A snippet on the business news that Simon Power’s new job at Westpac involves looking after a few very rich customers looking to enhance their fortunes through state asset sales. Seems to go against the mood of the times as the 1% has already got rich enough from the 99%.
I really wonder if he sniffed electoral defeat in the air 6 moths ago, and figured he’d send himself out to pasture for a term or two, attempting to parachute himself back in when National were in a better position to win.
Realistically when National lose an election and Key buggers off and Power took over, he’d be in as weak a position as Goff was and who would want that? Better to repeat Key’s performance and take over from a weak patsy like Brash.
That answers what trough he’s snouting from next…..how about wodney, how’d they get him to go so quietly. Time will tell. Moods are for the weak Hilary, the nats views don’t bend whatever the climate…..pillage ahoy.
I imagine that once there was a small office in the Ministry of Marine peopled by grey people wearing cardigans. This office’s job was to hold the contingency plans for a vessel stranding on the New Zealand coast. They worked hard keeping their plans up to date with all the latest information about the pros and cons of each dispersant and methods of alleviating the effects of oil spills and debris washing up on the coast. As they were a “back office” they were considered surplus to the requirements of this government and they were sacked and their careful research and files discarded, just like the DoL discarded all the files on pay equity and disestablished the office when the NATS decided they didn’t want to know. Now all that appears to be able to be done is to fly over (Key did it without wings) and observe the destruction that the Rena is causing. That and meetings and briefings that appear to have no resolution. Please note they are keeping smile and wave well away now.
As they were a “back office” they were considered surplus to the requirements of this government and they were sacked and their careful research and files discarded,…
I think you’ll find that any such office was disestablished in the 1990s. It takes awhile, after being a “first world” nation, to silently build down to the level of incompetence that we seem to have achieved.
Please note they are keeping smile and wave well away now.
Of course they are, can’t go round tarnishing the brand by associating it with anything bad.
The Captain of the Rena has now been arrested, this will clearly deter more oil from leaking from the ruptured vessel and stop more containers from sliding overboard.
I find it funny that you post this comment then 4 minutes later post a comment saying that Joyce and Key’s heads need to roll. I guess that is because that will clearly deter more oil from leaking from the ruptured vessel and stop more containers from sliding overboard.
Well, captains don’t generally prang more than one or two ships. But as we’ve seen in the last couple of years, Ministers can foul one thing up after another – and the more capapble ones can organise concurrent foul ups, not just consecutive.
I think the word you are looking for Chris is accountability; those in positions of authority (e.g. being able to send in troops, civil defence, the navy, etc) have a responsibility to act – they didn’t, they are accountable – I assume that is simple enough for you to comprehend?
Where exactly did I say they shouldn’t be held to account? I in no way believe they have done anything right in this situation.
As such I think they should be held to account just as the captain should be for crashing the ship in the first place.
I was merely pointing out the difference in Colonial Viper’s two comments which were posted minutes apart and implied that the captain shouldn’t be held to account because it won’t stop the oil and yet Key and Joyce should be rolled although that wouldn’t stop the oil either.
Yes I am aware that he (sorry assuming Colonial is a guy) thinks Key and Joyce should be rolled for many things and not just this but it looked a bit ridiculous and funny to me in isolation.
I assume that is simple enough for you to comprehend?
The Captain of the Rena has now been arrested, this will clearly deter more oil from leaking from the ruptured vessel and stop more containers from sliding overboard.
Yes, I have thought that myself… But at looks as if something is being done, hey?
I am literally just now hearing John Key saying, while grinning like an idiot, that the Rena costs will have to be borne by “the taxpayer” (as if there’s only one of them.)
It emerged yesterday that on the day the Rena struck the reef, Maritime NZ declined an offer of two inflatable barges which could pump up to 100 tonnes of oil at a time.
The offer was made by Ronald Winstone, of Lancer Industries, who said the two barges would have easily emptied the ship of toxic oil in the four days of clear weather after the Rena ran aground.
“It would have taken them 17 trips to pump all the fuel off the ship and three or four days wouldn’t have been unrealistic for that to have happened.
“It doesn’t make sense why they didn’t start pumping the oil earlier when they had the equipment to do it.”
A Maritime NZ spokesman said Mr Winstone’s offer was logged with its operations division, and “if they needed it they would have followed it up”.
According to the bloke on the radio this morning they needed to heat the oil to pump it and the systems on the ship had failed; the offer was helpful, but they said it wouldn’t work. I would have thought there would have been nothing to be lost in actually trying!
That could also read: “businessman shamelessly takes opportunity of crisis to promote his product, even though it wouldn’t have worked.”
How about a bit of critical thinking? It’s bizarre how you usually see government ownership of everything as the saviour of the country yet now uncritically laud the musings of a filthy capitalist. Even if these things were magicked into the water immediately, it appears the ship was incapable of offloading its fuel. This is not a Mr Suckymoto job.
The rafts would have worked. It’s what they were designed and are used for. Sure, we would also need to get some pumps out there but that shouldn’t have been a problem either.
It’s bizarre how you usually see government ownership of everything as the saviour of the country yet now uncritically laud the musings of a filthy capitalist.
The government should have ensured that plans and capability to respond to these incidents was in place. Generally speaking the best way to do that is to do so through taxes and a government department. That may or may not mean that the government should own the factory that makes the equipment (I tend to think that it should with the creative types working in government funded R&D).
But even that doesn’t mean anything beside the simple fact that we did have the gear to get the fuel-oil off in the first few days while it was still calm – selfish business promotion or not.
Draco I know it sounds easy, but they were dealing with a holed and unstable vessel already leaking fuel, and it is a particulalry difficult fuel to deal with. HFO usually requires pre heating above 38 deg before it can be pumped. Do you know if that facility was available? From what I’ve read it took four days to actually replumb the fuel system to allow offloading. Also, these barges are plastic. How would you reheat the fuel to pump it back off them back at port (I have no idea but it could slow the process significantly as well as risk the barge)?
These barges would have had to have been taken back to Tauranga for unloading. They are like large underwater balloons and I doubt they can do more than a knot or 2 under tow, so that would have been a couple of hours each way at least making each of the 17 trips including loading and unloading multiple hours. So I’d take the quick fix solutions with a pinch of salt.
HFO usually requires pre heating above 38 deg before it can be pumped.
People keep coming up with this but it’s really starting to bug me because I’m sure that they didn’t shovel the fuel to the engines. If the fuel has to be heated to 38 degrees before being pumped and it has to be pumped to the engines then the best way is to keep the fuel stored at 38 degrees. So, wouldn’t the fuel be at or near temperature already?
How would you reheat the fuel to pump it back off them back at port (I have no idea but it could slow the process significantly as well as risk the barge)?
Plastics can actually take quite a high temperature and, as the barges are designed for this type of thing, then I would assume that they’ve already taken such complication into account.
They are like large underwater balloons and I doubt they can do more than a knot or 2 under tow…
What they are is displacement vessels. Flexible admittedly but I’d expect probably closer to 5 or 6 knots. It would still have taken time but 1 or 2 would actually be too slow for them to be effective.
Re heating I agree, but I think the problem is the systems weren’t working. Ianmac confirms that above. If the oil is up to temperature and you can get it off the barge quickly then fine, but if it has to go to Tauranga, it might suffer a loss of heat. Not sure if there is a portable heating unit you can insert like a kettle element.
They are not displacement vessels. They are inflatable uppers with a big para pool slung underneath, more like an iceberg. 100 tonnes of oil in a big bladder with 95% underwater? It sounds like a big sea anchor to me. you can see one here and look at the heavy heavy line and the way the thing is going through the water.
Hmmmm……and no economist owning up to writing the email….looking more and more like a belated “email to self”……rats finally deserting do-nothing Jonah and his slippery sinking ship?
What economist would own up to writing that email?
If you’re offering the PM cute little one liners to use against his political opponents when you are meant to be an independent commentator, then you wouldn’t want to be caught, would you?
Is anyone surprised that Key has as much of a matey, back-slapping relationship with economists as he does with journalists?
I wonder how big a hit in the polls the government will take when the oil starts washing ashore in quantity and the beaches are black. Such images in the media will have a powerful impact.
The government will want to frame the debate around how unprecedented and difficult the salvage is, and how we have the best minds on the job. The enormity of the consequences to hide the initial response failure.
They will also try to use enormity of the consequences to say that we would never be equipped for such a large disaster (which is true) and therefore could not be expected to pay for equipment to just sit in warehouses.
So we should sell all our fire engines and remove all fire hoses from every office building in the country?
The debate has to be around those first few days. The issue is not the “salvage” but the first response and its delay. The government needs to be asked:
Why did the government assure us that
1) We could cope in a timely manner and with worlds best practice (Hekia Parata)
2) We can leave such initial action to private enterprise (Kate Wilkinson)
Why did we not have the resources on hand for an initial response?
If we did, then why did it take so long to quarantine the area and/or unload fuel?
Why did the government not brief the Greens when requested and why did Joyce trash the opposition and lie when he said they had not made a request?
Why did the government not respond to NZdrs who had the products and equipment that, if deployed in the initial response, could have reduced the damage?
Why are we using a dispersant that other countries have banned?
Why didn’t Maritime NZ, when there was time, find eco-friendly alternates to this dispersant?
Why were there no plans to acquire and deploy heavy lift helicopters in the event that a container ship runs into trouble in our waters (a foresee able scenario)?
Why are the booms deployed, as seen on TV, not adequate for estuaries given that we have so many of them in NZ? Could we not have designed our own to protect our coast?
Was the delay in any way created by debates about who was going to pay for it?
Could this explain why the minister responsible has been reluctant to use his sweeping power?
Given that this is such an obvious potential scenario why were we not better prepared to act immediately?
They will also try to use enormity of the consequences to say that we would never be equipped for such a large disaster (which is true) and therefore could not be expected to pay for equipment to just sit in warehouses.
Nope.
See the response from Lancer Industries above. They could have offloaded all the oil from the ship in 17 trips.
Would have been all done in 3 days.
You’re seriously underestimating what we can do as a country should we put as much faith and energy and investment in to ourselves as we do the frakin All Blacks.
I thought it very telling that the language used by Joyce and Smith yesterday changed to describing the spill as ‘inevitable’ – something that was going to happen no matter what.
Being a resident of Mt Maunganui it has been a bit soul destroying to see the half truths and outright lies that have been spread around while very little actually occurs – huge anger and frustration in this community…
The ship has been sitting off the coast like a loaded gun and no one had the wherewithal to get out there and remove the bullet….too late now…all too late
Agreed Their are a lot of very angry people and rightly so .When John Campbell had an international expert on hi show on Thursday saying what had to be done it wasn’t till Monday that Maritime NZ that action was taken.Today on Jim Moras show we had a veteran of the gulf of Mexico oil spill on telling the audience that putting dispersant on the oil only makes it worse because it hides the problem.Key was more interested in getting his mug on TV.
I’m really pissed off with these pricks right now – two daughters fired in three weeks, in both cases the companies had written the fire at will be into their employment contracts because they had so many employees.
1. 90 day trial
2. No excuse required.
3. Can’t take industial action.
4. Can’t take legal action.
The annoying part is that 1 daughter quit a job she had been at for 5 years to upskill.
A lovely quote from new EMA CEO Kim Campbell who is a big fan of Napoleon:
“…make sure you control your supply line, make sure you concentrate your firepower at your enemy’s weakest point and then once you’ve breached the enemy’s line, consolidate,”
The employers and manufacturers association – waging a class war since conception – now preparing for a new assault against the working poor of New Zealand.
Does anyone know if National went ahead with legislating 40 hours sick leave instead of 5 days sick leave?
It’s the sort of submarine issue that doesn’t get any media coverage and most people shrug their shoulders and say “so what”, but for people who work 4×10 days instead of the standard 5×8, it makes a big difference. It’s all about screwing every last dollar out of the benefits businesses are forced to give as entitlements, so such changes fit perfectly with National’s pro-business agenda.
Then there are the 12 hour shifts that my Dad used to work in a factory.
Only having three and a bit days to recover from an illness that probably affects you more because of the long hours you’re working per day is just spiteful.
– two daughters fired in three weeks, in both cases the companies had written the fire at will be into their employment contracts because they had so many employees.
Shocking! Can the one who quit her previous job, go back? I wish them both good luck…
Like many people who care about the environment, I watched in disbelief as New Zealand authorities started spraying the initial 20 to 50 tonnes of heavy oil that had leaked from the grounded ship MV Rena with Corexit 9500…
The Rena story goes on. It straightened up. now its leaning further. They couldn’t pump the oil out to barge containers without heating it, it isn’t a straightforward project. The containers are 40ft, longer than the normal 20ft. and the ship was packed with them but they have started to dislodge and fall into the sea. There is a special crane being brought from Singapore but it will take some time, say a month, to sail here. There is talk about the oil getting into the water column – I understand that is facilitated by using dispersant. It seems that it is better to not further pollute the water and try and deal with the oil as it presents, as a natural earth substance.
Fishermen, fish, seabirds, tourists, the environment etc. all harmed by this shipping company and its choice of management of its ship. Apparently the ship is registered in the notoriously lax Liberia. Are the conditions still prevailing for senior crew which was revealed years ago as buying their certificates without studying and working and passing legitimate examinations? The shipmaster is Filipino and has been in Court granted name suppression also no pictures, and he is going to assist with the salvage work.
We have some small freight shipping, I wonder if we could have more to manage much of the container transfers round the country though we would still need international vessels because of the increased transport required by the globalisation push. It is strange that the global economics approach has resulted in us becoming dependent on others for much of our basic stuff that now has to be shipped to us. If we manufactured for ourselves, that would provide a good base of jobs for many and a financial base for the high-tech and service sector to leverage off.
If we manufactured for ourselves, that would provide a good base of jobs for many and a financial base for the high-tech and service sector to leverage off.
Not in our capitalist socio-economic system we wouldn’t. Increasing productivity must result in less jobs unless the excess people are effectively transferred to other work (R&D, Arts & Culture) but that isn’t what happens as those things aren’t guaranteed profit vehicles.
other work should also include emotional labour e.g. working in rest homes, social work, counselling etc. Employment which is not created to make a buck for a capitalist owner, but for the purposes of looking after other people.
Our shipping was given up to overseas ships in the 80’s for ideological reasons. The resulting effects on the balance of payments, employment, safety and the environment were, of course, not a consideration.
Almost all our export and import cargo and much of our coastal cargo is now carried by overseas ships. Mostly registered in places like Panama or Liberia.
Safety standards have dropped.
MNZ was told not to make too much of a fuss about the standard of overseas ships, as that could be politically embarrassing. Not to mention, the few remaining, NZ ships also being forced to cut costs to compete. Both with overseas ships and subsidised rail and trucking.
Given the quality of investigative journalism we have in our MSM, don’t be surprised if they interview a certain bishop for his perspective, or insight into the Reno’s stranding.
Kiwisaver starts to take off. Just imagine what NZ would be like if we hadn’t had the dancing Cossacks (I still don’t understand what that ad was even supposed to mean, anyway):
The Right in New Zealand at the time believed that there were reds under every bed – Muldoon wanted to snuggle up to the bomb, sporting contacts with South Africa and the links to Walvis Bay, the sense that Rowling was going to invite the Soviet Union to run our foreign policy. Having a huge government super fund available for investment in industry was seen as a potential for rampant socialism. Wilson suffered the same angst in the UK – the city did not want the government to have such a lot of money at its disposal.
Right, I guess that makes a modicum of sense in a paranoid time. I guess the difference here is that Kiwisaver funds are not managed by the government, but by private companies, so This Time It’s Different.
Probably that’s the only thing that prevented National from out-right destroying it this time around, too.
In addition I understand that the bank allocated the worst currency values of the day to the pension funds and kept the best ones for themselves.
In other words if a fund were buying NZD, the bank would sell it to them at the most expensive price point which occurred that day.
The bank could then be on the other side of that transaction, allocating itself the cheapest price point which occured that day.
Free money, ripping off the pension fund.
(And now you know one reason why all these pension funds now appear to be “underfunded” and calls for retirees pensions to be cut are all over the place).
My telephone rang one evening my buddy called for me
Said the bankers are all leaving you better come ‘round and see
It’s a startling revelation they robbed the nation blind
They’re all down at the station no banker left behind.
No banker, no banker, no banker could I find.
They were all down at the station, no banker left behind
Well the bankers called a meetin’ to the White House they went one day
They was going to call on the president in a quiet and a sociable way
The afternoon was sunny and the weather it was fine
They counted all our money and no banker was left behind
No banker, no banker, no banker could I find
They were all down at the White House, no banker was left behind
Well I hear the whistle blowin’, it plays a happy tune
The conductor’s callin’ all aboard we’ll be leavin’ soon
With champagne and shrimp cocktails and that’s not all you’ll find
There’s a billion dollar bonus and no banker left behind
No banker, no banker, no banker could I find.
When the train pulled out next mornin’, no banker was left behind
No banker, no banker, no banker could I find.
When the train pulled out next mornin’, no banker was left behind
logioe97 is right. Tom Scott summed it up at the time with a cartoon of Muldoon tucked up in a dinky little bed looking petrified. Leather booted, fur hatted Rusky commies were hanging from the light shade, clambering through the window, huddled under the bed, peering round the door for… God only knows for what reason.
…the dancing Cossacks (I still don’t understand what that ad was even supposed to mean, anyway):
Height of the Cold War and the capitalists fear that people will realise that working together is better than competing with each other. In other words it was an OMG, Commun1sm scare tactic. It didn’t help that the USSR had become a totalitarian state while still calling themselves commun1st.
My recollection of the dancing Cossacks ad is that it was short hand for ‘Labour’s proposed super scheme will put all the money you saved into the governments hands’, just like the USSR.
Singapore does allright and Australia doe much better than us on that front if Piggy hand’t wrecked the savings scheme NZ wouldn’t be a financial disaster it is today just the tax from invested earnings would be enough to fund government without borrowing the balance of payments would be positive, because the amounts of returns on investment would be bigger than our import bill thank you J90 you little muppet so has john or jerry got his hand operating the strings.Its suck a disaster we are going to need InterNational Rescue joe [Finacial that is IMF ,World Bank]
It seems like we’ve had a rather large influx of new commenters on this site in the past few weeks, and most of them seem to be anti-government.
I wonder how many of these people are simply first-time-commenter-long-time-lurker folks, or new followers of the cause, or even people who voted National in 2008 who are seeing this government in a new light.
Can’t respond for anyone else but for me, I posted a couple of times then went into lurk mode for quite a while. Just recently I’ve started contributing again.
No easy way to tell the mix (the stats engines don’t really break down comments & would you want them to do so?),
But eyeballing it, the number of new people reading the site has jumped by nearly a third over the last two weeks above our average for the last couple of months (which was itself close to double last years average in the same time period), while the total increase in visitors is up by about a quarter.
Of course about half of the new visitors are part of the visit once normality (typically search engine driven), but there are a considerable number that wind up in the other normal peak of 200+ visits per month.
From my previous sampling (SQL on commenting against IP’s on logs), characteristically 10-20% of high hit newbies will write a comment within the first month of arriving (it varies quite a lot depending on what the posts are about and what OpenMike is discussing). So I’d say that the bulk of the new comments are probably lurkers, with a good proportion of newbies because of the numbers that are being referred to us at present.
It has been quiet because of the RWC, but the last couple of weeks have started to look like election time is breaking through.
Good to see John Key is beginning to come under pressure and as he does it will become more clear he does not have hard working NZer’s at heart
.
A ditty for John Key
I’m a millionaire and I’m okay
dont ‘have to’ think about anyone else
I sleep all night
I’m PM by day
and Crosby and Textor tells me what to say
Just last year we introduced
government blockers on the internet
they are only there to stop the porn
so you can ‘trust me’ when I say
we won’t use them for anything else.
We will crush those unions underfoot
and arm the police for their protest
If we push those wages down again
we can ‘indenture, Kiwi workers’ for years and years.
I’m a millionaire and I’m okay
I don’t ‘have to’ think about anyone else
I sleep all night
I’m PM by day
and Crosby and Textor tells me what to say.
Between 2007 and 2010, David Breashears retraced the steps of early photographic pioneers such as Major E O Wheeler, George Mallory and Vittorio Sella – to try to re-take their views of breathtaking glacial vistas.
Drove along the Waikato Expressway yesterday and was surprised at the conspicuous absence of National election billboards, in what should be strong National party country. Only two billboards, compared to 20+ for the previous two elections. And both of those were on properties that previously had ACT billboards. Is this extreme confidence, or are peokple less confident (more ambivalent) in their support for the current governmen?
In the wairarapa you would be excused for thinking that John Keys is running here himself.
Hayes wont even allow his own billboards to be put up.
Oh and the cheapskates are using the same ones they used three years ago.
Hil’ry Berry is in Tauranga, looking at the Rena, and saying in a tone of shocked surprise “It’s now an election issue!” (Well, no sh*t, Sherlock…) She’s nothing if not quick, our Hil’ry… 😀
More asset sales planned? This time in Christchurch.
Press release from Christchurch Central MP Brendon Burns covered on Scoop
12 October 2011
Government’s velvet glove submission to council over asset sales
The Government’s submission to the Christchurch City Council’s draft recovery plan for the central city is an ultimatum framed around forced asset sales, Christchurch Central MP Brendon Burns says.
The 20 page submission includes two references to the likely role of public/private partnerships for existing and new council assets.
“That’s code for selling down council assets – including the Orion lines company, Christchurch International Airport and the Port of Lyttelton – after the election.
“All are currently majority owned by Christchurch City Council and their returns help hold down rates,” Brendon Burns said.
“Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has refused to confirm or deny that the Government is looking at installing commissioners into the council after November 26, forcing the sale of Christchurch assets to help pay for the city’s earthquake recovery.
I guess it’s not just national assets they want to flog.
I wonder what assets the people of the Bay of Plenty will have to sell to pay for their disaster?
Somebody had better tell them that there is more shit out at sea and it’ll come ashore November 27!
The framing has already swung into action – specifically around the supposed liability of the council for issuing consent well building permits – well, its always 20/20 vision in hindsight – quite obviously the incidence of earthquakes that Canterbury experienced and is currently experiencing was unexpected – with earthquakes it’s always a probability equation – just look at Wellington – big quake…f*#ked.
Make no mistake – this is an asset grab, and a continuation of the great earthquake rort in Christchurch.
How is it that costs are unquantifiable and ongoing? If ballooning cost are an issue then surely the first task is accurately chart these and not just put a line in the next five years (or more) budgets that says Ch-Ch Earthquake $$$$$$$$$$?
WTF why doesn’t the taxpayer just write out a blank cheque to Fletchers?
This is totally wrong – first their homes and city are rooted by a large earthquake and now the National government does SFA to help them, implements a dictatorship and then sells their city out from them.
FFS if I was conspiracy minded it would not be unreasonable to conclude that Jabba is really after the oil that is buried under Christchurch (note: unsubstantiated speculation)
Disaster politics, who needs economic policies when you have disasters to blame?
Peter Leitch aka ‘the mad butcher’ will be the subject of the upcoming ‘This is Your Life’
The corporate media is not finished with its (undisclosed) election campaign on behalf of the right. In fact it has hardly begun. I’ll eat my hat if I’m wrong. I may have to bake a chocolate one.
*Apologies if this has already been precdicted elsewhere
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This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
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 ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
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. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
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. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
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. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
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. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
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. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Director, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW Sydney Australia is finally having a sustained conversation about violence against women and what we can do about it. It is more than time. Australian women and girls continue to experience ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne stockfour/Shutterstock Preliminary bulk billing data released this week shows a 2.1% rise in bulk billing up to March. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Schulz, Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide Australia is once again grappling with how we can stop gendered violence in our country. Protests over the weekend show there is enormous community anger over the number of women who are dying and National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University AnastasiaDudka/Shutterstock What if the government was doing everything it could to stop thieves making off with our money, except the one thing that could really work? That’s how it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harrington, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies, University of Canterbury The Conversation It seems to be a time of old favourites. This month our experts have recommended two new seasons – the second season of Alone Australia (although ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland A bright Eta Aquariid meteor photobombed this photo of comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) in May 2020.Jonti Horner Meteors – commonly known as shooting stars – can be seen on any night of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Flannery, Honorary fellow, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Current concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in Earth’s atmosphere are unprecedented in human history. But CO₂ levels today, and those that might occur in coming decades, did occur millions of years ago. ...
Winston Peters has been keen to dismiss speculation on our involvement in Aukus but will give a speech tonight on the direction of our foreign policy, 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. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Usmar, Lecturer in Critical Media Literacies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With the coalition government’s ban of student mobile phones in New Zealand schools coming into effect this week, reaction has ranged from the sceptical (kids will just get ...
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A snippet on the business news that Simon Power’s new job at Westpac involves looking after a few very rich customers looking to enhance their fortunes through state asset sales. Seems to go against the mood of the times as the 1% has already got rich enough from the 99%.
A natural career path for a tory politician …
I really wonder if he sniffed electoral defeat in the air 6 moths ago, and figured he’d send himself out to pasture for a term or two, attempting to parachute himself back in when National were in a better position to win.
Realistically when National lose an election and Key buggers off and Power took over, he’d be in as weak a position as Goff was and who would want that? Better to repeat Key’s performance and take over from a weak patsy like Brash.
That answers what trough he’s snouting from next…..how about wodney, how’d they get him to go so quietly. Time will tell. Moods are for the weak Hilary, the nats views don’t bend whatever the climate…..pillage ahoy.
I imagine that once there was a small office in the Ministry of Marine peopled by grey people wearing cardigans. This office’s job was to hold the contingency plans for a vessel stranding on the New Zealand coast. They worked hard keeping their plans up to date with all the latest information about the pros and cons of each dispersant and methods of alleviating the effects of oil spills and debris washing up on the coast. As they were a “back office” they were considered surplus to the requirements of this government and they were sacked and their careful research and files discarded, just like the DoL discarded all the files on pay equity and disestablished the office when the NATS decided they didn’t want to know. Now all that appears to be able to be done is to fly over (Key did it without wings) and observe the destruction that the Rena is causing. That and meetings and briefings that appear to have no resolution. Please note they are keeping smile and wave well away now.
I think you’ll find that any such office was disestablished in the 1990s. It takes awhile, after being a “first world” nation, to silently build down to the level of incompetence that we seem to have achieved.
Of course they are, can’t go round tarnishing the brand by associating it with anything bad.
I wouldn’t care if they weren’t “working hard” to keep the plans up to date. Just as long as the plans were kept up to date.
What we’ve had with mines safety and [possibly] marine, next on the list at the very least is health – MoH has been gutted.
The Captain of the Rena has now been arrested, this will clearly deter more oil from leaking from the ruptured vessel and stop more containers from sliding overboard.
I find it funny that you post this comment then 4 minutes later post a comment saying that Joyce and Key’s heads need to roll. I guess that is because that will clearly deter more oil from leaking from the ruptured vessel and stop more containers from sliding overboard.
Well, captains don’t generally prang more than one or two ships. But as we’ve seen in the last couple of years, Ministers can foul one thing up after another – and the more capapble ones can organise concurrent foul ups, not just consecutive.
I think the word you are looking for Chris is accountability; those in positions of authority (e.g. being able to send in troops, civil defence, the navy, etc) have a responsibility to act – they didn’t, they are accountable – I assume that is simple enough for you to comprehend?
Where exactly did I say they shouldn’t be held to account? I in no way believe they have done anything right in this situation.
As such I think they should be held to account just as the captain should be for crashing the ship in the first place.
I was merely pointing out the difference in Colonial Viper’s two comments which were posted minutes apart and implied that the captain shouldn’t be held to account because it won’t stop the oil and yet Key and Joyce should be rolled although that wouldn’t stop the oil either.
Yes I am aware that he (sorry assuming Colonial is a guy) thinks Key and Joyce should be rolled for many things and not just this but it looked a bit ridiculous and funny to me in isolation.
I assume that is simple enough for you to comprehend?
Yes, I have thought that myself… But at looks as if something is being done, hey?
I am literally just now hearing John Key saying, while grinning like an idiot, that the Rena costs will have to be borne by “the taxpayer” (as if there’s only one of them.)
Joyce and Key’s heads should roll. Now.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10758416
Sheesh CV. Crosby Textor are going to have their work cut out trying to explain this.
This disaster is going to climax right around the time of the World Cup semis and finals.
It will make for an interesting toxic stew for National to drink down.
It will bring a new meaning to the phrase “All Black”.
And “Clean Green NZ 100% pure”
What a cock up! and we’re all going to pay for it.
Here, let me spin that for you:
100% pure compared to other countries who have had environmental disasters.
According to the bloke on the radio this morning they needed to heat the oil to pump it and the systems on the ship had failed; the offer was helpful, but they said it wouldn’t work. I would have thought there would have been nothing to be lost in actually trying!
That could also read: “businessman shamelessly takes opportunity of crisis to promote his product, even though it wouldn’t have worked.”
How about a bit of critical thinking? It’s bizarre how you usually see government ownership of everything as the saviour of the country yet now uncritically laud the musings of a filthy capitalist. Even if these things were magicked into the water immediately, it appears the ship was incapable of offloading its fuel. This is not a Mr Suckymoto job.
The rafts would have worked. It’s what they were designed and are used for. Sure, we would also need to get some pumps out there but that shouldn’t have been a problem either.
The government should have ensured that plans and capability to respond to these incidents was in place. Generally speaking the best way to do that is to do so through taxes and a government department. That may or may not mean that the government should own the factory that makes the equipment (I tend to think that it should with the creative types working in government funded R&D).
But even that doesn’t mean anything beside the simple fact that we did have the gear to get the fuel-oil off in the first few days while it was still calm – selfish business promotion or not.
Draco I know it sounds easy, but they were dealing with a holed and unstable vessel already leaking fuel, and it is a particulalry difficult fuel to deal with. HFO usually requires pre heating above 38 deg before it can be pumped. Do you know if that facility was available? From what I’ve read it took four days to actually replumb the fuel system to allow offloading. Also, these barges are plastic. How would you reheat the fuel to pump it back off them back at port (I have no idea but it could slow the process significantly as well as risk the barge)?
These barges would have had to have been taken back to Tauranga for unloading. They are like large underwater balloons and I doubt they can do more than a knot or 2 under tow, so that would have been a couple of hours each way at least making each of the 17 trips including loading and unloading multiple hours. So I’d take the quick fix solutions with a pinch of salt.
People keep coming up with this but it’s really starting to bug me because I’m sure that they didn’t shovel the fuel to the engines. If the fuel has to be heated to 38 degrees before being pumped and it has to be pumped to the engines then the best way is to keep the fuel stored at 38 degrees. So, wouldn’t the fuel be at or near temperature already?
Plastics can actually take quite a high temperature and, as the barges are designed for this type of thing, then I would assume that they’ve already taken such complication into account.
What they are is displacement vessels. Flexible admittedly but I’d expect probably closer to 5 or 6 knots. It would still have taken time but 1 or 2 would actually be too slow for them to be effective.
Re heating I agree, but I think the problem is the systems weren’t working. Ianmac confirms that above. If the oil is up to temperature and you can get it off the barge quickly then fine, but if it has to go to Tauranga, it might suffer a loss of heat. Not sure if there is a portable heating unit you can insert like a kettle element.
They are not displacement vessels. They are inflatable uppers with a big para pool slung underneath, more like an iceberg. 100 tonnes of oil in a big bladder with 95% underwater? It sounds like a big sea anchor to me. you can see one here and look at the heavy heavy line and the way the thing is going through the water.
http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/index.cfm?SEID=0&Nid=89356&SRCID=0&ntid=0&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0
PS this is the niche kind of business NZ should be focussing on and exploiting
Ins the barges are flexible designed for this purpose. @ more have been lent to help with the job
Hmmmm……and no economist owning up to writing the email….looking more and more like a belated “email to self”……rats finally deserting do-nothing Jonah and his slippery sinking ship?
What economist would own up to writing that email?
If you’re offering the PM cute little one liners to use against his political opponents when you are meant to be an independent commentator, then you wouldn’t want to be caught, would you?
Is anyone surprised that Key has as much of a matey, back-slapping relationship with economists as he does with journalists?
I wonder how big a hit in the polls the government will take when the oil starts washing ashore in quantity and the beaches are black. Such images in the media will have a powerful impact.
The government will want to frame the debate around how unprecedented and difficult the salvage is, and how we have the best minds on the job. The enormity of the consequences to hide the initial response failure.
They will also try to use enormity of the consequences to say that we would never be equipped for such a large disaster (which is true) and therefore could not be expected to pay for equipment to just sit in warehouses.
So we should sell all our fire engines and remove all fire hoses from every office building in the country?
The debate has to be around those first few days. The issue is not the “salvage” but the first response and its delay. The government needs to be asked:
Why did the government assure us that
1) We could cope in a timely manner and with worlds best practice (Hekia Parata)
2) We can leave such initial action to private enterprise (Kate Wilkinson)
Why did we not have the resources on hand for an initial response?
If we did, then why did it take so long to quarantine the area and/or unload fuel?
Why did the government not brief the Greens when requested and why did Joyce trash the opposition and lie when he said they had not made a request?
Why did the government not respond to NZdrs who had the products and equipment that, if deployed in the initial response, could have reduced the damage?
Why are we using a dispersant that other countries have banned?
Why didn’t Maritime NZ, when there was time, find eco-friendly alternates to this dispersant?
Why were there no plans to acquire and deploy heavy lift helicopters in the event that a container ship runs into trouble in our waters (a foresee able scenario)?
Why are the booms deployed, as seen on TV, not adequate for estuaries given that we have so many of them in NZ? Could we not have designed our own to protect our coast?
Was the delay in any way created by debates about who was going to pay for it?
Could this explain why the minister responsible has been reluctant to use his sweeping power?
Given that this is such an obvious potential scenario why were we not better prepared to act immediately?
Nope.
See the response from Lancer Industries above. They could have offloaded all the oil from the ship in 17 trips.
Would have been all done in 3 days.
You’re seriously underestimating what we can do as a country should we put as much faith and energy and investment in to ourselves as we do the frakin All Blacks.
I’ve got a bridge with only one old lady owner to sell if you believe that
Didn’t know you supplied transport infrastructure, Insider.
Well, now we know who sold the govt the idea of the Holiday Highway.
If only. Imagine the commission on that job.
I thought it very telling that the language used by Joyce and Smith yesterday changed to describing the spill as ‘inevitable’ – something that was going to happen no matter what.
Being a resident of Mt Maunganui it has been a bit soul destroying to see the half truths and outright lies that have been spread around while very little actually occurs – huge anger and frustration in this community…
The ship has been sitting off the coast like a loaded gun and no one had the wherewithal to get out there and remove the bullet….too late now…all too late
Agreed Their are a lot of very angry people and rightly so .When John Campbell had an international expert on hi show on Thursday saying what had to be done it wasn’t till Monday that Maritime NZ that action was taken.Today on Jim Moras show we had a veteran of the gulf of Mexico oil spill on telling the audience that putting dispersant on the oil only makes it worse because it hides the problem.Key was more interested in getting his mug on TV.
Its all the captains fault. everything. put him in the stocks and let the national party candidates throw rotten tomatos at him.
National Government to VETO protection of Antarctic Ross Sea
Fuck these guys
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/5768227/NZ-to-veto-total-protection-of-Ross-Sea
Aye. Channel that anger into a donation.
For Labour go here.
For the Greens go here.
Ha I already do that every week. 🙂
National ,fucking up the world near you because they can .
I’m really pissed off with these pricks right now – two daughters fired in three weeks, in both cases the companies had written the fire at will be into their employment contracts because they had so many employees.
1. 90 day trial
2. No excuse required.
3. Can’t take industial action.
4. Can’t take legal action.
The annoying part is that 1 daughter quit a job she had been at for 5 years to upskill.
90 days designed to destroy upward job mobility
I hope your daughters are personally and on social media cursing NATs employment law.
A lovely quote from new EMA CEO Kim Campbell who is a big fan of Napoleon:
“…make sure you control your supply line, make sure you concentrate your firepower at your enemy’s weakest point and then once you’ve breached the enemy’s line, consolidate,”
The employers and manufacturers association – waging a class war since conception – now preparing for a new assault against the working poor of New Zealand.
Does anyone know if National went ahead with legislating 40 hours sick leave instead of 5 days sick leave?
It’s the sort of submarine issue that doesn’t get any media coverage and most people shrug their shoulders and say “so what”, but for people who work 4×10 days instead of the standard 5×8, it makes a big difference. It’s all about screwing every last dollar out of the benefits businesses are forced to give as entitlements, so such changes fit perfectly with National’s pro-business agenda.
Then there are the 12 hour shifts that my Dad used to work in a factory.
Only having three and a bit days to recover from an illness that probably affects you more because of the long hours you’re working per day is just spiteful.
Minimum civilised sick leave is 8-10 days accrued annually. We are way behind Australia.
The weakest point of all these CEO / EMA types is exactly the same as in 18th century France.
The neck.
Shocking! Can the one who quit her previous job, go back? I wish them both good luck…
Dickensonian days are back
this is what happens when you headhunt a wall street bond salesman to run the country.
He runing it all right. straight into the ground!
Corexit Nightmare
Like many people who care about the environment, I watched in disbelief as New Zealand authorities started spraying the initial 20 to 50 tonnes of heavy oil that had leaked from the grounded ship MV Rena with Corexit 9500…
The Rena story goes on. It straightened up. now its leaning further. They couldn’t pump the oil out to barge containers without heating it, it isn’t a straightforward project. The containers are 40ft, longer than the normal 20ft. and the ship was packed with them but they have started to dislodge and fall into the sea. There is a special crane being brought from Singapore but it will take some time, say a month, to sail here. There is talk about the oil getting into the water column – I understand that is facilitated by using dispersant. It seems that it is better to not further pollute the water and try and deal with the oil as it presents, as a natural earth substance.
Fishermen, fish, seabirds, tourists, the environment etc. all harmed by this shipping company and its choice of management of its ship. Apparently the ship is registered in the notoriously lax Liberia. Are the conditions still prevailing for senior crew which was revealed years ago as buying their certificates without studying and working and passing legitimate examinations? The shipmaster is Filipino and has been in Court granted name suppression also no pictures, and he is going to assist with the salvage work.
We have some small freight shipping, I wonder if we could have more to manage much of the container transfers round the country though we would still need international vessels because of the increased transport required by the globalisation push. It is strange that the global economics approach has resulted in us becoming dependent on others for much of our basic stuff that now has to be shipped to us. If we manufactured for ourselves, that would provide a good base of jobs for many and a financial base for the high-tech and service sector to leverage off.
Not in our capitalist socio-economic system we wouldn’t. Increasing productivity must result in less jobs unless the excess people are effectively transferred to other work (R&D, Arts & Culture) but that isn’t what happens as those things aren’t guaranteed profit vehicles.
other work should also include emotional labour e.g. working in rest homes, social work, counselling etc. Employment which is not created to make a buck for a capitalist owner, but for the purposes of looking after other people.
In other words, work that is essential to a fully functioning society.
According to the Wellington Harbour Master the Rena was picking up export cargoes. It’s not just about importing cheap junk for $2 shops
Our shipping was given up to overseas ships in the 80’s for ideological reasons. The resulting effects on the balance of payments, employment, safety and the environment were, of course, not a consideration.
Almost all our export and import cargo and much of our coastal cargo is now carried by overseas ships. Mostly registered in places like Panama or Liberia.
Safety standards have dropped.
MNZ was told not to make too much of a fuss about the standard of overseas ships, as that could be politically embarrassing. Not to mention, the few remaining, NZ ships also being forced to cut costs to compete. Both with overseas ships and subsidised rail and trucking.
These ships have brought expensive poisonousness algae blooms in their ballast tanks .
they have brought seaweed that are taking over our own seaweeds
Given the quality of investigative journalism we have in our MSM, don’t be surprised if they interview a certain bishop for his perspective, or insight into the Reno’s stranding.
[lprent: para deleted by request]
Kiwisaver starts to take off. Just imagine what NZ would be like if we hadn’t had the dancing Cossacks (I still don’t understand what that ad was even supposed to mean, anyway):
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/5767904/More-KiwiSaver-cash-injections-on-horizon
The Right in New Zealand at the time believed that there were reds under every bed – Muldoon wanted to snuggle up to the bomb, sporting contacts with South Africa and the links to Walvis Bay, the sense that Rowling was going to invite the Soviet Union to run our foreign policy. Having a huge government super fund available for investment in industry was seen as a potential for rampant socialism. Wilson suffered the same angst in the UK – the city did not want the government to have such a lot of money at its disposal.
Right, I guess that makes a modicum of sense in a paranoid time. I guess the difference here is that Kiwisaver funds are not managed by the government, but by private companies, so This Time It’s Different.
Probably that’s the only thing that prevented National from out-right destroying it this time around, too.
Probably. Kiwisaver delivers a lot of money into the banksters hands for them to make a profit on.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/business/new-york-state-says-bank-of-new-york-mellon-cheated-pension-funds.html
In addition I understand that the bank allocated the worst currency values of the day to the pension funds and kept the best ones for themselves.
In other words if a fund were buying NZD, the bank would sell it to them at the most expensive price point which occurred that day.
The bank could then be on the other side of that transaction, allocating itself the cheapest price point which occured that day.
Free money, ripping off the pension fund.
(And now you know one reason why all these pension funds now appear to be “underfunded” and calls for retirees pensions to be cut are all over the place).
Ry Cooder: No Banker Left Behind
My telephone rang one evening my buddy called for me
Said the bankers are all leaving you better come ‘round and see
It’s a startling revelation they robbed the nation blind
They’re all down at the station no banker left behind.
No banker, no banker, no banker could I find.
They were all down at the station, no banker left behind
Well the bankers called a meetin’ to the White House they went one day
They was going to call on the president in a quiet and a sociable way
The afternoon was sunny and the weather it was fine
They counted all our money and no banker was left behind
No banker, no banker, no banker could I find
They were all down at the White House, no banker was left behind
Well I hear the whistle blowin’, it plays a happy tune
The conductor’s callin’ all aboard we’ll be leavin’ soon
With champagne and shrimp cocktails and that’s not all you’ll find
There’s a billion dollar bonus and no banker left behind
No banker, no banker, no banker could I find.
When the train pulled out next mornin’, no banker was left behind
No banker, no banker, no banker could I find.
When the train pulled out next mornin’, no banker was left behind
logioe97 is right. Tom Scott summed it up at the time with a cartoon of Muldoon tucked up in a dinky little bed looking petrified. Leather booted, fur hatted Rusky commies were hanging from the light shade, clambering through the window, huddled under the bed, peering round the door for… God only knows for what reason.
Height of the Cold War and the capitalists fear that people will realise that working together is better than competing with each other. In other words it was an OMG, Commun1sm scare tactic. It didn’t help that the USSR had become a totalitarian state while still calling themselves commun1st.
My recollection of the dancing Cossacks ad is that it was short hand for ‘Labour’s proposed super scheme will put all the money you saved into the governments hands’, just like the USSR.
Singapore does allright and Australia doe much better than us on that front if Piggy hand’t wrecked the savings scheme NZ wouldn’t be a financial disaster it is today just the tax from invested earnings would be enough to fund government without borrowing the balance of payments would be positive, because the amounts of returns on investment would be bigger than our import bill thank you J90 you little muppet so has john or jerry got his hand operating the strings.Its suck a disaster we are going to need InterNational Rescue joe [Finacial that is IMF ,World Bank]
It seems like we’ve had a rather large influx of new commenters on this site in the past few weeks, and most of them seem to be anti-government.
I wonder how many of these people are simply first-time-commenter-long-time-lurker folks, or new followers of the cause, or even people who voted National in 2008 who are seeing this government in a new light.
Can’t respond for anyone else but for me, I posted a couple of times then went into lurk mode for quite a while. Just recently I’ve started contributing again.
No easy way to tell the mix (the stats engines don’t really break down comments & would you want them to do so?),
But eyeballing it, the number of new people reading the site has jumped by nearly a third over the last two weeks above our average for the last couple of months (which was itself close to double last years average in the same time period), while the total increase in visitors is up by about a quarter.
Of course about half of the new visitors are part of the visit once normality (typically search engine driven), but there are a considerable number that wind up in the other normal peak of 200+ visits per month.
From my previous sampling (SQL on commenting against IP’s on logs), characteristically 10-20% of high hit newbies will write a comment within the first month of arriving (it varies quite a lot depending on what the posts are about and what OpenMike is discussing). So I’d say that the bulk of the new comments are probably lurkers, with a good proportion of newbies because of the numbers that are being referred to us at present.
It has been quiet because of the RWC, but the last couple of weeks have started to look like election time is breaking through.
The fact of the matter is that National is a bad luck government and no amount of fiddling with the brand is going to turn it around.
Labour hasn’t exactly been a “good luck” opposition, but it’s more due to self harm rather than natural disasters.
Good to see John Key is beginning to come under pressure and as he does it will become more clear he does not have hard working NZer’s at heart
.
A ditty for John Key
I’m a millionaire and I’m okay
dont ‘have to’ think about anyone else
I sleep all night
I’m PM by day
and Crosby and Textor tells me what to say
Just last year we introduced
government blockers on the internet
they are only there to stop the porn
so you can ‘trust me’ when I say
we won’t use them for anything else.
We will crush those unions underfoot
and arm the police for their protest
If we push those wages down again
we can ‘indenture, Kiwi workers’ for years and years.
I’m a millionaire and I’m okay
I don’t ‘have to’ think about anyone else
I sleep all night
I’m PM by day
and Crosby and Textor tells me what to say.
Rivers of ice: Vanishing glaciers.
Between 2007 and 2010, David Breashears retraced the steps of early photographic pioneers such as Major E O Wheeler, George Mallory and Vittorio Sella – to try to re-take their views of breathtaking glacial vistas.
Also: #GlacierWorks.
3 minutes 59 sec– far too long for the avarage climate denialist troll to invest in saving the planet.
Hang in there, Joe90
Mind you, it did have pretty pictures, which should make it easier for them.
If I believed in portents or divine messages, I’d be taking a hint.
Nine years of Labour: not much, a few unexpected snows for farmers, a few floods, one or two algae blooms, basically the norm.
2 1/2 years of National: Tornados and snow in Auckland, multiple earthquakes, groundings with oilspills, and lethal mine explosions.
Get the impression God is pissed about something? Another term and we’ll have an asteroid strike 😉
Hilarious.
Maybe that could be the lefts campaign slogan for this election…”If you vote National God will punish you”
It is certainly more credible than some of the rubbish I have seen.
[lprent: You should also look at these troll style statements when you can comment again next week – see my previous note. ]
It’s more credible than anything you write, that’s for sure.
Drove along the Waikato Expressway yesterday and was surprised at the conspicuous absence of National election billboards, in what should be strong National party country. Only two billboards, compared to 20+ for the previous two elections. And both of those were on properties that previously had ACT billboards. Is this extreme confidence, or are peokple less confident (more ambivalent) in their support for the current governmen?
In the wairarapa you would be excused for thinking that John Keys is running here himself.
Hayes wont even allow his own billboards to be put up.
Oh and the cheapskates are using the same ones they used three years ago.
It’s called recycling. Most normal people think its a good thing.
Yep. However recycling Brash (and Banks) was definitely a bad thing.
Hil’ry Berry is in Tauranga, looking at the Rena, and saying in a tone of shocked surprise “It’s now an election issue!” (Well, no sh*t, Sherlock…) She’s nothing if not quick, our Hil’ry… 😀
More asset sales planned? This time in Christchurch.
Press release from Christchurch Central MP Brendon Burns covered on Scoop
12 October 2011
I guess it’s not just national assets they want to flog.
I wonder what assets the people of the Bay of Plenty will have to sell to pay for their disaster?
Somebody had better tell them that there is more shit out at sea and it’ll come ashore November 27!
Oh hell no, it’s all of them. If we’re left owning anything then we may be able to get out from under their domination.
The framing has already swung into action – specifically around the supposed liability of the council for issuing consent well building permits – well, its always 20/20 vision in hindsight – quite obviously the incidence of earthquakes that Canterbury experienced and is currently experiencing was unexpected – with earthquakes it’s always a probability equation – just look at Wellington – big quake…f*#ked.
Make no mistake – this is an asset grab, and a continuation of the great earthquake rort in Christchurch.
How is it that costs are unquantifiable and ongoing? If ballooning cost are an issue then surely the first task is accurately chart these and not just put a line in the next five years (or more) budgets that says Ch-Ch Earthquake $$$$$$$$$$?
WTF why doesn’t the taxpayer just write out a blank cheque to Fletchers?
This is totally wrong – first their homes and city are rooted by a large earthquake and now the National government does SFA to help them, implements a dictatorship and then sells their city out from them.
FFS if I was conspiracy minded it would not be unreasonable to conclude that Jabba is really after the oil that is buried under Christchurch (note: unsubstantiated speculation)
Disaster politics, who needs economic policies when you have disasters to blame?
The End of the New Zealand Dream
Loved it!
Prediction:*
Peter Leitch aka ‘the mad butcher’ will be the subject of the upcoming ‘This is Your Life’
The corporate media is not finished with its (undisclosed) election campaign on behalf of the right. In fact it has hardly begun. I’ll eat my hat if I’m wrong. I may have to bake a chocolate one.
*Apologies if this has already been precdicted elsewhere