“The truth of corporate journalism, and the great irony of its obsession with ‘fake news’, is that it is itself utterly fake. What could be more obviously fake than the idea that Truth can be sold by billionaire-owned media dependent on billionaire-owned advertisers for maximised profit? ” http://www.medialens.org/
Everyday on RNZ the pundits would talk up this narrative, that did not actually exist in any meaningful way…were they propagating fake news? or just trying to make our little election seem more exciting and intriguing than it was?
Either way they were certainly guilty of creating the news instead of reporting on news.
The “labour coalition” Government must now move swiftly to ‘neutralise ‘ this elitist corporate driven baised media activity, and provide us with a fully public funded commmercial free media for presentation of all views for all people on their government publically funded platforms, that will finally again provide a balanced fair media service that will in many cases show this current media simply as an unreliable and un-trustworthy source of news and current affairs.
“News & current affairs fit to feed a healthy democracy.”
“…..or just trying to make our little election seem more exciting and intriguing than it was?”
Exciting news – (fake or otherwise) sells.
“a fully public funded commercial-free media for presentation of all views for all people on their government publically funded platforms” (cleangreen) makes sense.
Bernie made a stir, Jeremy took it further and Jacinda attained the toe-hold. Now its up to all of us to keep the vision untarnished and run with the ball.
What I find particularly pernicious about the whole “fake news” bullshit – well there are a couple of things.
1. Proclaiming (for example) RT is ‘fake news’ leaves the field in the sole possession of slanted liberal publications.
2. Dismissing those who frequent well funded and popular right wing conspiratorial outlets out of hand, simply means the influential message and the weird logic of those outlets isn’t being challenged. (And a lot of people are getting their info and understandings from such places)
3. A belief in so-called “fake news” allows liberal media to peddle their own propaganda as more truthful and trustworthy – on the accepted basis that all others are “fake”.
4. The accusation of “fake news” (if broadly accepted as a legitimate ‘argument’) is a powerful mechanism enabling the development of ‘correct’ thought and opinion.
Don’t know how well I’ve articulated my thoughts there (or kind of repeated myself). But essentially, it’s why I’ll tend to insist that all sources are producing propaganda and there is no line that demarcates “propaganda” and “fake”.
Yeah nah when they deliberately lie and present falsehoods to generate heat it is fake news.
Defend rt or the righties or whoever, blame the libs the neo libs the msm the gummy bears the weaklings – for what? Balance – this from a revolutionary!!!
Fake news is real bill. I do agree that fake news is a form of propaganda.
Yeah nah when they deliberately lie and present falsehoods to generate heat it is fake news.
So when media reported WMD to get people behind the bombing and invasion of Iraq for example? Or when media reported that viagra was being issued to Libyan soldiers so they could rape en-masse? Or when the media peddled a catalogue of falsehoods through it’s reporting on Syria?
These things are the same type of “fake news” as the “fake news” you’re referring to?
The rest of your comment is strange projection and weirdness.
1: That’s because RT makes the liberal media look outstanding in comparison.
2: There’s a line where challenging a message with reasoned debate is still futile and actually gives the right wing conspiracy nuts credibility that they don’t deserve. Like the liberal media giving AGW a “balanced” view by putting deniers on equal footing with actual experts.
3: See point 1. If fake news wasn’t so utterly shit, the liberal media would not be the better option.
4: Some opinions and thoughts are just plain wrong.
1. Given that you’ve said you won’t so much as watch a link to an rt piece (and I did only give rt as an example) I suspect your number 1 is really just you indicating that Liberal media accords with your general believes and values.
2. Debating with conspiracy nuts on conspiracies is futile, But understanding their (usually) right wing non-conspiratorial arguments – the sources for them – means they can be engaged. And engagement loosens the hold of toxic ideologies.
2. 1Two camps – liberal and right wing – always dismissing one another out of hand won’t end well for liberals. Neither will it end well for the left (which is nowhere near as well resourced as either liberal or right wing outlets and has nothing like the media penetration of either).
1: You go ahead and suspect that, because if my opinion on RT and decision to no longer waste my time with it was actually based on a reasonably accurate observation of the qualitative differences between RT/Fox and other media, your position would look a bit silly.
2: how’s that working out for you? Converted any neonazis lately?
3: no, it’s not.
4: What’s your opinion on Nazi-themed pedophilia? Should we have a round-table discussion on the arguments for and against, a couple of Nazi-NAMBLA representatives stating their position, with a couple of opponents on the other side, and a tie-wearing moderator keeping everyone civil?
Or should we keep debating whether AGW exists, one oil-company shill vs one actual climatologist, every sunday afternoon at 6pm?
A revised TPPA could compromise many other things many of us wanted from a left wing government. If the underlying neoliberal MO remains in tact, then it remains a massive concern for me.
There are some policies and issues where there is room for compromise. Others, not so much.
I do strongly welcome the development of RNZ and public service media, after 9 years of being undermine and fund-frozen by NACT.
A revised TPPA could compromise many other things many of us wanted from a left wing government. If the underlying neoliberal MO remains in tact, then it remains a massive concern for me.
The ministerial statement released by the TPPA-11 has a catchy new branding for the deal: the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). No easy slogans there! But isn’t it interesting how something so toxic can simply be relabelled ‘progressive’?
My guess is because they are for “exports and trade”, without understanding that this doesn’t automatically help most people. TPP being an example of a deal that is mostly about growing the rights of the already rich, while doing little for ordinary people.
Labour taking a different path is up to its members forcing their leaders to take a different path and that doesn’t seem to be on the cards. The closest that they’ve come so far is David Cunliffe who then got massively white-anted by the rest of the Labour caucus. And the caucus still don’t seem to like their members giving direction to the party.
It raised more alarm bells with me and it was already getting noisier …
I feel like we’re being sold (!) a Government that sounds much more progressive and principled than it really is. Time will tell, maybe … Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose?
We’re being pacified with ‘stable’ language and ‘relentless positivity’ and the issues are framed such that we fall into a hypnosis-like state in which we are willing to accept almost anything.
I voted for change and for a Government that would govern based on core values that are not negotiable. I did not get what I’d hoped for but it’s too early to see how much less it is compared to what I’d hoped for. But I have not given up hope!
Pragmatism is the silent slayer of dreams and imagination and slowly kills off our creativity; hope keeps it alive!
I am not sure what Labour party voters thought they were going to get that is different from a labour Govt that is adherent to traditiona leconomics (the one that has failed so many for decades), is so scared of upsetting “business” it bends over backward to bring in things it likes ahead of addressing wage stagnation (median and below) and working conditions (casual… zero etc) that are an anaethma (sp) to a mickey Savage labour. This is NOT a Mickey Savage Labour party, it makes some Mickey Savage-like noises… but it will not move from the centre.
People hear dog-whistling because they want to. People also like to see things in a way that confirms their perceptions, etc. John Key knew & understood and explored this ‘vulnerability’ to its full potential. We’re all vulnerable to a certain degree …
I voted for a bunch of people whom I thought were the most likely to affect the much-needed change and I have no regrets whatsoever and would happily do it again.
Because the way the coalition is made up it is firmly rooted in the centre; it won’t move much to either the left of the right nor upwards – it might not move at all but may lean in or out depending on which way the wind blows. But despite this apparent and likely political inertia in the Beehive outside of it there’s an unstoppable movement and flurry of activity …
If national politics is to become (more) relevant (again) then our representatives better take heed of what’s going on outside the beltway rather than looking and talking down on us from the ninth floor. Monbiot refers to Politics of Belonging and restoration of community & democracy and our politicians, Labour ones in particular, need to decide whether they want to repair & bridge the disconnect and where they truly belong: with us or separate from us.
I just read the one by Peter Williams. What a self entitled tosser (IMO).
His two houses will likely have gone up in value by a good $million in just three years and he’s crying poor over a potential $2k increase in rates. His capital gain would pay his entire rates for the next 100years, banks will happily lend against the property and most councils do too. These people who want to have their cake and eat it are rather irksome.
Yup. He got rates calculations wrong and probably covered his rates from the pay from that article. Now had he bemoaning how hard it must be for those on median incomes it would have been more than the moaning of a highly privileged person ignorant of their privilege. Guess we know what he and Hosking last chatted about. I am tempted to say if paying the rates is going to be a problem then Williams and his wife need budgetting lessons and missed all the education on retirement proofing given their combined incomes would be north of 200k.
It’s a bit scary reading the comments which have now appeared on that Peter Williams article. You’d expect people with the ability to write legibly can also read and think rationally, sadly all too many of those comments kill that theory.
I so weep for Peter Williams……sitting on probably well over $3,000,000 of readily realisable property in St Marys Bay and Wanaka. Neurotic dork should STFU.
I know they are small points, but Max Towle quotes Ben Thomas as saying the following here in the Herald yesterday (written 27 Oct) about Bill English:
“He won 44.6 per cent of the vote in the general election and in the last week of polls was the country’s preferred Prime Minister.”
In fact National won 44.4 % of the vote. And rather than pretending English is still preferred PM, surely we should be waiting for the next poll which will doubtless show Jacinda as preferred PM.
Where the article is more interesting is the discussion on who will replace loser English. My money, like Bryce Edwards, is on Amy Adams. She has shown she has perfect qualifications with her abysmal hard-nosed compassionless treatment of Teina Pora and David Bain, her disdain for democracy in Canterbury etc etc.
I see the Herald on Sunday is keeping up it’s relentless anti-Labour bombardment today. It is ridiculous. Instead of writing predictably anti-labour nonsense I would suggest Heather du Plessis-Allan would be more profitably employed lobbying the Wellington City Council for better lighting on Wellington’s winding and vertiginous paths, lest another young person takes a drunken tumble.
Question: would it be a good idea to allow someone to be stripped of their civic rights (lose the right to vote, banned from standing for public office or get a government job) for up to, say, ten years, as a punishment available to judges under the crimes act? or would it set to dangerous a precedent?
Sanctuary
What sort of crimes would bring that on? I think it would create a dangerous precedent and really be the thin edge of the wedge of minimising the respect for other humans who don’t fit in with the dominant group. Laws are really enforced guidelines and have grown immensely from both parliamentary Bills and through regulations and deemed legislation, I think it is called.
Moses came down from the mountain with the ten Commandments and I have a picture of them being etched out on stone, but now we have law libraries of bound legislation with matching leather covers with spines striped in gold.
When it comes to restriction of participation by the public in civic matters, what do you think about changing part of the voting opportunities so that only people who have done a series of workshops that involve a scratch test, so that those people can be voters for a Party. They would have had to put some effort in to learn about the current economic, social and international position of the country. So they would vote and more would be informed about the effects of their decision.
Everyone would be able to vote for a representative in their electorate. If people are going to vote on personality and impression, and that is more important to them than substance and fact, then give them the opportunity to do that.
Generally, I was thinking we need to smarten up on civic affairs – for example, a resident should be able to vote until they complete a civics course (I am thinking the sort of thing you do at a local colleges and polytechs over 4-6 Wednesday evenings).
I’d like to make election day a public holiday like Xmas day, mid week, and only paid if you vote (imagine that, you didn’t vote and about six weeks after the election you get an email from HR saying they are docking you a day’s pay…).
I’d like everyone when they vote to get, say, a $10 voucher to donate to a political party of their choice before they leave the voting place and then ban large donations to political parties.
on the stick side I was thinking stripping civic rights might be a useful sentencing option for white collar criminals…
They teach civics in American schools and they have lower voter turnout than us. It is not about shoving more education down people’s throats it is about engaging people.
I would like to see a financial incentive for first time voters because statistically if you vote once you are 300% more likely to vote again. But in the end if people think they system isn’t for them, doesn’t serve them, engages in bullshit behaviour and doesn’t tell them stuff (Pointing at media here who have done more “analysis” post election than pre election when it was just regurgitating politicians practiced memes or writing “i reckon” pieces) about what they want to know, then they turn away.
Go to jail:
can’t enroll if in jail so can’t vote,
almost impossible to become a public servant,
can’t stand for parliament if you can’t enroll to vote
A very good point, my friend. Actually, those slaves in Epsom were nearly all obedient National supporters who voted ACT against their better judgment for the simple reason they were instructed to do so. It’s the same yes-man behaviour that gets you a good job and a nice house in Epsom in the first place.
Pronoun? How can ‘magnificent’ stand in the place of a noun when it is only an adjective? (Maybe we missed something because you got bounced to Open mike?)
Yeah, it was a cheap shot that I now regret. A knee-jerk ease with being flippant when I see a non-issue through my eyes. It’s not fair, I’m working on it.
Rather than trying to treat people as I wish to be treated, it’s more trying to treat them as they wish to be treated. I see that as a good thing.
Good restaurant staff are experts at treating people as they wish to be treated.
For one couple excellent service is having a wine glass topped after every sip. For another couple great service is wanting for nothing, yet hardly noticing the waiter.
A little 5 year old boy fell off a wharf not far from where I live yesterday. He drowned. I don’t know all the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, but I do know that somewhere close to me is a family living in a state of profound grief and desolation. They will probably never fully recover.
It certainly has caused me to think about my priorities in life and how dependent we are on each other – a dependency that has been so badly eroded over recent decades. My hopes are pinned on the Labour-led government turning this state of affairs around so that future communities – be they urban or rural – are far better resourced when it comes to looking after the safety and well being of ALL the people living in them.
I now live in a rural area 70kms from the nearest town and often see families driving up our dirt road miles from nowhere to find somewhere to stop and sleep and stay awhile, all the time and these are not campers but people down on their luck so this makes me weep as we should be doing better than this.
“Thousands of companies fail every year. A small number of them pass through my office. Very few are bad people. Almost every one has failed to pay GST and PAYE.”
Anyone knows that the PAYE money belongs to the employee – it’s part of their wages or salary.
Two solutions:
1. Pay it to the employee on payday so they can pay their own tax
2. Make employers pay IRD at the same time they pay the employee – I can’t for the life of me think of a good reason why my employer should be able to hold onto my deductions beyond the day they are deducted.
Even more so when almost every failed business has failed to pay.
That includes student loan deductions. Took my partner three years to sought out her student loan that her thieving employer took out of her wages and didn’t pay.
Day after day after day we see businesses who owe IRD tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It should be paid when deducted – not a day, week or month later.
we could start treating company owners like beneficiaries. When one messes up, commits fraud or something we make all of the pariahs and bring in even more regulations to bring them into line.
This morning on Radionz on immigrant labour needed for tourist trade, a bar owner was saying that he just couldn’t afford to pay NZrs. His problem I think was that he is competing in a small over-supplied market, and needs the subsidy of low wages to keep his business profitable.
Descendant of Ssmith point seems good. Make the people responsible for their PAYE payments, even if they are working irregular hours. A direct debit weekly or fortnightly that pays half the average payment and then a full net payment every month.
IRD might then be able to employ a few more people and not have to rely on machines. It is a useful job, we need responsible tax gatherers in person. And cut out the penalty payments for natural people, not thinking about legal ‘people’ devised by the flick of a pen.
This comments indicates perfectly (to me) that you ( and probably the vast majority of Standardistas) have no concept of business or financial operations. Unfortunately this ignorance extends to this Govt, which will gave tragic consequences for most NZers.
What concepts are they missing Bondy? Seems pretty straightforward to me, if you take on a debt you’re expected to pay what you owe. The majority of people in business pay their debts, pay their taxes, and don’t moan about it.
You may well be correct in your assertion but I look forward to the day that governing is less like running a business focussing on financial operations (spreadsheets and ‘actuarial tables’ to guide ‘social investment’) and being ‘astute managers of the economy’ and more about putting the people (and environment!) first and foremost. Ideally, all three are integrated and synergise rather than conflict/compete with each other.
Nope well aware that on my payday you take x amount of my wages to pay on my behalf to IRD.
I expect you to pay it. If you don’t you’ve stolen my money.
In this case because I’ve earned it under a lawful contract which you as the employer has signed to pay me x amount per hour it is my actual money.
Stop stealing. Thief, thief, thief………
If you can’t pay my full wages by not paying the PAYE you must really hate it when the government gives me tax cuts cause you have to pay me more on payday and hold less in your bank account.
Why do you think a business owner may not be able to pay paye?
I really recommend some of you guys give self-employment a go, be the boss, experience it from the other side.
By self-employment I don’t mean being on contract for six months or a year, I mean actually running a business where you’re lucky to have more than a months work ahead of you so you’ve got to endlessly get out there and have to hunt for work.
For that added level of difficulty add a few employees to the mix.
Been there, done that. Back in the days when everything was paper-based.
I made life difficult for myself a few times when I didn’t immediately set aside my employees PAYE when I paid their wages. But I always treated tax owed to the IRD as a top-level priority right alongside wages, so I did what it took to pay up when it came due. (I wasn’t so careful about getting returns in on time when there was no tax owing or a refund due to me, which the IRD got grouchy about).
These days if I set back up in business and employed people, I’d expect my electronic accounting package to make sure PAYE issues got sorted at the press of a button, right at the same time wages are paid.
In the end, it’s a case of setting priorities. In my case, I prioritised my obligations to the rest of society as represented by the government at the top-level right alongside obligations to employees. That the government carries the biggest stick of all was only a small part of that choice.
I made life difficult for myself a few times when I didn’t immediately set aside my employees PAYE when I paid their wages. But I always treated tax owed to the IRD as a top-level priority right alongside wages, so I did what it took to pay up when it came due. (I wasn’t so careful about getting returns in on time when there was no tax owing or a refund due to me, which the IRD got grouchy about).
Absolutely it a priority, otherwise the IRD is down on you like a tonne of bricks.
It’s just unfortunate sometimes no matter how hard some people try, the money has to be used to keep the business afloat.
This talk of stealing is bullshit, 99.99% of business owners want to run a successful legitimate business, sometimes things don’t go as planned
But that’s not the IRD’s fault, or the employees’.
You’re talking about struggling businesses that choose to not pay their bills in order to try to “keep the business afloat”. Those businesses are already sunk, hoping for a lotto-style hail-mary pass that, according to Grant’s article, hardly ever comes.
That’s true when you can meet your tax obligations you’re pretty much fucked.
It takes a strong person to realise that and admit you’re financially going down the gurgler and probably dragging a few of your employees’ down with you.
Yeah, he runs an insolvency business so what he sees of business is largely those who have gone bust.
Most are a pox on the business community. They use creditors as a bank and there’s a hell of a domino effect from those pricks who don’t pay their debts.
BM – I largely agree and I used to work at IRD. On the other hand, people like the Nosh owners here (John Denize was the subject of Friday’s Checkpoint) need a swift kick, so there needs to be stiffer punishments for those sorts of losers.
It would be great if employers could actually talk to the IRD if they’re in difficulty and see if they can come up with a plan that works for both parties.
IRD does tend to be seen as being like those old school teachers that whacks you with a cane if you step slightly out of line.
They can and regularly did when I was there as I set up many debt repayment arrangements in my time, and no doubt many others did as well. IRD also wipe debts (partially or totally) regularly in cases of genuine hardship or financial difficulty.
It would be great if employers could actually talk to the IRD if they’re in difficulty and see if they can come up with a plan that works for both parties.
Yeah, it would be great if MSD worked like that too. Hopefully, we’ve just elected a government that thinks in those terms.
I found that if you are honest with the IRD, they are actually rather good about you paying them back. I never treated PAYE as my money, so that was always there. They were very good about negotiating a payment schedule, I could afford, for the rest.
This talk of stealing is bullshit, 99.99% of business owners want to run a successful legitimate business, sometimes things don’t go as planned
One day, when I was working at McDs in Starship, a customer came in and ordered food for himself and his rellies. They were all there to see his son who’d been in an accident.
When he ordered he asked for the receipt at which point his wife asked if he was going to put it on the business and he said yes.
This person is not running a legitimate business.
Things is, this is just one anecdote. I have several more from different business owners throughout my life. Now, I’m certainly not friends with every business person in the country but when nine out of ten of the ones I do know are running these same or similar scams then I must question your assertion that 99.99% of business owners want to run a successful legitimate business.
Been there, done that. And paid everyone when I could, even though I was too ill to work for several years, at a real bad time when starting the business. .
The fact is. If your business cannot pay a living wage for all involved, and pay all its costs, including training staff, taxes for the resources it uses, and fair wages, then it is a tax payer and employee funded hobby, and should be shut down.
Why should your employees, and the rest of us who pay our taxes, fund your hobby?
This comments indicates perfectly (to me) that you ( and probably the vast majority of Standardistas) have no concept of business or financial operations. Unfortunately this ignorance extends to this Govt, which will gave tragic consequences for most NZers.
Funny, that was what I thought about all the right-wing fucks who had something bad to say about Metiria Turei, but funnily enough, that didn’t stop them running their mouths. Welcome to social media.
The man is a convicted fraudster and Stuff give him a regular soapbox to preach to us about ‘morals’. It’s like we’re all sitting at the Mad Hatters tea party.
The people who declare their business insolvent, leave their subbies and employees broke, and scarper. Or expect the Government to bail out their poor business decisions.
Some ideas reinforced.
Humans have amazing capabilities to adapt.
We need a hell of a lot less than what we imagine and when it really comes down to it most of the stuff we have is hardly worth it – we really need shelter, warmth, food, safety, love, community.
Humans are mammals and mammals clump together especially 9 and 2.5 year olds and their parents.
7 x 2.5 x 4.2 metres is doable, is enjoyable and is valuable at least for the four of us.
An interesting article in the Herald where Carmel Sepuloni is talking about welfare, with some mentioning of improving things. No time frames but beginnings.
This is starting to get tiresome. Lead story on Stuff is all Brownlee. Was comment sought from any government spokesperson? Did anyone bother to ask the Foreign Minister if he had a response?
National carrying on like they are still in charge and the MSM helping them do it.
Rubbish, 6 months ago brownlee was on the front page. Just because you say it doesn’t make it true buddy. The loser gnats are getting a free ride to rip into the government. Dirty.
“Think back six months, it was exactly the same but the roles were reversed.”
Are you saying that six months ago Labour had just been kicked out of govt and were getting media attention that the new govt wasn’t and thus the public were being presented with a skewed view? Because that would be stupid right?
The Dompost printed copy last week had a lengthy article by David Garrat defending the 3 strikes legislation . Can’t find it on the internet but WTF. Not exactly a credible source I’d have though but no disclaimer with it.
The events and data above describe how three internet companies have acquired massive influence on the Web, but why does that imply the beginning of the Web’s death? To answer that, we need to reflect on what the Web is.
The original vision for the Web according to its creator, Tim Berners-Lee, was a space with multilateral publishing and consumption of information. It was a peer-to-peer vision with no dependency on a single party. Tim himself claims the Web is dying: the Web he wanted and the Web he got are no longer the same.
Russia’s state-owned media outlet, RT, has announced that it will comply with US government demands to register as a “foreign agent” of the Russian government, amid controversy over Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
It’s a move that effectively marks the network, which runs both a website and a cable television channel, as a propaganda outfit for Moscow.
Voice of America? Still going. Readers Digest – always has a pro-USA view.
VOA News https://www.voanews.com/
English news from the Voice of America. VOA provides complete coverage of the U.S, Asia, Africa and the Mideast.
Voice of America – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_America
Voice of America (VOA) is a U.S. government-funded international news source that serves as the United States federal government’s official institution for …
Answering my own question, Fox News has no terrestrial or satellite carriers in Russia while RT has terrestrial and satellite carriers, and studio facilities in the US.
VOA and affiliates are state funded cross-border broadcasters with studios and production based in the US.
It would be good perhaps to have USA media with facilities for Russian factual content getting first-hand information which is then available to their citizens to replace the info that just suits the propaganda that the pointy-heads give out.
The dominant culture should always look to see what the minority cultures are saying and seek to understand them , but they don’t; instead they seek to counter what they perceive to be an “attack” on mainstream thinking.
When
will
we
ever
learn?
Seemingly, never
Chins up! 🙂
“As environmentalist Paul Hawken put it: “We have an economy where we steal the future, sell it in the present, and call it GDP.”
“With politicians failing to step up to the climate challenge, what are the alternatives? One intriguing experiment in direct democracy has just concluded in Ireland, where a government-appointed Citizens’ Assembly composed of a nationally representative group of people selected at random heard detailed expert testimony on climate change from a range of experts. No lobbyists or politicians were allowed in the room.
The result: 13 recommendations for sharply enhanced climate action were overwhelmingly endorsed early this month, including citizens being personally prepared to pay more tax on high-carbon activities. The recommendations will now be discussed in parliament. Democracy may be dysfunctional, but rumours of its death have, perhaps, been exaggerated.”
Thanks Pat
This is a great place to keep informed. And gives us heart to keep on doing stuff that is purposeful and useful.
This is an excerpt from Pat’s link to New Statesman (think woman too) at 23.1.1. There was one dynamic in the model, however, that offered some hope. Werner termed it “resistance” – movements of “people or groups of people” who “adopt a certain set of dynamics that does not fit within the capitalist culture”.
According to the abstract for his presentation, this includes “environmental direct action, resistance taken from outside the dominant culture, as in protests, blockades and sabotage by indigenous peoples, workers, anarchists and other activist groups”.
Just off Arapawa Island at the Northern end of the Sounds in the Cook Strait. I hope its not leading to towards something bigger as I fly into the Wellington next week and I was reading an article today on the net that parts of Wellington still having problems after the last round of the earthquakes. Have been catching up on some podcasts about last the lot of earthquakes and some of the data gathered makes for some interesting reading epseacilly for the lower nth.
Whenever an earthquake around these parts starts with a sudden explosive bang – rather than a quiet rumble – & produces a jolt that’s both short & sharp = we know it’s more likely to be Northern end of the Sounds
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Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
He’s bringing ‘Sophie’ back, yeah. Goodshirt’s ‘Sophie’ music video is one of the most instantly recognisable New Zealand music videos of all time. Featuring a woman listening to the song on headphones while her entire house is burgled behind her, the video won the New Zealand music award for Best ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University A year ago, the AUKUS agreement was formally announced between Australian and UK Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden. The agreement mapped out the “optimal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Helwig, Associate Professor, Electro-Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern Queensland SmartS/Shutterstock Steam locomotives clattering along railway tracks. Paddle steamers churning down the Murray. Dreadnought battleships powered by steam engines. Many of us think the age of steam has ended. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carrie Leonetti, Associate Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Victims who experience family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand are treated differently, depending on which part of the justice system they turn to for help. But a new member’s bill ...
“The truth of corporate journalism, and the great irony of its obsession with ‘fake news’, is that it is itself utterly fake. What could be more obviously fake than the idea that Truth can be sold by billionaire-owned media dependent on billionaire-owned advertisers for maximised profit? ” http://www.medialens.org/
Nicely put.
All they need are puppets and mercenaries like HDPA prepared to sell their souls.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11942657
Rubbish! Rubbish she writes!
Heather Plastic-Allan……the risible queen of risible trivia. Trudeau’s people arrived in a bus…..FFS! Hino over Pinot. Pleeez…..Noooooo!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11942657
Maybe she’d be better writing for The Onion until she grows up a wee bit?
https://www.theonion.com/
Og The Onion is way too good for her
True every word.
“money talks – truth walks.”
“Political understanding is made as hard as humanly possible by the billionaire press.”
George Monbiot
+1 Just take a look at the latest election cycle, our media invented a narrative of some sort of mythical “youth quake” that did not exist in reality…
NZ media driving unfounded news reality..
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/09/decision-17-youthquake-arrives-in-new-zealand.html
Actual reality….
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/342919/more-young-people-voted-but-no-youth-quake
Everyday on RNZ the pundits would talk up this narrative, that did not actually exist in any meaningful way…were they propagating fake news? or just trying to make our little election seem more exciting and intriguing than it was?
Either way they were certainly guilty of creating the news instead of reporting on news.
And don’t forget the incesant demand that the greens go with the Natz by the media.
100% the media are corupt in NZ today sadly.
The “labour coalition” Government must now move swiftly to ‘neutralise ‘ this elitist corporate driven baised media activity, and provide us with a fully public funded commmercial free media for presentation of all views for all people on their government publically funded platforms, that will finally again provide a balanced fair media service that will in many cases show this current media simply as an unreliable and un-trustworthy source of news and current affairs.
“News & current affairs fit to feed a healthy democracy.”
“…..or just trying to make our little election seem more exciting and intriguing than it was?”
Exciting news – (fake or otherwise) sells.
“a fully public funded commercial-free media for presentation of all views for all people on their government publically funded platforms” (cleangreen) makes sense.
Bernie made a stir, Jeremy took it further and Jacinda attained the toe-hold. Now its up to all of us to keep the vision untarnished and run with the ball.
What I find particularly pernicious about the whole “fake news” bullshit – well there are a couple of things.
1. Proclaiming (for example) RT is ‘fake news’ leaves the field in the sole possession of slanted liberal publications.
2. Dismissing those who frequent well funded and popular right wing conspiratorial outlets out of hand, simply means the influential message and the weird logic of those outlets isn’t being challenged. (And a lot of people are getting their info and understandings from such places)
3. A belief in so-called “fake news” allows liberal media to peddle their own propaganda as more truthful and trustworthy – on the accepted basis that all others are “fake”.
4. The accusation of “fake news” (if broadly accepted as a legitimate ‘argument’) is a powerful mechanism enabling the development of ‘correct’ thought and opinion.
Don’t know how well I’ve articulated my thoughts there (or kind of repeated myself). But essentially, it’s why I’ll tend to insist that all sources are producing propaganda and there is no line that demarcates “propaganda” and “fake”.
Yeah nah when they deliberately lie and present falsehoods to generate heat it is fake news.
Defend rt or the righties or whoever, blame the libs the neo libs the msm the gummy bears the weaklings – for what? Balance – this from a revolutionary!!!
Fake news is real bill. I do agree that fake news is a form of propaganda.
Yeah nah when they deliberately lie and present falsehoods to generate heat it is fake news.
So when media reported WMD to get people behind the bombing and invasion of Iraq for example? Or when media reported that viagra was being issued to Libyan soldiers so they could rape en-masse? Or when the media peddled a catalogue of falsehoods through it’s reporting on Syria?
These things are the same type of “fake news” as the “fake news” you’re referring to?
The rest of your comment is strange projection and weirdness.
You quoted my sentence and that sentence answers your question.
As for your insults – laughable.
I’m not going to reply to you anymore – you’ve got an attitude issue imo.
1: That’s because RT makes the liberal media look outstanding in comparison.
2: There’s a line where challenging a message with reasoned debate is still futile and actually gives the right wing conspiracy nuts credibility that they don’t deserve. Like the liberal media giving AGW a “balanced” view by putting deniers on equal footing with actual experts.
3: See point 1. If fake news wasn’t so utterly shit, the liberal media would not be the better option.
4: Some opinions and thoughts are just plain wrong.
1. Given that you’ve said you won’t so much as watch a link to an rt piece (and I did only give rt as an example) I suspect your number 1 is really just you indicating that Liberal media accords with your general believes and values.
2. Debating with conspiracy nuts on conspiracies is futile, But understanding their (usually) right wing non-conspiratorial arguments – the sources for them – means they can be engaged. And engagement loosens the hold of toxic ideologies.
2. 1Two camps – liberal and right wing – always dismissing one another out of hand won’t end well for liberals. Neither will it end well for the left (which is nowhere near as well resourced as either liberal or right wing outlets and has nothing like the media penetration of either).
3. The dichotomy is false.
4. Of course 😉
1: You go ahead and suspect that, because if my opinion on RT and decision to no longer waste my time with it was actually based on a reasonably accurate observation of the qualitative differences between RT/Fox and other media, your position would look a bit silly.
2: how’s that working out for you? Converted any neonazis lately?
3: no, it’s not.
4: What’s your opinion on Nazi-themed pedophilia? Should we have a round-table discussion on the arguments for and against, a couple of Nazi-NAMBLA representatives stating their position, with a couple of opponents on the other side, and a tie-wearing moderator keeping everyone civil?
Or should we keep debating whether AGW exists, one oil-company shill vs one actual climatologist, every sunday afternoon at 6pm?
Some shit is just plain wrong.
Remember that we agreed we would not get all we wanted?
I guess the revised TPPA comes under this list.
However, Clare Curran’s speech, SCOOP, gives great pleasure.
Public broadcasting, RNZ+, Cultural and NZ material gladdens my heart.
Win some lose some.
A revised TPPA could compromise many other things many of us wanted from a left wing government. If the underlying neoliberal MO remains in tact, then it remains a massive concern for me.
There are some policies and issues where there is room for compromise. Others, not so much.
I do strongly welcome the development of RNZ and public service media, after 9 years of being undermine and fund-frozen by NACT.
However, the suspension of intellectual property issues, and inclusion of protection for Pharmac sound promising.
in the new CaPpedTPP
Yep. Puts the lie to Labour being left-wing.
And the re-branding of the TPP while it remains essentially the same is a lesson in how psychopathy works:
Draco,
We fully support your position of this Labour Government wording change to ‘hoodwink’ us all in some rebranding ‘foolery’ excersise here.
This is not “Transperancy” that labour promised us but it is only pure deception.
“You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”
Why do you think NZF agreed to this?
My guess is because they are for “exports and trade”, without understanding that this doesn’t automatically help most people. TPP being an example of a deal that is mostly about growing the rights of the already rich, while doing little for ordinary people.
I am trying to recall but wasn’t peters against TPP?
Yes, it seems Labour is still deeply neoliberal.
A kinder neoliberalism is still slightly better than a nastier neoliberalism – but I hope Labour can actually take a different path one day.
That is not a surprise though is it?
Of interest to me is that in a country where we have CER, 80% of our potential trade under CPTPP is with Australia!
” completely eliminates ISDS clauses between Australia and New Zealand, which makes up 80 per cent of potential CPTPP trade. ”
It has been kept very quiet that TPP was about gaining better access to our cloest neighbour with whom we have CER.
Interestingly Nats couldnt get the ISDS clause concessions? Or did they never try?
Nats would have been comfortable with the ISDS bits I am sure.
It seems I misunderstood what parker said.
Labour taking a different path is up to its members forcing their leaders to take a different path and that doesn’t seem to be on the cards. The closest that they’ve come so far is David Cunliffe who then got massively white-anted by the rest of the Labour caucus. And the caucus still don’t seem to like their members giving direction to the party.
I respectfully disagree.
I just read Duncan Garner’s ‘sensible’ piece on Stuff https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/98769403/duncan-garner-new-government-places-pragmatism-over-principles–fair-play.
It raised more alarm bells with me and it was already getting noisier …
I feel like we’re being sold (!) a Government that sounds much more progressive and principled than it really is. Time will tell, maybe … Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose?
We’re being pacified with ‘stable’ language and ‘relentless positivity’ and the issues are framed such that we fall into a hypnosis-like state in which we are willing to accept almost anything.
I voted for change and for a Government that would govern based on core values that are not negotiable. I did not get what I’d hoped for but it’s too early to see how much less it is compared to what I’d hoped for. But I have not given up hope!
Pragmatism is the silent slayer of dreams and imagination and slowly kills off our creativity; hope keeps it alive!
“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose?”
I am not sure what Labour party voters thought they were going to get that is different from a labour Govt that is adherent to traditiona leconomics (the one that has failed so many for decades), is so scared of upsetting “business” it bends over backward to bring in things it likes ahead of addressing wage stagnation (median and below) and working conditions (casual… zero etc) that are an anaethma (sp) to a mickey Savage labour. This is NOT a Mickey Savage Labour party, it makes some Mickey Savage-like noises… but it will not move from the centre.
Could be a hell-cinder path then.
People hear dog-whistling because they want to. People also like to see things in a way that confirms their perceptions, etc. John Key knew & understood and explored this ‘vulnerability’ to its full potential. We’re all vulnerable to a certain degree …
I voted for a bunch of people whom I thought were the most likely to affect the much-needed change and I have no regrets whatsoever and would happily do it again.
Because the way the coalition is made up it is firmly rooted in the centre; it won’t move much to either the left of the right nor upwards – it might not move at all but may lean in or out depending on which way the wind blows. But despite this apparent and likely political inertia in the Beehive outside of it there’s an unstoppable movement and flurry of activity …
If national politics is to become (more) relevant (again) then our representatives better take heed of what’s going on outside the beltway rather than looking and talking down on us from the ninth floor. Monbiot refers to Politics of Belonging and restoration of community & democracy and our politicians, Labour ones in particular, need to decide whether they want to repair & bridge the disconnect and where they truly belong: with us or separate from us.
incognito +100
AND at least 2 article about how the property valuations will make the rates go up by the valuation increase!!!!
The writers need to do a little research about how rates are set.
I just read the one by Peter Williams. What a self entitled tosser (IMO).
His two houses will likely have gone up in value by a good $million in just three years and he’s crying poor over a potential $2k increase in rates. His capital gain would pay his entire rates for the next 100years, banks will happily lend against the property and most councils do too. These people who want to have their cake and eat it are rather irksome.
Yup. He got rates calculations wrong and probably covered his rates from the pay from that article. Now had he bemoaning how hard it must be for those on median incomes it would have been more than the moaning of a highly privileged person ignorant of their privilege. Guess we know what he and Hosking last chatted about. I am tempted to say if paying the rates is going to be a problem then Williams and his wife need budgetting lessons and missed all the education on retirement proofing given their combined incomes would be north of 200k.
It’s a bit scary reading the comments which have now appeared on that Peter Williams article. You’d expect people with the ability to write legibly can also read and think rationally, sadly all too many of those comments kill that theory.
I so weep for Peter Williams……sitting on probably well over $3,000,000 of readily realisable property in St Marys Bay and Wanaka. Neurotic dork should STFU.
Ten Reasons We Got Rid of the Nasties
No. 8: That waste of space Tau Henare
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-10102014/#comment-908083
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09122016/#comment-1272488
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11131033
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10373968
“It never ceases to amaze me, the bloodyminded soddishness of people!”
—Victor Meldrew, “The Worst Horror of All”, One Foot in the Grave
You are aware, I hope, that Tau Henare left Parliament in 2014?
How does voting Labour, or whoever you voted for in 2017, get rid of Tau?
A very, VERY good question, Alwyn.
You have got me there, my friend.
I know they are small points, but Max Towle quotes Ben Thomas as saying the following here in the Herald yesterday (written 27 Oct) about Bill English:
“He won 44.6 per cent of the vote in the general election and in the last week of polls was the country’s preferred Prime Minister.”
In fact National won 44.4 % of the vote. And rather than pretending English is still preferred PM, surely we should be waiting for the next poll which will doubtless show Jacinda as preferred PM.
Where the article is more interesting is the discussion on who will replace loser English. My money, like Bryce Edwards, is on Amy Adams. She has shown she has perfect qualifications with her abysmal hard-nosed compassionless treatment of Teina Pora and David Bain, her disdain for democracy in Canterbury etc etc.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11937290
Bearded Grit!
I direct people to the image on Bowalley Road where Simon Bridges is arguing the rightness of his bad behaviour. Amy Adams is sitting by him, watching his blustering with apparent interest, amusement, and I feel, approval.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2017/11/settling-stardust-grim-logic-behind.html
It’s a lot to read into an image, very subjective, but I believe likely to be true.
Thanks Grey…you just ruined my lunch.
I see the Herald on Sunday is keeping up it’s relentless anti-Labour bombardment today. It is ridiculous. Instead of writing predictably anti-labour nonsense I would suggest Heather du Plessis-Allan would be more profitably employed lobbying the Wellington City Council for better lighting on Wellington’s winding and vertiginous paths, lest another young person takes a drunken tumble.
Question: would it be a good idea to allow someone to be stripped of their civic rights (lose the right to vote, banned from standing for public office or get a government job) for up to, say, ten years, as a punishment available to judges under the crimes act? or would it set to dangerous a precedent?
Sanctuary
What sort of crimes would bring that on? I think it would create a dangerous precedent and really be the thin edge of the wedge of minimising the respect for other humans who don’t fit in with the dominant group. Laws are really enforced guidelines and have grown immensely from both parliamentary Bills and through regulations and deemed legislation, I think it is called.
Moses came down from the mountain with the ten Commandments and I have a picture of them being etched out on stone, but now we have law libraries of bound legislation with matching leather covers with spines striped in gold.
When it comes to restriction of participation by the public in civic matters, what do you think about changing part of the voting opportunities so that only people who have done a series of workshops that involve a scratch test, so that those people can be voters for a Party. They would have had to put some effort in to learn about the current economic, social and international position of the country. So they would vote and more would be informed about the effects of their decision.
Everyone would be able to vote for a representative in their electorate. If people are going to vote on personality and impression, and that is more important to them than substance and fact, then give them the opportunity to do that.
Generally, I was thinking we need to smarten up on civic affairs – for example, a resident should be able to vote until they complete a civics course (I am thinking the sort of thing you do at a local colleges and polytechs over 4-6 Wednesday evenings).
I’d like to make election day a public holiday like Xmas day, mid week, and only paid if you vote (imagine that, you didn’t vote and about six weeks after the election you get an email from HR saying they are docking you a day’s pay…).
I’d like everyone when they vote to get, say, a $10 voucher to donate to a political party of their choice before they leave the voting place and then ban large donations to political parties.
on the stick side I was thinking stripping civic rights might be a useful sentencing option for white collar criminals…
Excellent Sanctuary I agree;
Get big money and bribes out of politics.
They teach civics in American schools and they have lower voter turnout than us. It is not about shoving more education down people’s throats it is about engaging people.
I would like to see a financial incentive for first time voters because statistically if you vote once you are 300% more likely to vote again. But in the end if people think they system isn’t for them, doesn’t serve them, engages in bullshit behaviour and doesn’t tell them stuff (Pointing at media here who have done more “analysis” post election than pre election when it was just regurgitating politicians practiced memes or writing “i reckon” pieces) about what they want to know, then they turn away.
Already the case.
Go to jail:
can’t enroll if in jail so can’t vote,
almost impossible to become a public servant,
can’t stand for parliament if you can’t enroll to vote
http://www.elections.org.nz/parties-candidates/candidates/becoming-candidate-2017-general-election
Slave Watch:
Epsom voters heading to the polls
http://www.radionz.co.nz/assets/galleries/14738/full_Kereru_Station_pic_5.jpg?1433900710
I thought maybe after being dumped “bleating torries ” could apply also.
A very good point, my friend. Actually, those slaves in Epsom were nearly all obedient National supporters who voted ACT against their better judgment for the simple reason they were instructed to do so. It’s the same yes-man behaviour that gets you a good job and a nice house in Epsom in the first place.
Ha ha, 100% M.
I prefer the pronoun ‘magnificent’ but I don’t tweet.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Pronoun? How can ‘magnificent’ stand in the place of a noun when it is only an adjective? (Maybe we missed something because you got bounced to Open mike?)
Pretty sure he was making fun of someone elses pronoun preference. See Ben Mack post
Yeah, it was a cheap shot that I now regret. A knee-jerk ease with being flippant when I see a non-issue through my eyes. It’s not fair, I’m working on it.
Rather than trying to treat people as I wish to be treated, it’s more trying to treat them as they wish to be treated. I see that as a good thing.
Good restaurant staff are experts at treating people as they wish to be treated.
For one couple excellent service is having a wine glass topped after every sip. For another couple great service is wanting for nothing, yet hardly noticing the waiter.
Yes I agree that treating people the way they want to be treated is the key. A lesson we can all work on methinks.
Don’t try to change David Mac. You’re good to read.
Yes, OK David Mac
A little 5 year old boy fell off a wharf not far from where I live yesterday. He drowned. I don’t know all the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, but I do know that somewhere close to me is a family living in a state of profound grief and desolation. They will probably never fully recover.
It certainly has caused me to think about my priorities in life and how dependent we are on each other – a dependency that has been so badly eroded over recent decades. My hopes are pinned on the Labour-led government turning this state of affairs around so that future communities – be they urban or rural – are far better resourced when it comes to looking after the safety and well being of ALL the people living in them.
Me too 100% Anna,
I now live in a rural area 70kms from the nearest town and often see families driving up our dirt road miles from nowhere to find somewhere to stop and sleep and stay awhile, all the time and these are not campers but people down on their luck so this makes me weep as we should be doing better than this.
+ 1 Anne – it really is about looking after everyone imo.
This guy is such a dick.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/98757184/damien-grant-ird-punishes-the-risktakers
“Thousands of companies fail every year. A small number of them pass through my office. Very few are bad people. Almost every one has failed to pay GST and PAYE.”
Anyone knows that the PAYE money belongs to the employee – it’s part of their wages or salary.
Two solutions:
1. Pay it to the employee on payday so they can pay their own tax
2. Make employers pay IRD at the same time they pay the employee – I can’t for the life of me think of a good reason why my employer should be able to hold onto my deductions beyond the day they are deducted.
Even more so when almost every failed business has failed to pay.
That includes student loan deductions. Took my partner three years to sought out her student loan that her thieving employer took out of her wages and didn’t pay.
Day after day after day we see businesses who owe IRD tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It should be paid when deducted – not a day, week or month later.
Just another puppet willing to sell his soul to the billionaire press.
I feel sad for such tragic people.
Damien Grant writing about Dairy thieves.
They are not bad people, they are the risk takers!!!
Damien grant = soulless empty vessel.
I agree, The solution is to pay the flippin’ taxman rather than whinging to the paper
A.
we could start treating company owners like beneficiaries. When one messes up, commits fraud or something we make all of the pariahs and bring in even more regulations to bring them into line.
This morning on Radionz on immigrant labour needed for tourist trade, a bar owner was saying that he just couldn’t afford to pay NZrs. His problem I think was that he is competing in a small over-supplied market, and needs the subsidy of low wages to keep his business profitable.
Descendant of Ssmith point seems good. Make the people responsible for their PAYE payments, even if they are working irregular hours. A direct debit weekly or fortnightly that pays half the average payment and then a full net payment every month.
IRD might then be able to employ a few more people and not have to rely on machines. It is a useful job, we need responsible tax gatherers in person. And cut out the penalty payments for natural people, not thinking about legal ‘people’ devised by the flick of a pen.
This comments indicates perfectly (to me) that you ( and probably the vast majority of Standardistas) have no concept of business or financial operations. Unfortunately this ignorance extends to this Govt, which will gave tragic consequences for most NZers.
A business model based on wage theft, huh?.
What concepts are they missing Bondy? Seems pretty straightforward to me, if you take on a debt you’re expected to pay what you owe. The majority of people in business pay their debts, pay their taxes, and don’t moan about it.
You may well be correct in your assertion but I look forward to the day that governing is less like running a business focussing on financial operations (spreadsheets and ‘actuarial tables’ to guide ‘social investment’) and being ‘astute managers of the economy’ and more about putting the people (and environment!) first and foremost. Ideally, all three are integrated and synergise rather than conflict/compete with each other.
Nope well aware that on my payday you take x amount of my wages to pay on my behalf to IRD.
I expect you to pay it. If you don’t you’ve stolen my money.
In this case because I’ve earned it under a lawful contract which you as the employer has signed to pay me x amount per hour it is my actual money.
Stop stealing. Thief, thief, thief………
If you can’t pay my full wages by not paying the PAYE you must really hate it when the government gives me tax cuts cause you have to pay me more on payday and hold less in your bank account.
Why do you think a business owner may not be able to pay paye?
I really recommend some of you guys give self-employment a go, be the boss, experience it from the other side.
By self-employment I don’t mean being on contract for six months or a year, I mean actually running a business where you’re lucky to have more than a months work ahead of you so you’ve got to endlessly get out there and have to hunt for work.
For that added level of difficulty add a few employees to the mix.
Been there, done that. Back in the days when everything was paper-based.
I made life difficult for myself a few times when I didn’t immediately set aside my employees PAYE when I paid their wages. But I always treated tax owed to the IRD as a top-level priority right alongside wages, so I did what it took to pay up when it came due. (I wasn’t so careful about getting returns in on time when there was no tax owing or a refund due to me, which the IRD got grouchy about).
These days if I set back up in business and employed people, I’d expect my electronic accounting package to make sure PAYE issues got sorted at the press of a button, right at the same time wages are paid.
In the end, it’s a case of setting priorities. In my case, I prioritised my obligations to the rest of society as represented by the government at the top-level right alongside obligations to employees. That the government carries the biggest stick of all was only a small part of that choice.
I made life difficult for myself a few times when I didn’t immediately set aside my employees PAYE when I paid their wages. But I always treated tax owed to the IRD as a top-level priority right alongside wages, so I did what it took to pay up when it came due. (I wasn’t so careful about getting returns in on time when there was no tax owing or a refund due to me, which the IRD got grouchy about).
Absolutely it a priority, otherwise the IRD is down on you like a tonne of bricks.
It’s just unfortunate sometimes no matter how hard some people try, the money has to be used to keep the business afloat.
This talk of stealing is bullshit, 99.99% of business owners want to run a successful legitimate business, sometimes things don’t go as planned
Indeed.
But that’s not the IRD’s fault, or the employees’.
You’re talking about struggling businesses that choose to not pay their bills in order to try to “keep the business afloat”. Those businesses are already sunk, hoping for a lotto-style hail-mary pass that, according to Grant’s article, hardly ever comes.
And he paints the IRD as the bad guy for it.
That’s true when you can meet your tax obligations you’re pretty much fucked.
It takes a strong person to realise that and admit you’re financially going down the gurgler and probably dragging a few of your employees’ down with you.
Yeah, he runs an insolvency business so what he sees of business is largely those who have gone bust.
Most are a pox on the business community. They use creditors as a bank and there’s a hell of a domino effect from those pricks who don’t pay their debts.
+100
Dealing with one of these at the moment. Utterly lost in his own world.
BM – I largely agree and I used to work at IRD. On the other hand, people like the Nosh owners here (John Denize was the subject of Friday’s Checkpoint) need a swift kick, so there needs to be stiffer punishments for those sorts of losers.
https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2017-ar3655
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/335202/nosh-and-mt-eden-food-co-in-receivership
It would be great if employers could actually talk to the IRD if they’re in difficulty and see if they can come up with a plan that works for both parties.
IRD does tend to be seen as being like those old school teachers that whacks you with a cane if you step slightly out of line.
A bit like trolls such as some people I could mention..
Of course they can talk to IRD – but they don’t do they.
And yes it is theft. The employer has taken the money out of my wages, over which I have no choice btw, and not sent it to where it should be sent.
It should be compulsory to pay it at the same time as my wages.
That would help identify businesses in trouble at an earlier point and less people would be owed money if the business didn’t succeed.
They can and regularly did when I was there as I set up many debt repayment arrangements in my time, and no doubt many others did as well. IRD also wipe debts (partially or totally) regularly in cases of genuine hardship or financial difficulty.
It would be great if employers could actually talk to the IRD if they’re in difficulty and see if they can come up with a plan that works for both parties.
Yeah, it would be great if MSD worked like that too. Hopefully, we’ve just elected a government that thinks in those terms.
You can.
Found IRD very good to deal with, especially over provisional tax.
Which is difficult when your cashflow varies hugely.
Unlike WINZ. Advocating for young people, I have first hand experience of the culture of meanness, contempt and bloody mindedness.
I found that if you are honest with the IRD, they are actually rather good about you paying them back. I never treated PAYE as my money, so that was always there. They were very good about negotiating a payment schedule, I could afford, for the rest.
Much kinder than WINZ are to those on welfare.
One day, when I was working at McDs in Starship, a customer came in and ordered food for himself and his rellies. They were all there to see his son who’d been in an accident.
When he ordered he asked for the receipt at which point his wife asked if he was going to put it on the business and he said yes.
This person is not running a legitimate business.
Things is, this is just one anecdote. I have several more from different business owners throughout my life. Now, I’m certainly not friends with every business person in the country but when nine out of ten of the ones I do know are running these same or similar scams then I must question your assertion that 99.99% of business owners want to run a successful legitimate business.
Been there, done that. And paid everyone when I could, even though I was too ill to work for several years, at a real bad time when starting the business. .
The fact is. If your business cannot pay a living wage for all involved, and pay all its costs, including training staff, taxes for the resources it uses, and fair wages, then it is a tax payer and employee funded hobby, and should be shut down.
Why should your employees, and the rest of us who pay our taxes, fund your hobby?
+111
You don’t believe your word is your bond-y then?
This comments indicates perfectly (to me) that you ( and probably the vast majority of Standardistas) have no concept of business or financial operations. Unfortunately this ignorance extends to this Govt, which will gave tragic consequences for most NZers.
Funny, that was what I thought about all the right-wing fucks who had something bad to say about Metiria Turei, but funnily enough, that didn’t stop them running their mouths. Welcome to social media.
So, what did you think of Metiria’s actions to feed her child?
Another of those instances where you wonder what’s happened to this country;
“Damien Grant: IRD punishes the risk-takers”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/98757184/damien-grant-ird-punishes-the-risktakers
The man is a convicted fraudster and Stuff give him a regular soapbox to preach to us about ‘morals’. It’s like we’re all sitting at the Mad Hatters tea party.
Hah.. Descendant Of Sssmith … snap!
DH
Alice in Wonderland is so reeeaal man, its like man that the guy could see into the future!
Risk takers??
The people who declare their business insolvent, leave their subbies and employees broke, and scarper. Or expect the Government to bail out their poor business decisions.
Make us wear their risks. more like!
Damien Grant = Tea Party NZ Founder?
https://giphy.com/gifs/graphic-warning-kill-uTCAwWNtz7U2c
This little boy grew up to be Gareth Morgan
Chuckling
First anniversary in tiny house.
Some ideas reinforced.
Humans have amazing capabilities to adapt.
We need a hell of a lot less than what we imagine and when it really comes down to it most of the stuff we have is hardly worth it – we really need shelter, warmth, food, safety, love, community.
Humans are mammals and mammals clump together especially 9 and 2.5 year olds and their parents.
7 x 2.5 x 4.2 metres is doable, is enjoyable and is valuable at least for the four of us.
Sounds lovely Marty. ‘Onyous!
How funny thats exactly what ive got (9 and 2.5). Congrats
An interesting article in the Herald where Carmel Sepuloni is talking about welfare, with some mentioning of improving things. No time frames but beginnings.
This is starting to get tiresome. Lead story on Stuff is all Brownlee. Was comment sought from any government spokesperson? Did anyone bother to ask the Foreign Minister if he had a response?
National carrying on like they are still in charge and the MSM helping them do it.
Brownlee warns PM
Christ, you guys have short memories.
Think back six months, it was exactly the same but the roles were reversed.
Labour’s the target now, get used to it.
Rubbish, 6 months ago brownlee was on the front page. Just because you say it doesn’t make it true buddy. The loser gnats are getting a free ride to rip into the government. Dirty.
“Think back six months, it was exactly the same but the roles were reversed.”
Are you saying that six months ago Labour had just been kicked out of govt and were getting media attention that the new govt wasn’t and thus the public were being presented with a skewed view? Because that would be stupid right?
They were the target before as well. What country were you referring to? It can’t be this one.
The Dompost printed copy last week had a lengthy article by David Garrat defending the 3 strikes legislation . Can’t find it on the internet but WTF. Not exactly a credible source I’d have though but no disclaimer with it.
A more odious example of a disgraced ex politican would be impossible to find imo.
Remember when people had websites.
The events and data above describe how three internet companies have acquired massive influence on the Web, but why does that imply the beginning of the Web’s death? To answer that, we need to reflect on what the Web is.
The original vision for the Web according to its creator, Tim Berners-Lee, was a space with multilateral publishing and consumption of information. It was a peer-to-peer vision with no dependency on a single party. Tim himself claims the Web is dying: the Web he wanted and the Web he got are no longer the same.
https://staltz.com/the-web-began-dying-in-2014-heres-how.html
Does Faux news broadcast in Russia?.
Russia’s state-owned media outlet, RT, has announced that it will comply with US government demands to register as a “foreign agent” of the Russian government, amid controversy over Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
It’s a move that effectively marks the network, which runs both a website and a cable television channel, as a propaganda outfit for Moscow.
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/11/10/16633586/rt-russia-propaganda-foreign-agent
Voice of America? Still going. Readers Digest – always has a pro-USA view.
VOA News
https://www.voanews.com/
English news from the Voice of America. VOA provides complete coverage of the U.S, Asia, Africa and the Mideast.
Voice of America – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_America
Voice of America (VOA) is a U.S. government-funded international news source that serves as the United States federal government’s official institution for …
Everybody’s doing it, doing it…
Answering my own question, Fox News has no terrestrial or satellite carriers in Russia while RT has terrestrial and satellite carriers, and studio facilities in the US.
VOA and affiliates are state funded cross-border broadcasters with studios and production based in the US.
It would be good perhaps to have USA media with facilities for Russian factual content getting first-hand information which is then available to their citizens to replace the info that just suits the propaganda that the pointy-heads give out.
The dominant culture should always look to see what the minority cultures are saying and seek to understand them , but they don’t; instead they seek to counter what they perceive to be an “attack” on mainstream thinking.
When
will
we
ever
learn?
Seemingly, never
Chins up! 🙂
“As environmentalist Paul Hawken put it: “We have an economy where we steal the future, sell it in the present, and call it GDP.”
“With politicians failing to step up to the climate challenge, what are the alternatives? One intriguing experiment in direct democracy has just concluded in Ireland, where a government-appointed Citizens’ Assembly composed of a nationally representative group of people selected at random heard detailed expert testimony on climate change from a range of experts. No lobbyists or politicians were allowed in the room.
The result: 13 recommendations for sharply enhanced climate action were overwhelmingly endorsed early this month, including citizens being personally prepared to pay more tax on high-carbon activities. The recommendations will now be discussed in parliament. Democracy may be dysfunctional, but rumours of its death have, perhaps, been exaggerated.”
Citizens Assembly anyone?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/10/can-direct-democracy-offer-a-third-way-to-meet-the-climate-challenge
Yes please!
at least….
https://www.newstatesman.com/2013/10/science-says-revolt
One more reason why universities should never be silenced as the ‘critic and conscience of society’.
Thanks Pat
This is a great place to keep informed. And gives us heart to keep on doing stuff that is purposeful and useful.
This is an excerpt from Pat’s link to New Statesman (think woman too) at 23.1.1.
There was one dynamic in the model, however, that offered some hope. Werner termed it “resistance” – movements of “people or groups of people” who “adopt a certain set of dynamics that does not fit within the capitalist culture”.
According to the abstract for his presentation, this includes “environmental direct action, resistance taken from outside the dominant culture, as in protests, blockades and sabotage by indigenous peoples, workers, anarchists and other activist groups”.
Citizens Assembly
Now +3?
Sharp Earthquake 2 minutes ago here in Wellington
http://quakelive.co.nz/Browse/?reference=quake.2017p852531
Just off Arapawa Island at the Northern end of the Sounds in the Cook Strait. I hope its not leading to towards something bigger as I fly into the Wellington next week and I was reading an article today on the net that parts of Wellington still having problems after the last round of the earthquakes. Have been catching up on some podcasts about last the lot of earthquakes and some of the data gathered makes for some interesting reading epseacilly for the lower nth.
Stay safe
Cheers, matey
I suspected Cook Strait-Arapawa Island
Whenever an earthquake around these parts starts with a sudden explosive bang – rather than a quiet rumble – & produces a jolt that’s both short & sharp = we know it’s more likely to be Northern end of the Sounds