needed to understand climate change,
working with stakeholders to identify relevant information, and conveying understanding
clearly and accurately, both to decision makers and to the general public.
Yup, geo-engineering is playing it’s part very well.
The so called weaponized science industry has obliterated the earths protective layers, nuclear tests, meltdowns , lasers, you name it, that industry has done it, so of course human interference is causing problems, it could not be any other way!
Thank you military industrial complex for choosing to contribute to wrecking planet earth, and thanks to the bankers who finance it all, but most of all, thanks for the criminals who control the lot.
The average human being has contributed squat to climate change Joe, but is being told they have!
…as cucumbers being used inappropriately. 😀 (another day, another coal-slore). Wow! didn’t realize what a n0rty word ‘slore’ is until checking that bible of post-modern philology, Urban Dictionary.
Sanctamonious you have been wheeled out by Mathew Hooten
and co the rights selfishness will be hidden by painting the left as far to radical to be in power the same BS Muldoon used in 1975 marching commies!
The Angel of Death makes another appearance The Panel, Radio NZ National, Monday 12 August 2013
Jim Mora, Neil Miller, Catherine Robertson
It’s mid-morning on a gloomy Monday, a slow news day. Jim Mora and his producer Chris Reid are cogitating seriously about the lineup for today’s show. Each man nurses a cup of coffee and thinks long and hard and seriously. Then the producer breaks the silence…
CHRIS REID: Mate, the first topic for today is this nasty little abduction of a two-year-old in Auckland, perpetrated by a man who has murdered in the past. JIM MORA: Oh yes, we need to talk about that! CHRIS REID: Happily, the child is safe, but the hunt for the criminal goes on. JIM MORA: What talent have you lined up, Chris? CHRIS REID: Gotta be honest with you, Jim: this is a tough one! JIM MORA: Hmmmm…. CHRIS REID: Now, we can go to one of the universities, we can interview a lawyer, a judge, a human rights advocate. Kim Workman? JIM MORA: No, let’s face it: they’re all too…. soft, too… complex. CHRIS REID: I know, how about you interview Garth “The Knife” McFucker!?!! JIM MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! “Garth McFucker”. That’s very good! CHRIS REID: I thought you’d like that one! Anyway, mate, I’ve lined up the bloodthirsty psychopath for ten past four this arvo. JIM MORA: Oh Christ, you’re serious…
Yes, that’s right: Garth McVicar. Although the head of the S.S. Trust has still not apologized for his bloodthirsty support of the 2008 knife-slaying of a boy in Manurewa, and despite the fact he is despised, loathed and feared by all decent people, those considerations have clearly not deterred the wise folk at Radio New Zealand National’s Panel, who got Jim Mora to interview the knife enthusiast for about the twentieth time. Unfortunately, Jim’s guests today were not people who have demonstrated any capacity or desire to confront such a brute. Or maybe that’s WHY they were chosen. Anyway, I sent off the following email to Jim Mora, pronto…
Garth McVicar? You cannot be serious.
Dear Jim,
You have, yet again, in spite of protests by many people, deferred to Garth McVicar as some sort of “expert” on matters of crime and punishment. Since it appears that you apply no standards in your selection of “talent” for your programme, can we expect to hear you deferring respectfully to Kyle Chapman, of the NZ National Front, and seeking his opinion on matters related to marae-burning and arson in general?
Morrissey Morrissey Morrisey you’re responsible for late dinner at my place……..and I still don’t know whether “McFucker The Knife” was actually hosted by Mensa Mora today. I think not. But anyway………excellent contribution !
Helps me laugh at the disgraceful spectacle of National Party MPs at their conference telling Campbell Live why we need the GCSB bill.
Frankly, most of them seemed pissed ! Wonder if that was why Brownlee was uncharacteristically camera shy. It couldn’t be because he’s anti the bill. Lends weight that it was……
The absolute Flying Circus riot was Koretake Troughing Tau Henare though. Such a learned trougher, getting all loftily Cold War about things. My God what an egg !
And just now an interview with Key. Pathetic ! His demeanour positively screaming that there’s some shit goin’ down with this bill but he’s gonna do it no matter what.
“I’m embarrassed but Fuck You All !” sort of thing
…..and I still don’t know whether “McFucker The Knife” was actually hosted by Mensa Mora today. I think not.
Actually, North, he WAS interviewed by an extra-solicitous and absurdly respectful Mora. That’s why I sent the angry email; it wasn’t the crawling that angered me, it was the fact that this lout is not considered as persona non grata. I cannot believe that it was Jim Mora who chose him as a guest (yet again) for his programme; it must have been the producer. Clearly, Radio New Zealand has no standards.
Your analysis of Key, Brownlee and co. is spot on, as always.
tonights news revealed the true cost of Tiwae point bail out $480 million in total including meridians selling eclectricity at a loss tokeep asset sales on track and national voters in Blingishs electorate bribed!
Apart from loving Key and all he does, Brett knows nothing about politics or policy that’s good, bad or otherwise. Calling him right wing will go over his head like a runaway hoverboard.
You can assume – however, that most who do read it and then follow it up with the Human Rights report, the Law Society submission, and the NZ Internet submission would be compelled to continue researching.
For the non-reader, they have access to video submissions and the video on demand of the open public meeting held several weeks ago at Mt Albert.
If someone has done all these things, I would say that they are more than likely to oppose the bill.
Interesting that those on Campbell Live who supported it, were more than likely to admit they knew very little about it. So wags the world away.
As you read the following insult to the intelligence, remember that this is the newspaper constantly quoted and referred to by, among many others, Jim Mora…..
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
A look at the state of the previous government’s affordable housing scheme, and what could come next.Remind me: What’s KiwiBuild again?First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change. Grant Robertson’s valedictory speech was a predictably entertaining trip down memory lane. The acid-tongued incoming Otago University chancellor administered a sick burn to the coalition government. He ...
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is seen some as its ‘silicon shield’ against invasion – but how will overseas expansion affect that protection? The post The state of Taiwan’s silicon shield appeared first on Newsroom. ...
There’s relief for building owners bending under the weight of earthquake strengthening rules – and costs – that came into force seven years ago. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has announced a scheduled 2027 review of the earthquake-prone building regulations will now start this year. Owners will also get ...
Opinion: It has been announced that nine percent of roles at Oranga Tamariki will be disestablished, presumably to help fund the tax cuts promised by the coalition Government. I am reminded of the graphics used to illustrate pandemic events, where five thousand people are standing in a field and then ...
After more than two sleepless days, running through savage terrain, Greig Hamilton didn’t know if he was going to finish one of the most gruelling psychological assaults in sport. He was metres away from the finish line, a yellow gate made famous in a Netflix documentary; a race he’d dreamed ...
In the last election and possibly in the next election conventional wisdom is that it is a vote loser for the Green Party to play up the danger of climate change as an election issue.
That raising this issue would be a liability on the hustings.
At the last election Green Party candidates were told to tone it down about the climate.
Though I have detected some positive movement away from this view, it seems to be, still, the ruling viewpoint inside the leadership of the Green Party.
But have the Green Party policy wonks and advisers got it wrong?
Senator Joe Manchin is right. This is, “a war on coal”. And it is, being conducted on a “global scale”.
Coal is the single greatest cause of climate change. As James Hanson has said “If we can’t stop coal, it is all over for the climate”.
In talking with Green Party insiders I have been told, (though I have never seen the citation), that it is Green Party policy to oppose all new coal mines. In my opinion this is extremely laudable.
But will this policy be ditched in the quest for cabinet positions?
Will Green Party opposition to the huge new open cast coal mine at Denniston be sacrificed to the view, that raising objections to this climate crime will cost votes?
Will climate change be an election issue in 2014?
If its about votes jenny the greens have plenty of other areas that will get them votes as the only coherent alternative to the nact with labour adrift with captain blind and his old boy caucus.
So you’re ignoring the Obama Administration resuming deep sea drilling straight after Deep Water Horizon? Permitting shale oil fracking right across the country? Continuing to plan large pipelines from the Alberta tar sands? Boasting about becoming a major net exporter of oil again?
You don’t think that pissing coal off is a device to push investment into shale oil and shale gas plays?
At the last election Green Party candidates were told to tone it down about the climate.
cite?
Still pushing that double negative jenny, the Green Party for your info have a go at National in the House at least once a week over climate change,
Last week it was Kennedy Graeham grilling Tim Grosser which was only not very enlightening because Grosser simply buries all His answers with a pile of hyperbole,
The problem the Green Party has is simple to describe as ‘being able to take the wider electorate with them’ as they seek solutions to drastically reduce CO2 atmospheric levels,
My view is that trying to alter what ‘we’ do now without creating a political backlash is nearly impossible and much more energy should be put into researching and developing the technology with which industrial amounts of CO2 can be removed from the atmosphere and used as a fuel source,
The science and tech surrounding doing this while in it’s infancy shows that this can be achieved and while an expensive exercise in terms of per tonne of CO2 removed from the atmosphere when compared with the cost of even the mildest negative effects of ongoing climate change would in time prove to have been a small price to pay…
it was interesting watching Groser (on behalf of the nats that day) conceding the scientifically supported reality of climate change and it’s relevance to New Zealand economics. Only about a year or so after Bill and Lyn’s excellent posts on The Standard presenting highly probable trends.
As Jenny identifies, poll-based policy abounds.
I don’t think Jenny is too far off the mark, in terms of the general populace’s view on climate change.
Stuff comments are sometimes fairly amenable to left-wing politics, and certainly there are a lot more negative comments about Key/National than there used to be.
But on any story about climate change, there’s a talkback taliban effect of huge numbers of denier comments being rated up, and anyone trying to talk science is voted down harshly.
I like this quote from “Briar” in the comments section below this article
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/11/peter-capaldi-doctor-who-children
by A L Kennedy in The Guardian:
“Since when has “aspiration” been such a good thing? I have aspirations, as a matter of fact. I aspire to live in a civilised country where women, gays and people of different colours are treated as equals. I aspire to live in a country where nobody is poor (and nobody is so rich that they have to throw money away on million pound bottles of champagne). I aspire to live in a country where the old can live in comfort, where everyone who is sick gets the treatment they need, regardless of cost, where the mentally ill are not stuffed into prison for lack of any better option, where everyone is actually equal before the law, where everyone who wants to can go to university and not have to pay for it. And so on. These are aspirations. They just don’t happen to be selfish ones. How come they don’t count in this bright and shiny new world of the selfish?”
This is not just about Brand Fonterra.
It is also about Brand Key.
And the Chinese Govt knows that.
brown just had a performance on tvone breakfast..
..that after viewing..you must wipe the oil/slime from yr monitor…
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/ed-could-len-brown-be-more-supercilliouscondescending-and-more-of-a-captive-of-the-roading-lobby/
phillip ure..
Minto for Mayor!
Change a few names and this analysis of why the Labour party is fumbling in Britain could be written about the New Zealand Labour party
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/11/where-labour-going-wrong-ed-miliband
Key looked pudgy, grey and tired on the tele at the pillagers conference over the weekend. I reckon he knows he aint gonna get there at the next election.
Meantime the merry band of looters that was his fawning crowd will continue to take advantage of corporate welfare, business subsidies, tax cuts, weakened RMA, weakened employment laws and take take take. They will offer nothing back to the taxpayers who support these bludgers and will instead blame everyone but themselves for the problems they have exacerbated in their very own communities.
What a sorry bunch of losers
I am preparing for the digital changeover by discontinuing
that monolithic legacy technology known as “tele vision”
which allows US Billionaires like Murdoch to dominate
the worldview and politics of mere nations like ours.
He’s back to looking pretty deathly. His father died relatively young from a heart attack, yes? Key might want to remember that.
It looks like Bradbury and Selwyn both had their meds run out over the weekend, I hope they get to the chemist for the repeat before tomorrow. Martyn Bradbury is a paid hack of Mana, so you can’t expect much else from him than his usual quasi-Marxist politics of resentment, where the designated traitor is the exclusive foam flecked target of those who regard the achievable as the enemy of the perfect, and the the success of the right/defeat of the moderate left is exulted as a radicalising moment on the road to revolutionary nirvana.
But Tim Selwyn’s piece on farmers is actually a quite disturbing piece of hate speech. No wonder he’s a convicted criminal – if he believes half of the stuff he writes he will inevitably see more of the inside of the holding cells in Albert Street. If it is wrong to objectify and collectively punish beneficiaries, it is equally wrong to objectify farmers.
Taken as a pair, as a body of work that represents the thinking of two high profile Mana party supporters, a rather disturbing picture of that party emerges. A party of full of resentment, tall poppyism, dogmatic obsessions and anti-white racism. A party of losers who have lost to often. If the twin efforts of Bradbury and Selwyn are any guide, Mana can offer the country nothing.
so you don’t like Mana, well ho hum, hope you feel better for getting that off your chest.
Needn’t be a dick all your life Sanctuary. The healing has begun here at the mighty Standard.
Bomber may be a political hybrid but you underestimate the longer term concept of Mana. A hard left/Māori nationalist unity in action is the the rights worst nightmare so perhaps it is you that needs the meds.
“…A hard left/Māori nationalist unity in action…”
What? This is a joke comment, right?
One thing I wish a website like would have is a place to more robustly debate ideology, because this is ideological nonsense of the highest order.
Maori nationalists a la the Harawiras seems to me to be an incredibly reactionary, backward looking movement grounded in the belief that Maori society was this undynamic thing and in a perfect stasis of noble savagery until it was torn asunder by contact with wicked (but more technologically advanced) European cultures. The hard left meanwhile is a bunch of variegated Marxists whose inability to come to terms with the genocides of the USSR and mass murder of Mao let alone the welfare state has seen them floundering about like drowning men in a sea of denial and wishful thinking for the last forty years.
What unites the Māori nationalists and the hard left is a hard line utopianism that pines for a world that never was and a world that can never be respectively, and a desire for revolutionary revenge/redistribution which allows them both to present their ideas using similar revolutionary rhetoric.
The clash between the reactionary Maori nationalism of Turia and the socialist Maori nationalism of Hone Harawira is not one of left vs. right one in the sense either of them is more inclusive than the other. Harawira and co want an apartheid society with a new bunch of brown faces in charge of the means of production; Turia’s model is an apartheid society with an invented Iwi aristocracy in charge. To my mind, neither of these backward looking, racist and nepotistic visions should be particularly attractive to a modern socialist whose primarily interest should be the creation of a society with equality of opportunity for everyone and one that defends the positive liberties that equality of opportunity unlocks for everyone.
At the end of the day, the wider left lost the debate over the last thirty years because it was unable to tell a story of a positive future. The agenda was inverted and socialism was the new conservatism, tiredly defending status quo pragmatism against the message of the zealous change agents of the new right. Socialism became the ideology of the already defeated, seeking constantly to mitigate the disaster via identity politics or accommodation rather than trying to win the war.
I would put it to you that the ambient politics of resentment – or as I call it “loserist politics” – that you get from a lot of Mana supporters is the result of the ideological contradictions that lie at the heart of the alliance of the margins that is Mana. What unites them is what they resent and oppose, and that negativity seeps through to almost all their conversations. To my way of looking at it, the tonal loserism of Mana is just the fag end of that sorry tale of left wing defeat, not the flag bearer of a new socialist way of thinking about the future.
thought-provoking Sanctuary, reminds me of Chris Trotter’s style, applied with another perspective.
Actually Rogue, I have some sympathy with Sanctuarys interpretation. It exposes some raw edges of the Left that as he says would greatly benefit from some robust debate. There are some sacred cows to be led to the slaughter.
Conversely Santuary’s triumphalism for the Right might also have to go on ice, they have merely generated the same seeds of their own demise as their mirror image, the ideological Left.
re Bonds for earthquake strengthening, echoes some of our own thoughts and discussions on this, and the rental warrant-of-fitness issue. Failure to maintain safety of income-generating assets by property investors in a country that experiences regular, predicted seismic activity and has researched, documented, comparatively cold and damp residential rental stock. (all that extra water vapour in the atmosphere joe transcribes in the climate update below).
and on, and on, Ennfinitum. 🙂
ps. Coleman not gonna cut Defence funding for a few more years, maybe some more Theatres to go with those Sports Stadiums, “over the top Lads, let’s give Gerry what ho!”.
Just been on Gerry’s home turf….we should send Coleman there to be subject to their tender mercies…..really liked the Germans, they might civilise him!
been reading more books instead of blogs. Like on Passchendaele and other tragedies of human history. With an igloo box my friend gets el-cheapo pay-tv (National Geographic, BBC Knowledge etc); there was this programme yesterday on what Wales was like during the copper and iron smelting stages of their industrial (capital) revolution – the ore was shipped to the coal- with the puddling process developed by Cort being adopted in the Ruhr. What was striking was all the chimneys in Wales, belching smoke into the sky at the time, with social conditions such that (maybe only one university) ‘intellectuals’ had to leave the predominantly working-class country to receive higher education.
Yet, all those chimneys – ominous.
sorry about the all bold ; It’s a Neverending Story .
sanc all your assumptions are wrong imo but you build a nice little rant platform from them.
Tino rangatiratanga is about looking forwards not backwards.
The last people imo that believe in a non-dynamic Māori perspective are tino rangatiratanga adherents, let alone the ‘perfect stasis’ you propose.
Tino rangatiratanga is not about revenge it is about the opposite of that.
What unites those who believe in tino rangatiratanga and the left are belief in equality and fairness especially for those disregarded in our society – whatever ethnicity.
Mana don’t want an apartheid society.
The Mana Movement is much more than the ‘resent and oppose’ description you use and it isn’t negative at all.
Anyway your big words and puffed-up language cannot disguise your own resentments and your last paragraph is defeatest in tone and content. Great I say because Mana doesn’t need or want people like you imo, you’re better off trying 1law4all.
Rave on; Sanctuary. Neo liberalist capitalism is the fag end of human development, unwilling to even feed and water the worlds people. US imperialism’s annual military budget could do just that laddie.
Just read Tim Selwyn’s column, actually it is uncommonly accurate. It is not hate speech, it merely points out valid realities that should be of real concern to any society seeking some cogency. The farmers advantages are real, the corollary is that others don’t have these advantages. Whether that is good or bad depends on your viewpoint, but it does not make them any less real.
Seemed pretty accurate to me too, apart from the generalisation (I’ve seen some of the ‘green’ CC episodes).
Santuary, is this all your own work? I’m sure I’ve read the same thing written by someone else. Though I suppose if you haven’t got the sense to think for yourself, you may as well copy and paste what someone else has thought.
Errrr… Righto sport. I guess you have a clue what you are talking about, which makes one of us.
Thanks for you clever example of Hate Speech double-speak hypocrisy, Sanctuary.
Actually, Bomber is a long term activists, who has embraced the Mana approach to politics, because it is in keeping with his values. From his about page:
Sanct – your hate-loaded spin avoids mentioning the range of organisations Bradbury hires his services to, and the range of work he does.
I thought Tim Selwyn was Maori Party/ACT?
sanctuary..as the farmers and the beneficiaries are both being persecuted…
..’d’yareckon they should join forces..?
..y’know..!..as in..my enemies’ enemy is my friend..?
..maybe working together as ‘pity the poor farmers!’..(geddit..?..geddit..?..)
..or..maybe farmers should try to get a bigger voice in wellington..?
..(oh..!..hang on..!..)
phillip ure..
Well, I can’t say I agree – but I like your powerful style of polemic.
Mana is a bit of a mixture, but they are building a movement which will be capable of worthwhile changes. As a low profile supporter, I’m hopeful.
By the way, how the hell do you label John Minto as a loser? He is responsible more than any other one person for changing the way we thought about apartheid. Hone is prepared to stand with the people to halt evictions, to protect working class communities that have grown over many years. Mallard is prepared to sell overpriced tickets to them on Trademe. I know who I consider the loser.
Why are right wingers so full of hatred?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/commercial-property/9028917/Bond-proposal-for-earthquake-strengthening
Whilst out of town I heard there had been a significant quake in Wellington. The first thing I thought was “bugger, the rent seekers will now try and make me, Mr Ratepayer pay”. So the above came as no surprise. On the news during the week was another owner (Ian Cassels) calling for earthquake strengthening to be tax deductible.
Ho fekkin hum.
Did you see these self same building owners putting money from their rents aside to pay for strengthening before the Chch quake made the situation urgent? No sir.
Did you see the owners offer to set up a strengthening fund, or some form of buying group to spread the risk? Nope.
Did you see the see the owners actually do any work to mitigate risk whilst there were engineers and trades available (they are now all in Chch)? Hell no, just take the rent and play the risk.
Now you and I are supposed to bail the bastards out of an entirely predictable scenario. Same old story, privatize the profits, socialise the cost. How do we keep these bastards out of our pockets?
And what is more they want to leave things till 2020. One sector commenter said that would create a bottleneck about that time as they will tend to put the work off. Sounds like the old laissez faire that they apply to closing times in the ‘hospitalit-ising’ industry with everyone emerging drunk and stupid and irritable all at the same time.
The chap in Christchurch whose wife was killed in the building collapse there and has been advocating for action ever since is, luckily, not yet speechless at the lack of integrity of the government in its strange and uneven treatment of business, affected by the earthquakes.
My sympathies rest with the man in question: he has been let down by this total lack of integrity. When our wifes, husbands, children die in some red stickered building in Wellington we can expect the same “business” focused response. My take is actually shut the bastards down now before someone dies, and if they cannot strengthen the buildings under the current commercial conditions they should be bull dozed.
In Christchurch many buildings are simply being ignored by workers – they will not work in them as they consider them too dangerous. Makes them worthless and the landlords sharpen up.
And when the building owners fail to pay back the bonds will allow central government to force WCC to sell those assets. So, yeah, I can see why this government would be in favour of it.
Morrison is a plank.
I doubt if Wellington’s assets will be sufficiant to borrow against for the bonds. Mainly because the council is busily borrowing against them for other purposes.
In 2011 with debts of $325m, the council’s credit rating was downgraded
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5975455/Credit-downgrade-for-Wellington-City-Council
In 2012 with debts of $358 million, the council crowed that it’s credit rating hadn’t been downgraded further
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/hutt-news/6753915/Borrowing-our-future
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1211/S00706/credit-rating-agency-praises-council-team.htm
Wellington CC is actually in deep proverbial…they reckon they have an “asset base” of about $30K per rate payer…..if you were to get real and capitalise the assets they are probably overstated in value several times…and that is if you could sell them. My take is that the figure is more like minus $30K.
The reality for Wellington is that the ratepayer will be obliged to pick up the bill for negligent expenditure by successive councils and Detroit status is merely a disaster away.
Not a disaster away, just more BAU away. How much more is questionable but the result of bankruptcy is inevitable.
Great opportunity for a Big Asset Sell Off!!!!
Sanctuary@7 – the following portions of your comment above are but glaring non-sequitur;
“Taken as a pair, as a body of work that represents the thinking of TWO high profile Mana party supporters, a rather disturbing picture of that party emerges.” – (capitalisation is mine).
TWO high profile…….supporters ? Just TWO ?
That justifies your assertion – “…….Mana can offer the country nothing.” ?
Glaring non-sequitur as I say. Deployed to deliver a good old rant against a political party you don’t like. That’s fine. We all do it from time to time. It can’t pass as sensible analysis however.
Lolz, thank you sanctuary, your efforts have reinforced my position that the Mana Party in 2014 will be getting my Party Vote, and any other help i can offer them…
I see Pete George is running for Dunedin City Council. Good on him, but doesnt seem to state what policies he will push for? Though, judging from his record, I am picking he will vote to sell assets, and make cuts to libaries and the like, etc.
Like they all do. Seems that council candidates are more into making negative promises (ie cutting this and that to keep rates down) than positive promise. More parks, etc. Apart from when it comes to subsidising professional sports or ‘festivals’ for middle classes of course.
Ha, poor old Pete. Still fixated on LPrent and disingenously claiming that he’s banned from TS. Yawn.
I did a rare visit to KB on Saturday, where he announced his candidacy on their equivalent of OM to rave support (not) there. Some interesting comments, though!
When I can be bothered commenting on the NZ Herald site to assertions of the economic superiority of National, I often refer to the Reserve Bank’s historical data spreadsheet on government debt. When viewed in tandem with elected governments, it becomes apparent that National-led governments tend to drastically increase debt, while Labour-led governments systematically chip away at it.
Have never had a reply to this that disputes this trend.
However, it is interesting to see that the Reserve Bank website update has coincided with a decision to discontinue this statistic as of June 2013, and searching for “government debt” on the site, results in a lot of ambiguous results.
Another source of relevant information, removed from the voting public.
Bill from Dipton does not want you to see that His miraculous Government surplus for years 14/15 will have been created out of monies previously borrowed by Bill’s National Goverment in years 11/12,
Best hide the evidence now befor anyone clicks on to that little fact…
lol
Further investigation into discontinued statistics from the Reserve Bank since National took over government in 2008:
Bank Disclosure information
G3 Registered Banks – Dec 2008
Economic Indicators
A1 Domestic Trade – May 2013
A2 Investment – May 2013
A3 Prices – May 2013
A4 Labour market and balance of payments – May 2013
A5 Gross Domestic Product – May 2013
Exchange and interest rates
B3 Retail interest rates on lending and deposits – April 2009
B4 Foreign exchange monthly turnover – June 2012
Government Finance and Securities
D4 NZ Government Bond Sales by Tender – August 2009
D5 New Zealand government Treasury bill sales by tender – August 2009
D11 Wholesale New Zealand government securities on issue – August 2009
Money, credit and financial
Credit by Lender as at December – December 2010
Long run credit at December – December 2010
C2 Securitisation Adjustment series – November 2009
C25 Monthly registered banks and NBLI agriculture credit – July 2013
International position
E3 New Zealand’s overseas debt – June 2013
Although some adjustments do occur as a matter of course – some of these reports are major economic indicators and the value of historically gathered and assessed data is lost.
I know the Reserve Bank is supposedly an independent body, but this loss of economic tracking data indicates bias.
National can’t have the people having access to information as the information will always show that National is, as a matter of fact, the worst possible government to have.
Well, MRPP shares are doing well aren’t they.
IIRC, they started last Monday at about $2.37/2.38, ended the week at $2.26. And now? $2.20. Ouch!
Meridian is on the horizon.
I never understood why various commentators were was saying MRP was the “best” of the power companies to be sold, when apparently it actually isn’t all that good?
Sadly, yes, Meridian is on the horizon, but from the little that has come out so far, there will changes to the way this much bigger one is marketed. I heard some mention of these changes on RNZ National this morning but cannot remember when/which programme as I was only half listening.
Re MRP, I am not clued up enough to give any possible explanation re why MRP was considered the “best” – but the performance of the shares so far would not appear to support this.
The American Geophysical Union have released their revised position statement on climate change.
Full release:
Human-induced climate change requires urgent action.
Humanity is the major influence on the global climate change observed over the past 50 years.
Rapid societal responses can significantly lessen negative outcomes.
“Human activities are changing Earth’s climate. At the global level, atmospheric
concentrations of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases have increased
sharply since the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuel burning dominates this increase.
Human-caused increases in greenhouse gases are responsible for most of the observed
global average surface warming of roughly 0.8°C (1.5°F) over the past 140 years. Because
natural processes cannot quickly remove some of these gases (notably carbon dioxide)
from the atmosphere, our past, present, and future emissions will influence the climate
system for millennia.
Extensive, independent observations confirm the reality of global warming. These
observations show large-scale increases in air and sea temperatures, sea level, and
atmospheric water vapor; they document decreases in the extent of mountain glaciers,
snow cover, permafrost, and Arctic sea ice. These changes are broadly consistent with longunderstood physics and predictions of how the climate system is expected to respond to
human-caused increases in greenhouse gases. The changes are inconsistent with
explanations of climate change that rely on known natural influences.
Climate models predict that global temperatures will continue to rise, with the amount of
warming primarily determined by the level of emissions. Higher emissions of greenhouse
gases will lead to larger warming, and greater risks to society and ecosystems. Some
additional warming is unavoidable due to past emissions.
Climate change is not expected to be uniform over space or time. Deforestation,
urbanization, and particulate pollution can have complex geographical, seasonal, and
longer-term effects on temperature, precipitation, and cloud properties. In addition,
human-induced climate change may alter atmospheric circulation, dislocating historical
patterns of natural variability and storminess.
In the current climate, weather experienced at a given location or region varies from year
to year; in a changing climate, both the nature of that variability and the basic patterns of
weather experienced can change, sometimes in counterintuitive ways — some areas may
experience cooling, for instance. This raises no challenge to the reality of human-induced
climate change.
Impacts harmful to society, including increased extremes of heat, precipitation, and coastal
high water are currently being experienced, and are projected to increase. Other projected
outcomes involve threats to public health, water availability, agricultural productivity
(particularly in low-latitude developing countries), and coastal infrastructure, though some
benefits may be seen at some times and places. Biodiversity loss is expected to accelerate
due to both climate change and acidification of the oceans, which is a direct result of
increasing carbon dioxide levels.
While important scientific uncertainties remain as to which particular impacts will be
experienced where, no uncertainties are known that could make the impacts of climate
change inconsequential. Furthermore, surprise outcomes, such as the unexpectedly rapid
loss of Arctic summer sea ice, may entail even more dramatic changes than anticipated.
Actions that could diminish the threats posed by climate change to society and ecosystems
include substantial emissions cuts to reduce the magnitude of climate change, as well as
preparing for changes that are now unavoidable. The community of scientists has
responsibilities to improve overall understanding of climate change and its impacts.
Improvements will come from pursuing the research needed to understand climate change,
working with stakeholders to identify relevant information, and conveying understanding
clearly and accurately, both to decision makers and to the general public.
http://www.agu.org/sci_pol/pdf/position_statements/AGU_Climate_Statement_new.pdf
Yup, geo-engineering is playing it’s part very well.
The so called weaponized science industry has obliterated the earths protective layers, nuclear tests, meltdowns , lasers, you name it, that industry has done it, so of course human interference is causing problems, it could not be any other way!
Thank you military industrial complex for choosing to contribute to wrecking planet earth, and thanks to the bankers who finance it all, but most of all, thanks for the criminals who control the lot.
The average human being has contributed squat to climate change Joe, but is being told they have!
With just 21 months to election day, only 5% points ahead, UK Labour supporters are worried that their leadership team just isn’t firing
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/11/where-labour-going-wrong-ed-miliband
We’re all pretty cool over here on this side of the world though.
…as cucumbers being used inappropriately. 😀 (another day, another coal-slore). Wow! didn’t realize what a n0rty word ‘slore’ is until checking that bible of post-modern philology, Urban Dictionary.
You learn something new every day at The Standard.
Correct. (kinda like a P.G Dip. / M.A) if ya hang around the campus 😉 long enough )…and as useful 😀
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9025221/MPs-unite-to-keep-travel-perk-in-house
– Well it seems the parties can work together when it suits…
Why aren’t all forms of money-making taxed?
Sanctamonious you have been wheeled out by Mathew Hooten
and co the rights selfishness will be hidden by painting the left as far to radical to be in power the same BS Muldoon used in 1975 marching commies!
Peter Dunne is looking to rebrand United Future.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/216760/united-future-looks-to-revamp-image
Perhaps we could help him out with some name change suggestions.
Yawn NZ? No Future? United Meh? AdVance?
There might be some pertinent suggestions as to where to put the brand on Dunne’s hide.
Some useful suggestions from the Listener
http://www.listener.co.nz/commentary/the-internaut/the-rise-and-pratfall-of-the-satirical-political-party/
Division Bell (in a pavlovian sense).
The Angel of Death makes another appearance
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Monday 12 August 2013
Jim Mora, Neil Miller, Catherine Robertson
It’s mid-morning on a gloomy Monday, a slow news day. Jim Mora and his producer Chris Reid are cogitating seriously about the lineup for today’s show. Each man nurses a cup of coffee and thinks long and hard and seriously. Then the producer breaks the silence…
CHRIS REID: Mate, the first topic for today is this nasty little abduction of a two-year-old in Auckland, perpetrated by a man who has murdered in the past.
JIM MORA: Oh yes, we need to talk about that!
CHRIS REID: Happily, the child is safe, but the hunt for the criminal goes on.
JIM MORA: What talent have you lined up, Chris?
CHRIS REID: Gotta be honest with you, Jim: this is a tough one!
JIM MORA: Hmmmm….
CHRIS REID: Now, we can go to one of the universities, we can interview a lawyer, a judge, a human rights advocate. Kim Workman?
JIM MORA: No, let’s face it: they’re all too…. soft, too… complex.
CHRIS REID: I know, how about you interview Garth “The Knife” McFucker!?!!
JIM MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! “Garth McFucker”. That’s very good!
CHRIS REID: I thought you’d like that one! Anyway, mate, I’ve lined up the bloodthirsty psychopath for ten past four this arvo.
JIM MORA: Oh Christ, you’re serious…
Yes, that’s right: Garth McVicar. Although the head of the S.S. Trust has still not apologized for his bloodthirsty support of the 2008 knife-slaying of a boy in Manurewa, and despite the fact he is despised, loathed and feared by all decent people, those considerations have clearly not deterred the wise folk at Radio New Zealand National’s Panel, who got Jim Mora to interview the knife enthusiast for about the twentieth time. Unfortunately, Jim’s guests today were not people who have demonstrated any capacity or desire to confront such a brute. Or maybe that’s WHY they were chosen. Anyway, I sent off the following email to Jim Mora, pronto…
Garth McVicar? You cannot be serious.
Dear Jim,
You have, yet again, in spite of protests by many people, deferred to Garth McVicar as some sort of “expert” on matters of crime and punishment. Since it appears that you apply no standards in your selection of “talent” for your programme, can we expect to hear you deferring respectfully to Kyle Chapman, of the NZ National Front, and seeking his opinion on matters related to marae-burning and arson in general?
And if not, why not?
Yours in disgust,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
Morrissey Morrissey Morrisey you’re responsible for late dinner at my place……..and I still don’t know whether “McFucker The Knife” was actually hosted by Mensa Mora today. I think not. But anyway………excellent contribution !
Helps me laugh at the disgraceful spectacle of National Party MPs at their conference telling Campbell Live why we need the GCSB bill.
Frankly, most of them seemed pissed ! Wonder if that was why Brownlee was uncharacteristically camera shy. It couldn’t be because he’s anti the bill. Lends weight that it was……
The absolute Flying Circus riot was Koretake Troughing Tau Henare though. Such a learned trougher, getting all loftily Cold War about things. My God what an egg !
And just now an interview with Key. Pathetic ! His demeanour positively screaming that there’s some shit goin’ down with this bill but he’s gonna do it no matter what.
“I’m embarrassed but Fuck You All !” sort of thing
We must be afraid !
…..and I still don’t know whether “McFucker The Knife” was actually hosted by Mensa Mora today. I think not.
Actually, North, he WAS interviewed by an extra-solicitous and absurdly respectful Mora. That’s why I sent the angry email; it wasn’t the crawling that angered me, it was the fact that this lout is not considered as persona non grata. I cannot believe that it was Jim Mora who chose him as a guest (yet again) for his programme; it must have been the producer. Clearly, Radio New Zealand has no standards.
Your analysis of Key, Brownlee and co. is spot on, as always.
tonights news revealed the true cost of Tiwae point bail out $480 million in total including meridians selling eclectricity at a loss tokeep asset sales on track and national voters in Blingishs electorate bribed!
link please ? thx
How many people against or for the GSCB bill ,have read the actual Bill?
How many Right Wing commentators on the Standard can even spell “GCSB”?
Harr! 😀
Apart from loving Key and all he does, Brett knows nothing about politics or policy that’s good, bad or otherwise. Calling him right wing will go over his head like a runaway hoverboard.
One thing is certain: you have not read it.
Have you?
And if so which parts have so reassured you about your civil rights being protected?
Of course he hasn’t.
… more than you obviously assume.
You can assume – however, that most who do read it and then follow it up with the Human Rights report, the Law Society submission, and the NZ Internet submission would be compelled to continue researching.
For the non-reader, they have access to video submissions and the video on demand of the open public meeting held several weeks ago at Mt Albert.
If someone has done all these things, I would say that they are more than likely to oppose the bill.
Interesting that those on Campbell Live who supported it, were more than likely to admit they knew very little about it. So wags the world away.
Moronic article from the New York Times
As you read the following insult to the intelligence, remember that this is the newspaper constantly quoted and referred to by, among many others, Jim Mora…..
http://972mag.com/a-new-york-times-investigation-into-a-palestinian-hobby/76973/
bennet just made a skin-crawling/gastric-reflux-inducing appearance on native affairs…
phillip ure..
Paul why are right wingers so angry they are like spoiled brats at school who don’t want to share having a tantrum!