No chance of him apologising today (or ever probably) Conveniently, he’s on his way to Malaysia.
The talk here on TS over the last few days on the issue of inhumane treatment of Australians who are NZ citizens in Australian detention camps has been as usual, a very high calibre of conversation. I’ve had no time to contribute.
Briefly however I will say, how strong and dignified are our women MP’s who would not be shut down in their objections to Key’s amazingly offensive rapists remarks?
Huge love and respect to you. You are true leaders and shining lights against the darkness of our misogynist PM.
Tania Billingsley.
Amanda Bailey
The victims of a prominent NZer.
Survivors of sexual assault, abuse and rape sitting across from you in the house.
And you have nothing but contempt for them PM. Shame on you.
I often wonder what the women Natz MP’s really think and feel about Key’s behaviour and statements around abuse of women, including what happened in the house on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Are they so un self aware that they don’t understand that they themselves are being disempowered by their own leader, or are they really not ok with him but just go along with him out of blind loyalty, or are reluctant to speak out against him because they believe they may get attacked and/or humiliated?
Yep. All of what you have said in your last paragraph. They could have stood their ground, uniting with ALL victims of violent physical assault and mental abuse and walked out. But they chose not to, preferring to turn their backs on too many Kiwis hurt and maimed at the hands of others, to protect their own positions I’d say, thereby strengthening FJK’s hold on power! Shame on them!
FJK is a thug and a bully and I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate to threaten or intimidate any NatzKEY MP, particularly women, if they dared challenge him!
An excellent piece by Brian Rudman on “The shameful lack of political fallout over Aussie Gulags” : http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11543178
“The inhumane policy the Australians have adopted of shipping these people to holding pens on remote Christmas Island, 2650 km northwest of Perth, is an outrage.”
And, “To our shame, New Zealand’s submission to the Australia review made no mention of this.”
“This action (of flying detainess to a WA prison) shows they could have just put them on a plane to NZ at anytime.”
“A very valid point, You talk one hell of a lot of common sense Tracey, but there again that is something we have come to expect from you.”
That is assuming they have a passport.
You do realise that these dangerous crims are restrained and there is security for the safety of the crew on the chartered flight.
Its not like they can be put on a flight with other passengers.
“You do realise that these dangerous crims are restrained and there is security for the safety of the crew on the chartered flight.”
dangerous crims eh?
Like Angela Russell, shoplifter, Aussie and happens to be an NZ citizen.
“Angela Russell is also in the detention centre.
She was found guilty of shoplifting $1300-worth of cosmetics. It was her fifth offence.
So far she has spent six months there – twice as long as her sentence.
She moved to Australia when she was three years old. That was 37 years ago.”
Rosie
Your five time crim is not on Christmas island.
There are no women children or shoplifters at Christmas Island detention centre, only dangerous criminal scumbags.
Thankfully some of them will now be doing another stretch for causing more than 1$mill damage.
Correct Naki Man. She’s not. She’s in another detention centre. Does that make it ok? Is it ok by international human rights expectations that a country would detain a criminal AFTER they had completed their sentence? What makes it worse is that Australia has multiple detention centres. Geez these guys haven’t moved on from the eighteenth and nineteeth century penal colonies.
Those “dangerous criminal scumbags” would be better placed to rehab their lives, post imprisonment, in their own communities, surrounded by their own families and networks, in their own country would they not?
They are Australians, they belong there. They just happen to be born here but this country means little to the ones the media have spoken to.
“Those “dangerous criminal scumbags” would be better placed to rehab their lives, post imprisonment, in their own communities, surrounded by their own families and networks, in their own country would they not?”
Probably, For some of them the company they keep might be part of their problem. At the end of the day the Australians will deport these crims and we cant stop them. I have no sympathy for slow learners, just the victims of their crimes.
“That is assuming they have a passport.
You do realise that these dangerous crims are restrained and there is security for the safety of the crew on the chartered flight.
Its not like they can be put on a flight with other passengers.”
Do tell me O Wise one with your superior knowledge. How the fuck did they fly them to Perth?
Naki man, you’re full of shit.
Because when Phillip Smith was deported from South America, the actual rapist and murderer (a real one, not just names key uses for political advantage) who had fled custody was flown back on a commercial flight with regular passengers.
So, once again, you don’t let facts get in the way of your bile.
“We saw him getting off the plane, there was quite a big police escort with him.”
That’s right,” Quite a big police escort” for one prisoner.
There is no way that a bunch of dangerous criminal scumbags will be allowed to fly on a commercial flight.
That is why the rioters where restrained and flown on a chartered plane back to WA. Those are the facts Muppert
And of course the only reason the aussies flew seven prisoners at once was because the aussies chose to intern them all in the same shitty place at the same time. When, as Tracey said, the Aussies could have just put them on a plane at any time. Even individually over a few days. Like NZ did with an actual rapist and murderer, rather than someone who got caught up when aussie politicians played to the fucktard anti-immigrant brigade.
So? Charter a plane and fly em back. Use a Hercules. You realise that by far the majority of the Kiwis are not dangerous criminals? Or are you still swallowing the PM’s lies, put out just for gullible fools like you to swallow and repeat?
Do you really not see the difference between flying between two places in the same country and between one country and another?
Do you not see that the reason they are in detention is because they do not want to come back to New Zealand?
Do you really think they would thank us if we sent a plane over there and, given we have no right to do so, kidnapped them and brought them to New Zealand?
Come on Tracey, you are normally much more sensible than this.
Now, just what do you think that the New Zealand Government can do to change Australia’s actions?
Short of going to war of course.
“… for instance, indecent treatment or dealings with a child under 16,…”
Key is standing up for the victims of sexual violence you say”?
So, he would never support, in any way, say, the Prominent New Zealander awaiting trial? Right?
“A prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault has been granted interim name suppression till the beginning of his trial.
Heavy suppression orders mean the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
Name suppression lapsed on February 19 but the man had his identity protected for one month to allow him the chance to appeal. The appeal was lodged on March 19 and heard today in the High Court at Auckland before Justice Raynor Asher.
Several media organisations, including NZME. publisher of The New Zealand Herald, lodged a joint request for the appeal to be heard with urgency.
The man denies 12 charges of indecent assault against two people, including two representative charges. He has elected trial by jury.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.”
THAT sounds like someone who can be a Prime Minister. Like Key at the same stage (and now) Little struggles off the cuff, but is improving faster than Key.
Ms Watkins’ opinion piece on Stuff regarding the current uproar in parliament is a disgrace. Firstly, the entire focus for the first several paragraphs is on the opposition’s walkouts, rather than the substance of the issue (the fact that this is precisely what was predicted by several commentators on this site and elsewhere does not make it any less disgraceful for a senior journalist to adopt that framing). Secondly, she posits that Labour should have taken the view that Key adopted with his “backing the rapists” comment, and criticised him for being soft on the presumed criminals when they arrived on these shores.
This, in its turn, is a twice-craven position to adopt. For one thing, it suggests that the only acceptable view (Morally? Politically? The distinction appears to be of no significance for Watkins) is to support the right-wing desire to be indiscriminately tough on suspected criminals over universal respect for human rights. For another, she attaches the condition that Key is correct in insinuating that the majority of those New Zealanders in detention are offenders of the most serious kind. Even if we generously assume that she is not implying that he is correct in doing so, it would seem that she is basing her opinion in a purportedly serious publication on hearsay from the Prime Minister, whereas it should be her job as a journalist to provide informed opinion, and existing work by other news outlets, such as TV3, suggests that it is not difficult to obtain better information on that subject. Either she is incompetent, misleading by omission, or both. There are no other possible interpretations.
Thirdly, in stating that the opposition is on the wrong side of public opinion on the issue, she once again takes it upon herself to pronounce upon public opinion in a forum which exists precisely for the purpose of informing and influencing public opinion. This may be admissible if she were reporting on an historical issue, whose outcome is a done deal and no longer to be influenced; it may also be admissible if she were to introduce some sort of data such as a poll to make her pronouncements tangibly contestable. As it stands, however, it amounts to saying, “This is what you should think because you think this way already.” The very worst kind of begging the question.
And this is the crux. Key has a deal with Turnbull. It is Adams ramming through some legislation quickly (while the Aussies hold the kiwis offshore) so he can say “I am being hard on them”. But he needs time. And Turnbull has given him that time. Hence so-called troublemakers were flown yesterday to Perth and not to Wellington.
As for Watkins, if the public is on Key’s side it is because journalists like her have not presented the facts, deception and obfuscation by the PM to them. Have not investigated and continue to substitute opinionising for reporting.
Through his many actions in relation to treatment of girls and women in this country Key is making this an increasingly unsafe place for girls to thrive by allowing (it seems) large portions of our male society to believe that how they view and treat women is acceptable.
“So, did you hear about the hair controversy?”
Asked of Gabrielle Douglas
“I just wonder if her dad did say to her when she was 12, 13, 14: ‘Listen, you’re never going to be a looker, you are never going to be somebody like a Sharapova, you’re never going to be 5ft 11, you’re never going to be somebody with long legs, so you have to compensate for that,'”
BBC Commentator about Marion Bartoli”
“You’re getting a lot of fans here,” “A lot of them are male, and they want to know: If you could date anyone in the world of sport, of movies – I’m sorry, they asked me to say this – who would you date?”
Channel 7, to Eugenie Bouchard”
”
“As your profile rises, people find out more about you, your breast reduction surgery was three or four years ago. Does that play any part in your success? What about outside the tennis?”
It is Adams ramming through some legislation quickly (while the Aussies hold the kiwis offshore) so he can say “I am being hard on them”.
I wonder what options are available to “be hard on” people who have been convicted of a crime overseas, then served their sentence overseas, then been deported here.
Edit: or not been convicted of a crime (or even charged) and deported here anyway.
She has indicated they will impose strong parole provisions on them… You can do anything if you have an Act allowing it.
Of course the Act maybe completely contravene our International obligations, which Srylands and others told us yesterday they and this Government hold so important.
You can do anything if you have an Act allowing it.
I suppose; I would have thought there’d be human rights issues with paroling people who’ve been law-abiding for a number of years post-sentence, as according to various sources some of them have.
“Of course the Act maybe completely contravene our International obligations, which Srylands and others told us yesterday they and this Government hold so important.”
Tracy Watkins has consistently been one of Key’s main cheerleaders in the press gallery. Briefly yesterday she sympathised with the women walking out, and wrote something almost neutral for the website, but it didn’t last long. I also suspect she was behind the vitriolic anti-Little editorial in the Dominion Post on Monday.
I find she blows hot and cold, so I think in what counts as journalism today that makes her neutral 😉
BUT this is what happens when journalists are only required to have an opinion on things rather than research and present two sides of something with facts.
I disagree. I was always puzzled to see the extent to which John Armstrong was criticised on here, when he in general at least structured articles as a discourse proceeding from a range of facts, whereas Watkins consistently structures her articles to proceed from a pro-Key (specifically Key personally, more than National) or anti-Labour spin, and to supplement it only such assertions (or, less often, facts) as would support that spin. This has been her modus operandi since before National were elected to the government benches in 2008.
Wrong. Aussie immigration policy is a national scandal, children raped, children self harming. Abbott forced out. The spin doctors wanted for sometime to portray those in detention as criminals, but the last people who turn up after waiting years and limited cash left are those who would turned away immediately with criminal records.
So what cost Abbott his job? Sending criminals who have served their time, not doing the correct thing, allowing a judge at sentencing to deliberate, or allowing convicted criminals time before release to make a case, no the immediacy of the extension of punishment is what so undermines the integrity of the whole sorry saga. And now we hear that one suicide later, a riot, that they are criminals, why did so prick realize that they have human rights, that having served their time it was prejudical, or worse that those individuals use as political pawns might have huge ongoing political blowback for years. Aka why Abbott was ejected seated from on high.
But its worse. Imagine that, you put hardened agitators with long histories of civil disobedience in with families desperate to do the right thing to win favor. It was always going to come to a riot, that’s the worst form of govt, putting rapists in with children.
So let discuss Key, firstly he should resign as is obvious from English smirking at the time it was premeditated. Second, Key is endevavoring to do right by these convicted kiwis. Third, how does it help the oz pm when he was expecting to get the criminal immigration photo op turdblossum, now he has the nightmare of rapists with immigrant families in detention. Fourth, well done opposition for helping make that connection it seems the opposition played this up, dragged their feet, to let the world peak in on how empty hollow Key is. Remembering that putting Key with a class of long hair girls…
But wait. So for real. A kiwi who lived his whole waking life in oz, without family in nz, with no knowledge of culture, of language differences, is hauled out of prison after serving their time, to be told they have no life effectively, and so killed themselves. Wtf.
Parliament shame. Its the debased nature of the debate led by the PM that should sicken.
Ponce-Key-Fanboy-Rawdon-Christie…….TV One Breakfast this morning…….the loyal smarm cheerleading for the unrepentant waitress assailant……identifying the essential issue as this – “Question Time in Parliament is just too unruly !!!” – (suggestion of pearls clutching and “tut tut tut”).
Man is stabbed in a park. His friend goes to the nearby hospital to get help and then returns to his injured friend. Hospital rings police and sends ambulance but can’t find the injured man so they give up. Injured man is carried by his friend and another man to hospital, but dies after arrival.
Here’s the timeline,
Man stabbed sometime during the evening
10.15pm man tells hospital his friend has been stabbed in nearby park
What a cold heartless thing to say. Shame on you Daniel. I hope your Mother, Sister, Aunt or Daughter, or for that matter, their male equivalents don’t become victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse and if they do I hope they receive better empathy from those around them than you portray today.
My distain for these people is because of their using these experiences for political point scoring. Yesterday’s episode was a pre-arranged, coordinated ‘protest’. They played on experiences that haunt many NZ’ers, and belittled every survivor of abuse in so doing.
[RL: This is your only and last warning. I am running zero tolerance for idiocy on this thread. Repeat anything like this and you will take a week off.]
“They played on experiences that haunt many NZ’ers, and belittled every survivor of abuse in so doing.” Referring to the women MP’s who walked out of the house yesterday.
Are you a survivor of sexual abuse? Did you feel belittled?
I AM a survivor and I felt strengthened by their actions. By standing up to the PM they also honoured all of us who are survivors. They did something very powerful and true to themselves. We need to be proud of them. I am.
[RL: No quibble with your comment at all – but Daniel is very much on warning.]
Hi Rosie. Given the threat of a ban, I will be careful. In answer to your questions, yes and yes. As a teenager I was indecently assaulted by an older man, not once but several times. But I also have based my comments on listening to feedback from other survivors. My sympathies to you for your experience. I certainly meant no offence to you.
Likewise Daniel, I’m sorry you had that experience. Thank you for sharing.
So you can see we all respond in different ways to others speaking up. Perhaps our perceptions are coloured by the way we handle our experiences, eg, we transfer our anger on to other victims and whether we did or didn’t have access to support. I’m not sure.
I do know those women would have to pull some deep seated strength from inside to speak out so publicly and under such duress in the house. Some, including Metiria Turei did this for the very time. That is the hardest time ever.
The night before they spoke out they would have talked to their families and partners. Quite a bit of psychological energy would have gone into that.
They didn’t pull a stunt, they stood up for all victims.
In my eyes they have increased their mana considerably.
But thats just my view and I respect that you, as a fellow survivor might view it differently.
I’m not feigning compassion for anyone. I have little or no compassion for the inhabitants of the detention centre. The vast majority are criminal ratbags, who are being detained pending deportation.
Strange, I could have sworn that the National MPs had stayed in parliament rather than walk out in response to their leader’s and the Speakers vitriol.
Disturbing but not surprising that the government is planning to stuff the environment court with its own people after it didn’t get its way with undersea mining off Taranaki and the Chatham Islands. This will turn the court into a rubber stamp for all environmentally harmful projects (otherwise why would they bother changing it). It was also interesting to see on a news item someone involved with one of the projects saying it had cost them a lot of money. That’s the sort of thing that will lead to the government being sued in future, not just for lost spending but any potential profit.
If the courts say NO to this government then the government says WE CHANGE THE LAWS.
The National government have gone too far, they are dictators in the way they behave.
If a government spies on it’s people on mass and then starts replacing the judges and changing the judicial laws to serve their own interests – people need to face it, we are NOT being run as a democracy.
In the early 80s Muldoon didn’t like the High Court ruling against the building of the Clyde Dam so he introduced legislation to get around it. At the time this was shocking, that the government could overrule the courts. But this kind of flouting democracy and its institutions and conventions is routine now and people barely bat an eyelid. That’s the legacy of the Key government. I bet they are proud.
This is why we need a way to limit the power of government. They should not be able to do whatever they like as that always results in arbitrary rule changes as we’re seeing now under this government.
1. “TPP Financial Services Chapter Opens Door To Broader ISDS Claims
Updated: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) chapter on financial services gives private firms in that sector broader grounds to sue member governments than previous U.S. free trade agreements by incorporating obligations for parties to accord a “minimum standard of treatment” to financial services investments and subjecting that commitment to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
2. “The real reason Wall Street loves the Trans-Pacific Partnership”
US-based banks are going to make money selling financial services in Asia, and some of that money will flow into the pockets of people who work in the financial services sector in the United States. That’s why the US Coalition for TPP includes the American Insurance Association, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. http://www.vox.com/2015/11/11/9706360/tpp-financial-services
Thanks for keeping an eye on this ball TRP… I suspect it is just ONE of many issues the government wants to distract us from (hence the appalling behaviour by our PM)
Has anyone tried to play the Todd Barclay question from yesterday? I have tried every connectable device I have and they all say it’s not there. All the other questions are there just not this one. What are The Speaker? and Tandem Studios up to? And did anyone record the live stream?
Question 1 video is still not coming up on the Parliament TV Archives site.
In case you haven’t checked today’s QT questions, Question 12 is related to yesterday’s Q1, ie
RON MARK to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all of his answers to Oral Question No. 1 on 11 November 2015?
Kelvin Davis also has a question to the PM today (although he will presumably not be in the House) at Q7 – the standard “Does he stand by all his statements”. Christmas Island related, no doubt.
Paul Henry’s thoughtful viewers have worked it out:
It’s KELVIN DAVIS who’s causing all the trouble on Christmas Island! Paul Henry, TV3, Thursday 12 November 2015
Television viewer polls have about as much credibility as an Ohio election count. No one except fools, psychopaths and ACT voters would ever take one seriously. The Paul Henry daily poll question is always inane, and often quite offensive. Yesterday, the question asked was “Do you care about the Christmas Island detainees?” Seventy per cent of respondents said NO.
The same viewers who don’t care about people being illegally detained by a scofflaw regime have obviously been thinking hard about this, and have this morning been sharing their insights with Charlotte in the tech bunker….
PAUL HENRY: People are going to get bored with this Christmas Island detainees story soon.
HILLARY BARRY:[nodding] Mmmm. Yes.
JIM KAYES:[nodding] Hmmmm.
PAUL HENRY: I told Kelvin Davis that when he was on the program. Charlotte in the tech bunker, what are the viewers saying?
CHARLOTTE: Actually, Paul, people are saying he should GET OUT OF THERE. They reckon that Kelvin Davis is the catalyst for the rioting.
PAUL HENRY: “The catalyst for the rioting”? That’s giving him more credit than he deserves. He hasn’t got that much influence. But he’s still cranking it up….
So all Henry has proven is that FACTS are irrelevant if the person pushing the misinformation is sincere enough in their deception of the audience, or sincere in their ignorance?
I think calling the people who vote in those ridiculous polls “ignorant” is indulging them. I think they know perfectly well that the Australian government is breaking the law, that the prisoners are being ill treated, and that Key is nothing more than a crony of the Australian regime. Those viewers are—like Henry—simply determined to back the government, no matter what, and are indifferent to the suffering of other people.
I don’t think Henry is ignorant. He shows signs now and again that he does have a sense of right and wrong. For entirely ideological and partisan reasons, however, he almost always sides with the government.
FYI – amongst the chaos in the House yesterday, the following petition made it’s way into the Parliamentary ‘sausage machine’ ……
Petition of Penelope Mary Bright and 55 others
That the House conduct an urgent inquiry into the cost-effectiveness, transparency, and democratic accountability to Auckland Council and the majority of Auckland citizens and ratepayers, of all Auckland Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs).
Petition number: 2014/33
Presented by: Ron Mark
Date presented: 11 November 2015
Referred to: Local Government and Environment Committee
“Agrochemical giant Monsanto knowingly contaminated Oakland’s storm water and the San Francisco Bay with a highly toxic chemical for decades, a new lawsuit filed by the California city claims. Oakland wants the company to pay for the environmental cleanup.
The State Water Resources Control Board determined that the presence of highly toxic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) in Oakland’s storm water threatens the San Francisco Bay’s ecosystem and interferes with the bay’s use and enjoyment by Californians, the city said in a statement….
(Doesn’t ACT support and advocate for Monsanto?…free market and all that….and where will the TPPA leave NZ and Monsanto?)
Fistbump. I too got a new PS4 for the game. Just the standard edition of Fallout, though. The game arrived yesterday so I’m only a couple of hours into it.
Part of the problem is that Little’s parents voted National likewise Clark.
They really want to believe in the status quo like TPP. Nobody could possibly be lying to them could they?
Little need to bring a different type of Labour member like Kelly Ellis into their cosy meetings with the Natz, someone who has a better understanding of power corruption than Little, Shearer etc and outside the mould and used to experiencing criminal and morally bankrupt behaviour without the veneer of parliament to soften the impression.
However, instead of walking away, it seems Labour think renegotiating their ability to ban offshore buyers somehow resolves the whole investor settlement dispute and loss of sovereignty concern.
@The Chairman – crazy Labour position – their voters will NOT like them selling out on the other 4 conditions (if that is their position which quite frankly I’m keen to find out in a clear way – the txt is out – so they need to make a clear decision) which clearly have NOT been met. In particular ISDS and Pharma sell outs.
Who does everyone believe, Jane Kelsey – International Law expert or Grosser who is an idiot?
A Waikato law student is suing the government over its climate change policy, claiming its greenhouse gas emissions targets were arrived at illegally, and that the low emissions reduction pledge it will make in the upcoming UN climate conference in Paris in December is “unreasonable and irrational”.
Thanks Karen. That’s a solid history of the Key government’s failings towards survivors of sexual abuse in regard to funding cuts left right and centre since 2008. It also puts a spotlight on Key’s own persistently misogynist behaviour. He’s got a really troubling track record. He’s a freaking creep.
People forget that the only reason Ms Billingsley went public with her identity as the victim of attempted rape is that the PM said if he knew her name he would apologise.
“”I don’t know her name. Obviously it’s a matter of privacy, but I think there’s been plenty of public comments that would echo what I’ve just said,” he said.
Asked whether he would apologise if he did know her name, Mr Key said: “Yes, in so much that I believe that she shouldn’t have had to go through what she went through.”
And then reneged cos it wasn’t a “serious reason” to apologise…
Yeah he really supports victims of sexual crime our PM.
…+100…good!…at last the NZ farmers are sitting up and taking notice…and opposing the TPPA…of course it will lead to foreign farm ownership!
…really the TPPA is only good for jonkey and his bankster / investment mates like Goldman Sachs…NZ is being led like a lamb to the slaughter…they will gut New Zealand
The current ‘free’ trade deals have already led to huge farm sales. Are the farmer’s benefiting from this ‘prosperity’ – I would think at $4.80 kg of milk solids – NOT.
Instead of foreigners buying our milk they are buying our country.
abour’s Member’s Bill to ban foreign buyers from purchasing existing homes will achieve what the Government failed to in its Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford says.
“The Government should adopt the Overseas Investment (Protection of New Zealand Homebuyers) Amendment Bill and get New Zealand the carve out Australia secured through its negotiations.
“The sovereignty of the New Zealand Parliament should never have been traded away and this Bill is a case in point.
“Opinion polls show New Zealanders overwhelmingly want non-resident investors stopped from buying homes here.
“Labour isn’t against foreign investors but inviting overseas speculators to trade in Kiwi homes for capital gain is entirely non-productive. It produces no jobs or exports, and pushes up house prices beyond the reach of first homebuyers.
“In the past year in Australia, a similar policy as resulted in $30 billion worth of overseas money building new homes there. My Bill will result in foreign investors channelling their capital into the building of new houses in New Zealand,” Phil Twyford says
Labour isn’t against foreign investors but inviting overseas speculators to trade in Kiwi homes for capital gain is entirely non-productive. It produces no jobs or exports, and pushes up house prices beyond the reach of first homebuyers.
“In the past year in Australia, a similar policy has resulted in $30 billion worth of overseas money building new homes there”
Billions of dollars worth of overseas money being invested in land here (Auckland) will drive up the price of land, thus add to the cost of housing. Defeating the objective.
Re Carters ruling on acceptable language in the chamber; today in Q1 at QT Robertson challenged Carter to let him use Key type language in a question. Watch from 7:30. as Carter tries to justify his ruling. http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/
Why is Radio New Zealand citing a scurrilous Murdoch rag? Checkpoint, RNZ National, Thursday 12 November 2015, 5:15 p.m.
Surely the coverage of the Christmas Island detainees is shoddy enough without supposedly serious outlets like Radio New Zealand parroting the Murdoch press.
On Checkpoint this afternoon, Ruth Hill claimed that public opinion in Australia was “hardening against the Christmas Island detainees.” As evidence of this “hardening of public opinion”, she cited an item in the notorious Murdoch rag the Brisbane Courier Mail, which included the phrase “Thug Kiwis” in the headline.
We need decent, honest, rigorous reporting of what the Australian government is doing, and what its junior partner John Key is approving. So far, Radio New Zealand is failing badly.
“When Wightman was released from jail in September, Western Australia’s prisoners review board noted he had completed all rehabilitation programs and had demonstrated “a motivation to change his offending behaviour”.
“A limited criminal history indicates an ability to lead a pro-social life,” it said.
But Wightman was apprehended immediately on leaving prison and detained at Yongah Hill detention centre, 90km east of Perth, for eight weeks before he was suddenly flown to Christmas Island in the middle of the night.
Some of the other guys’ stories, they are just tragic. These people shouldn’t be there. This is just wrong
Gary Wightman
Wightman’s brother Gary told Guardian Australia it was “morally wrong” that his brother was being held in immigration detention indefinitely.
“It’s just wrong on any moral level that people are in there in those conditions. Ian was convicted of a crime, he was sentenced and punished. He served his time and he was rehabilitated. He was released a free man but then they arrested him at the gates.”
He said Ian was finding immigration detention much harsher than prison. He has told family he was “keeping his head down” and did not participate in the riots that razed significant sections of the detention centre this week.
“But it’s just wrong. With prison, you’ve got your start date, you’ve got your end date,” Gary Wightman said, “you know how much time you have to serve. But this, it’s just the uncertainty, they’ve got no idea when he might be released. It’s unbelievable. This detention is far, far worse than prison.”
Gary Wightman said his brother had told him there were dozens of other detainees – known as 501s after the section of the Migration Act that applies to their cases – with similar lifelong links to Australia in detention, facing deportation to countries they hardly knew.
“Some of the other guys’ stories, they are just tragic. These people shouldn’t be there. This is just wrong,” he said.”
snip….
and oh lookit the rape thingy does come from OZ….(our PM is really just a Handpuppet)
““These people [on Christmas Island] are serious criminals and people who have been involved in attempted murder, in manslaughter, convictions for rape, convictions for grievous bodily harm and serious assaults otherwise.”
He said some detainees on Christmas Island had been assessed as an “extreme threat”.
Dutton said visa cancellation for non-citizens convicted of a crime was unremarkable internationally and had been part of Australian migration law since the second world war.
“If somebody is here on a visa … if they’ve committed a crime they have their visa cancelled. And they face the criminal penalty and administratively their visa is cancelled. In this case they’re taken into custody and they await deportation.”
The number of people detained under section 501 rose more than 600% in a year, from 76 in 2013-14 to 580 in 2014-15.”
Just caught on TV1 News that the government is looking at stopping people betting offshore as the TAB is losing money.
It appears that the politicians really didn’t know what they were doing when they signed all those FTAs and joined the WTO that allowed for and encouraged free money movement across borders.
“Some people might be surprised to find there are 25 registered banks in New Zealand.
Of those, the big four Aussie lenders dominate, with about 90 per cent market share.
ANZ, ASB, BNZ, and Westpac have just hauled in a collective $4.59 billion of annual net profits, hoovered out of the pockets of New Zealanders to feather nests across the Tasman.
Some politicians believe the super-profits are “strip-mining” the economy…
‘Brian Gaynor: Profits for banks, loss for New Zealand’
….”Finally, the banks have a huge influence over the allocation of the country’s economic resources because we have a shortage of equity and a strong reliance on borrowings to fund commercial activity.
The banks, particularly the four major Australian-owned banks, have a strong bias towards the housing market as residential mortgages now represent 50.5 per cent of total bank lending compared with 47.7 per cent at the end of 2004. By comparison, residential mortgages have fallen from 36.3 per cent to 35.2 per cent of total Australian bank lending over the same period
…The combination of offshore borrowing and residential property lending is a prudent strategy as far as the overseas banks are concerned, from both an earnings and capital requirement point of view.
But it is not a win-win situation as far as the New Zealand economy is concerned, particularly considering the impact on the country’s current account deficit.
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – 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 ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
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 ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
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. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
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 ...
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Key doesn’t turn up to parliament on a Thursday, does he?
To use his own words “Get some guts.”
A song for the PM
No chance of him apologising today (or ever probably) Conveniently, he’s on his way to Malaysia.
The talk here on TS over the last few days on the issue of inhumane treatment of Australians who are NZ citizens in Australian detention camps has been as usual, a very high calibre of conversation. I’ve had no time to contribute.
Briefly however I will say, how strong and dignified are our women MP’s who would not be shut down in their objections to Key’s amazingly offensive rapists remarks?
Huge love and respect to you. You are true leaders and shining lights against the darkness of our misogynist PM.
Tania Billingsley.
Amanda Bailey
The victims of a prominent NZer.
Survivors of sexual assault, abuse and rape sitting across from you in the house.
And you have nothing but contempt for them PM. Shame on you.
+100 Rosie
Malaysia Huh?
Speaking of Tania Billingsley, I wonder if the PM will conveniently avoid the start of the Rizalman trial?
Betcha he’s hoping for a guilty plea so it will be all over by the time he gets back.
Good on you Miravox. I was wondering when that was going to take place.
I’m sure our PM will do what it takes to avoid, deflect and divert any fallout heading his way………………
@ Rosie (1.1) –
Agree with you. And also where were the NatzKEY MPs supporting their Opposition colleagues and other NZ victims of brutal assault and abuse?
Surely they don’t ALL go along with FJK!
Do they?
I often wonder what the women Natz MP’s really think and feel about Key’s behaviour and statements around abuse of women, including what happened in the house on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Are they so un self aware that they don’t understand that they themselves are being disempowered by their own leader, or are they really not ok with him but just go along with him out of blind loyalty, or are reluctant to speak out against him because they believe they may get attacked and/or humiliated?
@ Rosie (1.1.3.1) –
Yep. All of what you have said in your last paragraph. They could have stood their ground, uniting with ALL victims of violent physical assault and mental abuse and walked out. But they chose not to, preferring to turn their backs on too many Kiwis hurt and maimed at the hands of others, to protect their own positions I’d say, thereby strengthening FJK’s hold on power! Shame on them!
FJK is a thug and a bully and I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate to threaten or intimidate any NatzKEY MP, particularly women, if they dared challenge him!
He’s a filthy cesspit dweller!
Paula Bennett is leading the charge pretending that Key and she are for protecting the victims of detainees…
That they are Australians, in Australia rather makes a lie of Key’s pronouncement that “we are for helping New Zealanders”
An excellent piece by Brian Rudman on “The shameful lack of political fallout over Aussie Gulags” :
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11543178
“The inhumane policy the Australians have adopted of shipping these people to holding pens on remote Christmas Island, 2650 km northwest of Perth, is an outrage.”
And, “To our shame, New Zealand’s submission to the Australia review made no mention of this.”
If your best mate is a bully, shouldn’t you do something about it?
“Seven New Zealanders have been flown off Christmas Island, as images emerge of the damage caused by rioting at the detention centre.
The ABC reported it had witnessed detainees being transported to the Christmas Island airport.
Australia’s Immigration Minister Peter Dutton subsequently confirmed their removal to a correctional facility in Western Australia.”
This action (of flying detainess to a WA prison) shows they could have just put them on a plane to NZ at anytime.
I believe a deal has been done between Turnbull and Key but the deal is the Aussies hold them until Ms Adams has time to get her legislation through.
Then Key can say he has protected New Zealanders from the marauding hoardes of barbarians descending upon our shores.
There HAS been a deal between mates Paul, just not the deal most imagined.
“This action (of flying detainess to a WA prison) shows they could have just put them on a plane to NZ at anytime.”
A very valid point, You talk one hell of a lot of common sense Tracey, but there again that is something we have come to expect from you.
You make me blush
“This action (of flying detainess to a WA prison) shows they could have just put them on a plane to NZ at anytime.”
“A very valid point, You talk one hell of a lot of common sense Tracey, but there again that is something we have come to expect from you.”
That is assuming they have a passport.
You do realise that these dangerous crims are restrained and there is security for the safety of the crew on the chartered flight.
Its not like they can be put on a flight with other passengers.
“You do realise that these dangerous crims are restrained and there is security for the safety of the crew on the chartered flight.”
dangerous crims eh?
Like Angela Russell, shoplifter, Aussie and happens to be an NZ citizen.
“Angela Russell is also in the detention centre.
She was found guilty of shoplifting $1300-worth of cosmetics. It was her fifth offence.
So far she has spent six months there – twice as long as her sentence.
She moved to Australia when she was three years old. That was 37 years ago.”
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/hundreds-of-kiwis-face-deportation-in-australia-2015091317#ixzz3rETuwv4U
Yeah. I wouldn’t want to sit next to her on a flight. She might want to share some of her Lancome contraband around.
Rosie
Your five time crim is not on Christmas island.
There are no women children or shoplifters at Christmas Island detention centre, only dangerous criminal scumbags.
Thankfully some of them will now be doing another stretch for causing more than 1$mill damage.
Correct Naki Man. She’s not. She’s in another detention centre. Does that make it ok? Is it ok by international human rights expectations that a country would detain a criminal AFTER they had completed their sentence? What makes it worse is that Australia has multiple detention centres. Geez these guys haven’t moved on from the eighteenth and nineteeth century penal colonies.
Those “dangerous criminal scumbags” would be better placed to rehab their lives, post imprisonment, in their own communities, surrounded by their own families and networks, in their own country would they not?
They are Australians, they belong there. They just happen to be born here but this country means little to the ones the media have spoken to.
“Those “dangerous criminal scumbags” would be better placed to rehab their lives, post imprisonment, in their own communities, surrounded by their own families and networks, in their own country would they not?”
Probably, For some of them the company they keep might be part of their problem. At the end of the day the Australians will deport these crims and we cant stop them. I have no sympathy for slow learners, just the victims of their crimes.
“That is assuming they have a passport.
You do realise that these dangerous crims are restrained and there is security for the safety of the crew on the chartered flight.
Its not like they can be put on a flight with other passengers.”
Do tell me O Wise one with your superior knowledge. How the fuck did they fly them to Perth?
Did you not read the bit that you copied?
Naki man, you’re full of shit.
Because when Phillip Smith was deported from South America, the actual rapist and murderer (a real one, not just names key uses for political advantage) who had fled custody was flown back on a commercial flight with regular passengers.
So, once again, you don’t let facts get in the way of your bile.
McFlock
Did you not read your link
“We saw him getting off the plane, there was quite a big police escort with him.”
That’s right,” Quite a big police escort” for one prisoner.
There is no way that a bunch of dangerous criminal scumbags will be allowed to fly on a commercial flight.
That is why the rioters where restrained and flown on a chartered plane back to WA. Those are the facts Muppert
“Quite a big police escort”. lol
Three officers were with him on the plane.
And of course the only reason the aussies flew seven prisoners at once was because the aussies chose to intern them all in the same shitty place at the same time. When, as Tracey said, the Aussies could have just put them on a plane at any time. Even individually over a few days. Like NZ did with an actual rapist and murderer, rather than someone who got caught up when aussie politicians played to the fucktard anti-immigrant brigade.
He’s running diversion lines for the PM. Those RW Key supporters who have decided to post have shown themselves up as gullible fools
‘RW Key supporters’
Or as I like to call them, Keydophiles.
😉
So? Charter a plane and fly em back. Use a Hercules. You realise that by far the majority of the Kiwis are not dangerous criminals? Or are you still swallowing the PM’s lies, put out just for gullible fools like you to swallow and repeat?
Do you really not see the difference between flying between two places in the same country and between one country and another?
Do you not see that the reason they are in detention is because they do not want to come back to New Zealand?
Do you really think they would thank us if we sent a plane over there and, given we have no right to do so, kidnapped them and brought them to New Zealand?
Come on Tracey, you are normally much more sensible than this.
Now, just what do you think that the New Zealand Government can do to change Australia’s actions?
Short of going to war of course.
“… for instance, indecent treatment or dealings with a child under 16,…”
Key is standing up for the victims of sexual violence you say”?
So, he would never support, in any way, say, the Prominent New Zealander awaiting trial? Right?
“A prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault has been granted interim name suppression till the beginning of his trial.
Heavy suppression orders mean the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
Name suppression lapsed on February 19 but the man had his identity protected for one month to allow him the chance to appeal. The appeal was lodged on March 19 and heard today in the High Court at Auckland before Justice Raynor Asher.
Several media organisations, including NZME. publisher of The New Zealand Herald, lodged a joint request for the appeal to be heard with urgency.
The man denies 12 charges of indecent assault against two people, including two representative charges. He has elected trial by jury.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.”
What’s the story on the front page of the Dom Post that he holds up?
See Andrew Little take on Key and Carter! – http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/11/11/parliament-under-attack-second-day-of-mp-walk-outs/#sthash.G13MXyex.dpuf
(Maybe someone can provide a direct link to the vid)
THAT sounds like someone who can be a Prime Minister. Like Key at the same stage (and now) Little struggles off the cuff, but is improving faster than Key.
Ms Watkins’ opinion piece on Stuff regarding the current uproar in parliament is a disgrace. Firstly, the entire focus for the first several paragraphs is on the opposition’s walkouts, rather than the substance of the issue (the fact that this is precisely what was predicted by several commentators on this site and elsewhere does not make it any less disgraceful for a senior journalist to adopt that framing). Secondly, she posits that Labour should have taken the view that Key adopted with his “backing the rapists” comment, and criticised him for being soft on the presumed criminals when they arrived on these shores.
This, in its turn, is a twice-craven position to adopt. For one thing, it suggests that the only acceptable view (Morally? Politically? The distinction appears to be of no significance for Watkins) is to support the right-wing desire to be indiscriminately tough on suspected criminals over universal respect for human rights. For another, she attaches the condition that Key is correct in insinuating that the majority of those New Zealanders in detention are offenders of the most serious kind. Even if we generously assume that she is not implying that he is correct in doing so, it would seem that she is basing her opinion in a purportedly serious publication on hearsay from the Prime Minister, whereas it should be her job as a journalist to provide informed opinion, and existing work by other news outlets, such as TV3, suggests that it is not difficult to obtain better information on that subject. Either she is incompetent, misleading by omission, or both. There are no other possible interpretations.
Thirdly, in stating that the opposition is on the wrong side of public opinion on the issue, she once again takes it upon herself to pronounce upon public opinion in a forum which exists precisely for the purpose of informing and influencing public opinion. This may be admissible if she were reporting on an historical issue, whose outcome is a done deal and no longer to be influenced; it may also be admissible if she were to introduce some sort of data such as a poll to make her pronouncements tangibly contestable. As it stands, however, it amounts to saying, “This is what you should think because you think this way already.” The very worst kind of begging the question.
And this is the crux. Key has a deal with Turnbull. It is Adams ramming through some legislation quickly (while the Aussies hold the kiwis offshore) so he can say “I am being hard on them”. But he needs time. And Turnbull has given him that time. Hence so-called troublemakers were flown yesterday to Perth and not to Wellington.
As for Watkins, if the public is on Key’s side it is because journalists like her have not presented the facts, deception and obfuscation by the PM to them. Have not investigated and continue to substitute opinionising for reporting.
Through his many actions in relation to treatment of girls and women in this country Key is making this an increasingly unsafe place for girls to thrive by allowing (it seems) large portions of our male society to believe that how they view and treat women is acceptable.
example
http://covertheathlete.com/
This one is for our PM
“So, did you hear about the hair controversy?”
Asked of Gabrielle Douglas
“I just wonder if her dad did say to her when she was 12, 13, 14: ‘Listen, you’re never going to be a looker, you are never going to be somebody like a Sharapova, you’re never going to be 5ft 11, you’re never going to be somebody with long legs, so you have to compensate for that,'”
BBC Commentator about Marion Bartoli”
“You’re getting a lot of fans here,” “A lot of them are male, and they want to know: If you could date anyone in the world of sport, of movies – I’m sorry, they asked me to say this – who would you date?”
Channel 7, to Eugenie Bouchard”
”
“As your profile rises, people find out more about you, your breast reduction surgery was three or four years ago. Does that play any part in your success? What about outside the tennis?”
Asked of Simona Halep”
I wonder what options are available to “be hard on” people who have been convicted of a crime overseas, then served their sentence overseas, then been deported here.
Edit: or not been convicted of a crime (or even charged) and deported here anyway.
She has indicated they will impose strong parole provisions on them… You can do anything if you have an Act allowing it.
Of course the Act maybe completely contravene our International obligations, which Srylands and others told us yesterday they and this Government hold so important.
I suppose; I would have thought there’d be human rights issues with paroling people who’ve been law-abiding for a number of years post-sentence, as according to various sources some of them have.
Hence I wrote
“Of course the Act maybe completely contravene our International obligations, which Srylands and others told us yesterday they and this Government hold so important.”
underneath that comment
Sorry, I was agreeing with you, but also with regards to our own human rights laws… assuming we have any.
ah, I get ya…
eroded under this governemnt….
respect and compassion for the vulnerable
privacy
environment (no pun intended)
democratic representation
respect for females
Our BORA is not supreme law and so parliament can pass legislation that contravenes it.
Yep.
AND pass laws that prevent the discriminated against ever making a complaint to the Human Rights Commission or Tribunal ever again.
Tracy Watkins has consistently been one of Key’s main cheerleaders in the press gallery. Briefly yesterday she sympathised with the women walking out, and wrote something almost neutral for the website, but it didn’t last long. I also suspect she was behind the vitriolic anti-Little editorial in the Dominion Post on Monday.
I find she blows hot and cold, so I think in what counts as journalism today that makes her neutral 😉
BUT this is what happens when journalists are only required to have an opinion on things rather than research and present two sides of something with facts.
Opinions are like arseholes. Everyone has one.
I disagree. I was always puzzled to see the extent to which John Armstrong was criticised on here, when he in general at least structured articles as a discourse proceeding from a range of facts, whereas Watkins consistently structures her articles to proceed from a pro-Key (specifically Key personally, more than National) or anti-Labour spin, and to supplement it only such assertions (or, less often, facts) as would support that spin. This has been her modus operandi since before National were elected to the government benches in 2008.
Very strong criticism of Key in today’s Dominion editorial and also from Vernon Small.
hardly makes up for the bol****s they wrote in Monday’s editorial
Wrong. Aussie immigration policy is a national scandal, children raped, children self harming. Abbott forced out. The spin doctors wanted for sometime to portray those in detention as criminals, but the last people who turn up after waiting years and limited cash left are those who would turned away immediately with criminal records.
So what cost Abbott his job? Sending criminals who have served their time, not doing the correct thing, allowing a judge at sentencing to deliberate, or allowing convicted criminals time before release to make a case, no the immediacy of the extension of punishment is what so undermines the integrity of the whole sorry saga. And now we hear that one suicide later, a riot, that they are criminals, why did so prick realize that they have human rights, that having served their time it was prejudical, or worse that those individuals use as political pawns might have huge ongoing political blowback for years. Aka why Abbott was ejected seated from on high.
But its worse. Imagine that, you put hardened agitators with long histories of civil disobedience in with families desperate to do the right thing to win favor. It was always going to come to a riot, that’s the worst form of govt, putting rapists in with children.
So let discuss Key, firstly he should resign as is obvious from English smirking at the time it was premeditated. Second, Key is endevavoring to do right by these convicted kiwis. Third, how does it help the oz pm when he was expecting to get the criminal immigration photo op turdblossum, now he has the nightmare of rapists with immigrant families in detention. Fourth, well done opposition for helping make that connection it seems the opposition played this up, dragged their feet, to let the world peak in on how empty hollow Key is. Remembering that putting Key with a class of long hair girls…
But wait. So for real. A kiwi who lived his whole waking life in oz, without family in nz, with no knowledge of culture, of language differences, is hauled out of prison after serving their time, to be told they have no life effectively, and so killed themselves. Wtf.
Parliament shame. Its the debased nature of the debate led by the PM that should sicken.
Ponce-Key-Fanboy-Rawdon-Christie…….TV One Breakfast this morning…….the loyal smarm cheerleading for the unrepentant waitress assailant……identifying the essential issue as this – “Question Time in Parliament is just too unruly !!!” – (suggestion of pearls clutching and “tut tut tut”).
“Unruly” because Carter is incompetent?
Incompetent…….at concealing that he’s a mere cypher. It’s really The Ponce-Key sitting in that chair.
Man is stabbed in a park. His friend goes to the nearby hospital to get help and then returns to his injured friend. Hospital rings police and sends ambulance but can’t find the injured man so they give up. Injured man is carried by his friend and another man to hospital, but dies after arrival.
Here’s the timeline,
Man stabbed sometime during the evening
10.15pm man tells hospital his friend has been stabbed in nearby park
10.16pm hospital notify police
10.52pm amulance called
~ 11pm man carried friend into hospital
11.12pm ambulance cancelled (by police)
11.19pm stabbed man dies
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11543929
Looks like several systemic failures, but the bit I left out is that both men are described as homeless.
…and we should be far more concerned about that than a bunch of no-hopers walking out of parliament.
What a cold heartless thing to say. Shame on you Daniel. I hope your Mother, Sister, Aunt or Daughter, or for that matter, their male equivalents don’t become victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse and if they do I hope they receive better empathy from those around them than you portray today.
My distain for these people is because of their using these experiences for political point scoring. Yesterday’s episode was a pre-arranged, coordinated ‘protest’. They played on experiences that haunt many NZ’ers, and belittled every survivor of abuse in so doing.
[RL: This is your only and last warning. I am running zero tolerance for idiocy on this thread. Repeat anything like this and you will take a week off.]
lolz, a bullshit politicallly manipulative comment if I ever saw one. Do tell us about all the work you’ve done on rape and violence prevention in NZ.
Daniel Cale
You say:
“They played on experiences that haunt many NZ’ers, and belittled every survivor of abuse in so doing.” Referring to the women MP’s who walked out of the house yesterday.
Are you a survivor of sexual abuse? Did you feel belittled?
I AM a survivor and I felt strengthened by their actions. By standing up to the PM they also honoured all of us who are survivors. They did something very powerful and true to themselves. We need to be proud of them. I am.
[RL: No quibble with your comment at all – but Daniel is very much on warning.]
Yes, saw that thanks RL. Good.
Hi Rosie. Given the threat of a ban, I will be careful. In answer to your questions, yes and yes. As a teenager I was indecently assaulted by an older man, not once but several times. But I also have based my comments on listening to feedback from other survivors. My sympathies to you for your experience. I certainly meant no offence to you.
Likewise Daniel, I’m sorry you had that experience. Thank you for sharing.
So you can see we all respond in different ways to others speaking up. Perhaps our perceptions are coloured by the way we handle our experiences, eg, we transfer our anger on to other victims and whether we did or didn’t have access to support. I’m not sure.
I do know those women would have to pull some deep seated strength from inside to speak out so publicly and under such duress in the house. Some, including Metiria Turei did this for the very time. That is the hardest time ever.
The night before they spoke out they would have talked to their families and partners. Quite a bit of psychological energy would have gone into that.
They didn’t pull a stunt, they stood up for all victims.
In my eyes they have increased their mana considerably.
But thats just my view and I respect that you, as a fellow survivor might view it differently.
and yet you are not, cos Weka posted it, and her concern, not you.
you think that women who have been sexually assaulted and have worked to support those who have been sexually assaulted are ‘no-hopers’?
Good to know that your compassion only applies to the people that you approve of and that that excludes women and rape victims.
When you are feigning compassion, as Daniel is, it is hard to get it right
bullseye
I’m not feigning compassion for anyone. I have little or no compassion for the inhabitants of the detention centre. The vast majority are criminal ratbags, who are being detained pending deportation.
“you think that women who have been sexually assaulted and have worked to support those who have been sexually assaulted are ‘no-hopers’?”
When did I say that?
Strange, I could have sworn that the National MPs had stayed in parliament rather than walk out in response to their leader’s and the Speakers vitriol.
Yes well concern for anyone would be a start Dannie. You work on that ok?
I am concerned for the future victims of these criminals who Labour and the Greens call ‘NZ’ers’ but who don’t even want to come here.
And National and the Australian government call New Zealanders.
Disturbing but not surprising that the government is planning to stuff the environment court with its own people after it didn’t get its way with undersea mining off Taranaki and the Chatham Islands. This will turn the court into a rubber stamp for all environmentally harmful projects (otherwise why would they bother changing it). It was also interesting to see on a news item someone involved with one of the projects saying it had cost them a lot of money. That’s the sort of thing that will lead to the government being sued in future, not just for lost spending but any potential profit.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/government-considers-changes-to-epa-after-mining-applications-rejected
It’s just the environment, we dont need it to survive. Unlike money.
If the courts say NO to this government then the government says WE CHANGE THE LAWS.
The National government have gone too far, they are dictators in the way they behave.
If a government spies on it’s people on mass and then starts replacing the judges and changing the judicial laws to serve their own interests – people need to face it, we are NOT being run as a democracy.
National have always been dictators but they’re getting more blatant in their dictatorial actions.
In the early 80s Muldoon didn’t like the High Court ruling against the building of the Clyde Dam so he introduced legislation to get around it. At the time this was shocking, that the government could overrule the courts. But this kind of flouting democracy and its institutions and conventions is routine now and people barely bat an eyelid. That’s the legacy of the Key government. I bet they are proud.
+1
This is why we need a way to limit the power of government. They should not be able to do whatever they like as that always results in arbitrary rule changes as we’re seeing now under this government.
Two interesting TPP snippets.
1. “TPP Financial Services Chapter Opens Door To Broader ISDS Claims
Updated: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) chapter on financial services gives private firms in that sector broader grounds to sue member governments than previous U.S. free trade agreements by incorporating obligations for parties to accord a “minimum standard of treatment” to financial services investments and subjecting that commitment to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
http://insidetrade.com/
2. “The real reason Wall Street loves the Trans-Pacific Partnership”
US-based banks are going to make money selling financial services in Asia, and some of that money will flow into the pockets of people who work in the financial services sector in the United States. That’s why the US Coalition for TPP includes the American Insurance Association, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley.
http://www.vox.com/2015/11/11/9706360/tpp-financial-services
+1 TMM
Thanks for keeping an eye on this ball TRP… I suspect it is just ONE of many issues the government wants to distract us from (hence the appalling behaviour by our PM)
Has anyone tried to play the Todd Barclay question from yesterday? I have tried every connectable device I have and they all say it’s not there. All the other questions are there just not this one. What are The Speaker? and Tandem Studios up to? And did anyone record the live stream?
this one? I only found the transcript
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/business/qoa/51HansQ_20151111_00000001/1-economy%E2%80%94employment
What an error. Hansard has made a mistake – that was Patsy Barclay not Todd.
Question 1 video is still not coming up on the Parliament TV Archives site.
In case you haven’t checked today’s QT questions, Question 12 is related to yesterday’s Q1, ie
RON MARK to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all of his answers to Oral Question No. 1 on 11 November 2015?
Kelvin Davis also has a question to the PM today (although he will presumably not be in the House) at Q7 – the standard “Does he stand by all his statements”. Christmas Island related, no doubt.
Full questions – http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/?document=00HOH_OralQuestions
Paul Henry’s thoughtful viewers have worked it out:
It’s KELVIN DAVIS who’s causing all the trouble on Christmas Island!
Paul Henry, TV3, Thursday 12 November 2015
Television viewer polls have about as much credibility as an Ohio election count. No one except fools, psychopaths and ACT voters would ever take one seriously. The Paul Henry daily poll question is always inane, and often quite offensive. Yesterday, the question asked was “Do you care about the Christmas Island detainees?” Seventy per cent of respondents said NO.
The same viewers who don’t care about people being illegally detained by a scofflaw regime have obviously been thinking hard about this, and have this morning been sharing their insights with Charlotte in the tech bunker….
PAUL HENRY: People are going to get bored with this Christmas Island detainees story soon.
HILLARY BARRY: [nodding] Mmmm. Yes.
JIM KAYES: [nodding] Hmmmm.
PAUL HENRY: I told Kelvin Davis that when he was on the program. Charlotte in the tech bunker, what are the viewers saying?
CHARLOTTE: Actually, Paul, people are saying he should GET OUT OF THERE. They reckon that Kelvin Davis is the catalyst for the rioting.
PAUL HENRY: “The catalyst for the rioting”? That’s giving him more credit than he deserves. He hasn’t got that much influence. But he’s still cranking it up….
….ad nauseam….
So all Henry has proven is that FACTS are irrelevant if the person pushing the misinformation is sincere enough in their deception of the audience, or sincere in their ignorance?
I think calling the people who vote in those ridiculous polls “ignorant” is indulging them. I think they know perfectly well that the Australian government is breaking the law, that the prisoners are being ill treated, and that Key is nothing more than a crony of the Australian regime. Those viewers are—like Henry—simply determined to back the government, no matter what, and are indifferent to the suffering of other people.
I was calling Henry ignorant
I don’t think Henry is ignorant. He shows signs now and again that he does have a sense of right and wrong. For entirely ideological and partisan reasons, however, he almost always sides with the government.
Not a great surprise that Dipshit Henry’s audience is a select group of likeminded individuals.
FYI – amongst the chaos in the House yesterday, the following petition made it’s way into the Parliamentary ‘sausage machine’ ……
Petition of Penelope Mary Bright and 55 others
That the House conduct an urgent inquiry into the cost-effectiveness, transparency, and democratic accountability to Auckland Council and the majority of Auckland citizens and ratepayers, of all Auckland Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs).
Petition number: 2014/33
Presented by: Ron Mark
Date presented: 11 November 2015
Referred to: Local Government and Environment Committee
Auckland Mayoral candidate Penny Bright
+100 Penny…good solid work !…and by Ron Mark who presented…Auckland Council must be held to account
A whole 56 people! They will be shaking in their boots.
from small drops of water and tiny streams…mighty rivers flow…
‘Oakland sues Monsanto for ‘long-standing contamination’ of San Francisco Bay’
https://www.rt.com/usa/321630-oakland-monsanto-contamination-lawsuit/
“Agrochemical giant Monsanto knowingly contaminated Oakland’s storm water and the San Francisco Bay with a highly toxic chemical for decades, a new lawsuit filed by the California city claims. Oakland wants the company to pay for the environmental cleanup.
The State Water Resources Control Board determined that the presence of highly toxic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) in Oakland’s storm water threatens the San Francisco Bay’s ecosystem and interferes with the bay’s use and enjoyment by Californians, the city said in a statement….
(Doesn’t ACT support and advocate for Monsanto?…free market and all that….and where will the TPPA leave NZ and Monsanto?)
+1 Chooky
We sure do
So thats what happens when you start drinking early in the morning…please disregard
You must be very drunk PR to start your day agreeing with something on TS 😉
Between the drinking and the Fallout 4 its been a hectic few days thats for sure
Good Lord man… I want YOUR job 😉
Naah I just took some time off
hell, that’s true dedication to the cause
I had to buy the new gen playstation specifically for the game and even got the collectors edition with the lunch box and bobblehead
Sometimes i wish i was living in the capital wasteland…
Fistbump. I too got a new PS4 for the game. Just the standard edition of Fallout, though. The game arrived yesterday so I’m only a couple of hours into it.
TPPA’s effects on councils to be analysed
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/hutt-news/73819158/regional-council-to-analyse-tppas-effects-on-wellington
Bill Rosenberg calls for an independent impact assessment of the TPPA, questioning the bias of committed parties like the Government, MFAT and NZIER.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11536850
This is a drum all opposition parties should be harmoniously banging.
Has Govt, MFAT and NZIER release their cost/benefit analyses?
I read Catherine Beard the other day and thought she was hardly impartial. I also marvelled at the speed by which she got through the 6000 pages.
Not as far as I’m aware, Tracey.
Meets 4 out of 5 of Labour’s “bottom lines.”
And yes, its amazing how fast they can read 6,000 pages in that caucus.
the scarey thing is I suspect that Labour believes the 4 out of 5 thing on the basis of the meeting with Groser.
Part of the problem is that Little’s parents voted National likewise Clark.
They really want to believe in the status quo like TPP. Nobody could possibly be lying to them could they?
Little need to bring a different type of Labour member like Kelly Ellis into their cosy meetings with the Natz, someone who has a better understanding of power corruption than Little, Shearer etc and outside the mould and used to experiencing criminal and morally bankrupt behaviour without the veneer of parliament to soften the impression.
With her experience with gang members she could see straight past Grosser and Key – gang members in suits of a different kind.
@ CV
So they now say.
Yet, they still concede to one not being met.
However, instead of walking away, it seems Labour think renegotiating their ability to ban offshore buyers somehow resolves the whole investor settlement dispute and loss of sovereignty concern.
@The Chairman – crazy Labour position – their voters will NOT like them selling out on the other 4 conditions (if that is their position which quite frankly I’m keen to find out in a clear way – the txt is out – so they need to make a clear decision) which clearly have NOT been met. In particular ISDS and Pharma sell outs.
Who does everyone believe, Jane Kelsey – International Law expert or Grosser who is an idiot?
Indeed.
http://www.nzgeographic.co.nz/atlarge/sarah-vs-the-state
A Waikato law student is suing the government over its climate change policy, claiming its greenhouse gas emissions targets were arrived at illegally, and that the low emissions reduction pledge it will make in the upcoming UN climate conference in Paris in December is “unreasonable and irrational”.
+100 …Go Waikato law student!
Fantastic article about John Key and his attitude to rape and abuse:
http://hadassahgrace.tumblr.com/post/132993554371/john-key-doesnt-care-about-rape-victims-he
Thanks Karen. That’s a solid history of the Key government’s failings towards survivors of sexual abuse in regard to funding cuts left right and centre since 2008. It also puts a spotlight on Key’s own persistently misogynist behaviour. He’s got a really troubling track record. He’s a freaking creep.
Italy had Silvio Berlusconi. We have John Key.
Given Key clearly thinks that apologies are for the weak, you have to ask yourself WHAT Slater has on him to get an apology from him.
” “I regret any harm that may have been caused to you or your family…”
23 Nov 2014
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/63454874/john-key-says-sorry-to-whale-oil.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11297168
People forget that the only reason Ms Billingsley went public with her identity as the victim of attempted rape is that the PM said if he knew her name he would apologise.
“”I don’t know her name. Obviously it’s a matter of privacy, but I think there’s been plenty of public comments that would echo what I’ve just said,” he said.
Asked whether he would apologise if he did know her name, Mr Key said: “Yes, in so much that I believe that she shouldn’t have had to go through what she went through.”
And then reneged cos it wasn’t a “serious reason” to apologise…
Yeah he really supports victims of sexual crime our PM.
Farmers think TPPA will lead to foreign farm ownership
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/73602915/farmers-think-tppa-will-lead-to-foreign-farm-ownership
…+100…good!…at last the NZ farmers are sitting up and taking notice…and opposing the TPPA…of course it will lead to foreign farm ownership!
…really the TPPA is only good for jonkey and his bankster / investment mates like Goldman Sachs…NZ is being led like a lamb to the slaughter…they will gut New Zealand
The current ‘free’ trade deals have already led to huge farm sales. Are the farmer’s benefiting from this ‘prosperity’ – I would think at $4.80 kg of milk solids – NOT.
Instead of foreigners buying our milk they are buying our country.
They will still vote for NACT in droves
They will turn to Winston Peters – he’s against foreign land sales.
They did in Northland.
Phil Twyfords Bill to prevent NON_Resident Foreign Speculators to buy property in NZ has been drawn and will be debated.
This is a good thing.
http://campaign.labour.org.nz/foreign_buyers_ban_will_achieve_what_govt_failed_to
abour’s Member’s Bill to ban foreign buyers from purchasing existing homes will achieve what the Government failed to in its Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford says.
“The Government should adopt the Overseas Investment (Protection of New Zealand Homebuyers) Amendment Bill and get New Zealand the carve out Australia secured through its negotiations.
“The sovereignty of the New Zealand Parliament should never have been traded away and this Bill is a case in point.
“Opinion polls show New Zealanders overwhelmingly want non-resident investors stopped from buying homes here.
“Labour isn’t against foreign investors but inviting overseas speculators to trade in Kiwi homes for capital gain is entirely non-productive. It produces no jobs or exports, and pushes up house prices beyond the reach of first homebuyers.
“In the past year in Australia, a similar policy as resulted in $30 billion worth of overseas money building new homes there. My Bill will result in foreign investors channelling their capital into the building of new houses in New Zealand,” Phil Twyford says
So is Labour ok under TPP for other countries to sue us via IDS or set up Charter schools, reduce our biosecurity, and have lengthened patents then?
I don’t know. We could ask. In fact I will ask my Labour MP.
But for what its worth, this bill has been drawn and will be debated. And for today that is my good story.
baby steps. baby steps.
Foreign investment doesn’t do any of that either.
“In the past year in Australia, a similar policy has resulted in $30 billion worth of overseas money building new homes there”
Billions of dollars worth of overseas money being invested in land here (Auckland) will drive up the price of land, thus add to the cost of housing. Defeating the objective.
Re Carters ruling on acceptable language in the chamber; today in Q1 at QT Robertson challenged Carter to let him use Key type language in a question. Watch from 7:30. as Carter tries to justify his ruling.
http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/
Why is Radio New Zealand citing a scurrilous Murdoch rag?
Checkpoint, RNZ National, Thursday 12 November 2015, 5:15 p.m.
Surely the coverage of the Christmas Island detainees is shoddy enough without supposedly serious outlets like Radio New Zealand parroting the Murdoch press.
On Checkpoint this afternoon, Ruth Hill claimed that public opinion in Australia was “hardening against the Christmas Island detainees.” As evidence of this “hardening of public opinion”, she cited an item in the notorious Murdoch rag the Brisbane Courier Mail, which included the phrase “Thug Kiwis” in the headline.
We need decent, honest, rigorous reporting of what the Australian government is doing, and what its junior partner John Key is approving. So far, Radio New Zealand is failing badly.
i guess they did not want to use this article of Thug Brits.
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/12/british-citizen-in-australia-for-50-of-51-years-faces-deportation-for-scrub-fire
“When Wightman was released from jail in September, Western Australia’s prisoners review board noted he had completed all rehabilitation programs and had demonstrated “a motivation to change his offending behaviour”.
“A limited criminal history indicates an ability to lead a pro-social life,” it said.
But Wightman was apprehended immediately on leaving prison and detained at Yongah Hill detention centre, 90km east of Perth, for eight weeks before he was suddenly flown to Christmas Island in the middle of the night.
Some of the other guys’ stories, they are just tragic. These people shouldn’t be there. This is just wrong
Gary Wightman
Wightman’s brother Gary told Guardian Australia it was “morally wrong” that his brother was being held in immigration detention indefinitely.
“It’s just wrong on any moral level that people are in there in those conditions. Ian was convicted of a crime, he was sentenced and punished. He served his time and he was rehabilitated. He was released a free man but then they arrested him at the gates.”
He said Ian was finding immigration detention much harsher than prison. He has told family he was “keeping his head down” and did not participate in the riots that razed significant sections of the detention centre this week.
“But it’s just wrong. With prison, you’ve got your start date, you’ve got your end date,” Gary Wightman said, “you know how much time you have to serve. But this, it’s just the uncertainty, they’ve got no idea when he might be released. It’s unbelievable. This detention is far, far worse than prison.”
Gary Wightman said his brother had told him there were dozens of other detainees – known as 501s after the section of the Migration Act that applies to their cases – with similar lifelong links to Australia in detention, facing deportation to countries they hardly knew.
“Some of the other guys’ stories, they are just tragic. These people shouldn’t be there. This is just wrong,” he said.”
snip….
and oh lookit the rape thingy does come from OZ….(our PM is really just a Handpuppet)
““These people [on Christmas Island] are serious criminals and people who have been involved in attempted murder, in manslaughter, convictions for rape, convictions for grievous bodily harm and serious assaults otherwise.”
He said some detainees on Christmas Island had been assessed as an “extreme threat”.
Dutton said visa cancellation for non-citizens convicted of a crime was unremarkable internationally and had been part of Australian migration law since the second world war.
“If somebody is here on a visa … if they’ve committed a crime they have their visa cancelled. And they face the criminal penalty and administratively their visa is cancelled. In this case they’re taken into custody and they await deportation.”
The number of people detained under section 501 rose more than 600% in a year, from 76 in 2013-14 to 580 in 2014-15.”
so much for “The GC” being the good life eh?
Just caught on TV1 News that the government is looking at stopping people betting offshore as the TAB is losing money.
It appears that the politicians really didn’t know what they were doing when they signed all those FTAs and joined the WTO that allowed for and encouraged free money movement across borders.
they should stop people putting money in Australian Banks and other foreign offshore banks first
( one rule for the banksters and another for the small punters)
‘Q&A: Are Australian banks really rorting New Zealanders?’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/73626116/qa-are-australian-banks-really-rorting-new-zealanders
“Some people might be surprised to find there are 25 registered banks in New Zealand.
Of those, the big four Aussie lenders dominate, with about 90 per cent market share.
ANZ, ASB, BNZ, and Westpac have just hauled in a collective $4.59 billion of annual net profits, hoovered out of the pockets of New Zealanders to feather nests across the Tasman.
Some politicians believe the super-profits are “strip-mining” the economy…
‘Brian Gaynor: Profits for banks, loss for New Zealand’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10390302
….”Finally, the banks have a huge influence over the allocation of the country’s economic resources because we have a shortage of equity and a strong reliance on borrowings to fund commercial activity.
The banks, particularly the four major Australian-owned banks, have a strong bias towards the housing market as residential mortgages now represent 50.5 per cent of total bank lending compared with 47.7 per cent at the end of 2004. By comparison, residential mortgages have fallen from 36.3 per cent to 35.2 per cent of total Australian bank lending over the same period
…The combination of offshore borrowing and residential property lending is a prudent strategy as far as the overseas banks are concerned, from both an earnings and capital requirement point of view.
But it is not a win-win situation as far as the New Zealand economy is concerned, particularly considering the impact on the country’s current account deficit.
a picture diary about syrians, boats, drowned babies and life
http://blogs.afp.com/correspondent/?post/war-in-peace
Most problems in this world are based on tribalism and religion, we should ban and prohibit both, or there will be NO progress for humanity:
Chechen radicals ha e something to answer, I struggle to see any reason to feel solidarity
for some;