A round of applause to the Wellington City Council for being No1 in agreeing that all it’s employees will be paid the ‘Living Wage’,(the monies for this coming from freezing the salaries of those higher up in the food chain),
And, a large f**k you to the spokesperson from the Wellington Chanber of Commerce for ‘whining’ about the above vote…
“The “living wage” idea is based on a two-adult, two-child family, yet analysis shows that people in this situation make up only 6 per cent of families earning less than $18.40 an hour. Almost 80 per cent of those earning less than $18.40 are people without children, including young people and students.”
Confused, you guessed wrong,(as usual), a Wellington resident i am and have been most of my life,
So, it’s alright in your mind,(admittedly said mind from here has the appearance of suffering an as yet to be diagnosed disease),for the hierarchy of management at the Wellington City Council to be paid amounts up to $500,000+ annually,a fact i have yet to see you or any of the other ‘Wing-Nuts’ who appear on the Standard kick your afflicted little minds into whine mode over, but,should those who earn the least gain a pay rise that is adjudged to be the minimum a worker should expect to be able to ensure for Her/Himself and any family a ‘normal’ standard of living you choose to whine as if you are to pay the monies yourself,
The Wellington City Council have said that rates will not rise as a result of their applaudable vote FOR the ‘Living Wage’, the intention is to freeze the wages of those higher up the ‘food chain’ of council salaries,
As I recall, the living wage regarding two parent and two kid families involved the other parent working half-time at the living wage, and working for families and other WINZ top-ups.
We could, of course reduce rates by cutting the overly generous pay of the non-working management, or reducing the administrative staff on over 100k a year.
A couple of good secretaries, on 60k, would do the job just as well.
Even more fat at the top to cut in Auckland. How many “Managers” do POAL, and other CCO’s, have, Again!
Yes KJT, what i suggested yesterday was that the Wellington City Council cut the CEO’s role into 2 positions each paying 200 grand a year, that would have been a saving of $100,000+,
i have not as yet done the research necessary to ascertain just how ‘fat’ the management of Wellington City’s Council actually is but cutting all the $200,000+ plus roles into 2 distinct jobs with 100,000 dollar annual salaries i would suggest would save the Council a reasonable pile of coin,
Of course such a template applied to the ‘bloated’ uckland Cit Council would result in millions saved, not only would Council direct employees be able to be afforded the ‘Living Wage’ but this could then be extended to contracted council workers…
The second part of this reform should be setting the maximum future salary cap at say $150000 or 6 times the minimum wage. No new hires can be paid more than this and current hires are wound back at x% per annum if the contract allows. Only exceptions to the cap are for exceptional technical requirements not general management hires sen tot the council on a case by case basis.. That’ll fix the budget.
So why shouldn’t childless people, young people and students get an increase? Last time I looked they were people too and voting members of society. I don’t see why they have to be paid SFA.
Yes, well done to the council!! It’s been on the cards for a bit now and was looking positive so it’s excellent that the vote followed through for the workers.
The woman (surname Bleakley?) from the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, last night on 3news came up with the silliest response. This isn’t a quote but it was something along the lines of “now they won’t get working for families or any other government subsidies” What? So, er, you right wing types actually want the government, via the taxpayer funding under paid workers – I thought you hated people getting any kind of assistance?! Oh wait, you want low wages and no assistance
i heard phil oreilly ceo of ‘business nz’ say that on the radio, justifying low pay rates in nz for workers because the govt tops anyone up, & i thought ‘wtf? i thought you guys hated govt assistance.’
I think that the Council should extend this idea to the people who actually have to pay for it.
Every ratepayer who has an income that is less than the “Living wage” should be exempt from rates.
Why should people living on the pension, which is much, much less than the “Living wage” have to pay more in rates so that some of the councillors can get the warm fuzzies by handing out other people’s money?
Another thing that the Council should be required to explain is exactly who received the $20,000 worth of presents dished out instead of Christmas decorations for the city. Did any of the dosh go to friends or relatives of Councillors or Council staff? Who might have been told about this ahead of time? Will the Council publish a list of the recipients?
Every person, employed by the Council is to get a minimum rate of $18.40 /hour. At 2,000 hours per year that is $36,800/year n’est ce pas?
A single person living alone, as a very large number do, is only entitled to a community services card if their income is less than $26,554/year. Thus no rates relief for someone on more than $10,000/year LESS than the “living wage”. Not much help is it?
What is this shit Alwyn, deliberate lies or simply a stupid mistake on your part, people with community service cards which as far as i know includes pensioners can and do apply for rates relief and are granted such…
Read what I said for God’s sake.
We are being told that the $18.40/hr, or as I work it out $36,800/year is the minimum anyone can live on.
I am suggesting that you shouldn’t have to pay rates if you get less than that as you presumably don’t have enough to live on.
DV said you can get rates relief if you have a community services card., which is true.
However, and which bit of this did you not understand and which do you think is a “deliberate lie or a stupid mistake”. I pointed out that the MAXIMUM income to get a CSC is $26,554/year. For your presumably inumerate mind that is much LESS than the supposed “Living wage”. You may also note that at no point did I nominate that pensioners couldn’t get the card. I am merely pointing out that its availability goes long before reaching the level of the “Living wage”
The Council have already announced a rates increase of 2.5% next year which is more than the rate of inflation. And if you believe there won’t be demands for relativity increases for people currently on a bit more than the “Living wage” you are, I am sorry to say dreaming.
I have just noticed this comment.
Do you have a reference for the 3% figure?
I haven’t seen anything that high. The Reserve Bank, for example are predicting an annual rate of 1.5% at end 2014 and 2.2% end 2015.
Teasury are predicting a non-tradeables figure of about 3% but a CPI figure of around 2%
Every ratepayer who has an income that is less than the “Living wage” should be exempt from rates.
Why should people living on the pension …… have to pay more in rates someone
alwyn, do you really know how rates work. Do you own a house & pay rates? If you are on a low income or pension, & pay rates, you need advice today.
DV has mentioned the rebates on the community card which I am unsure of the details he refer to. But since 1973 there has been the The Rates Rebate Act 1973 which covers a number of Labour and Nats government. How its work (I think) is that the rates rebate given by the council under this scheme to low incomes earner/pensioners etc is recovered from the government so not to impact on the council’s budget.
Go to the WCC or Internal Affairs site rather than just guessing what happens. It just devalues your comment.
The cutoff for that scheme, without dependents is $23,870/year. The rates rebate amount is up to $595.
$23,870/year is a lot less than the “Living wage isn’t it? And yes I did know about it and wasn’t just guessing as you appear to be doing.
Do you really want me to always anticipate every wrong thing that people might bring up and explain it in the original comment?I would have to post fifty page comments then.
Yes I did know about it. The reason I knew was that I had to see whether my mother qualified for it and then later whether another of my family was covered.
So, in spite of your disbelief, I did know about it and I knew the cutoff was well below the “Living wage”.
I did look it up to get the exact current rate but I did know it wasn’t very much.
Why should people living on the pension, which is much, much less than the “Living wage” have to pay more in rates so that some of the councillors can get the warm fuzzies by handing out other people’s money?
I got a better question: Why is it that some people think that they can get labour for less than it costs to supply it?
Interestingly enough, seemingly all these people who believe this vote for either National or Act and whinge about paying rates especially when it comes to paying people for their labour.
I really don’t know how you can define what is meant by “get labour for less than it costs to supply it”. What on earth is “the cost of supplying labour”? I have no trouble with a concept like the value of the output of labour. I have no trouble with the concept of the cost of living a decent life.
However the idea that some single rate, which is what the “Living wage” is supposed to be, is in some way “the cost of supplying labour” doesn’t make any sense.
I much prefer to focus on two different things.
The first is what does a worker produce and what therefore is the value of that work and what they should be paid.
The second is what does it cost that person, and any dependents they have, to live at an acceptable standard of living. If this second figure is less than the first it should be made up by a benefit system which is what we currently have. WFF etc is the way to look after that.
But what do you mean by “The full costs of the labour they use”?
If by that you mean what it costs for that person to live a decent life it must vary with that person’s circumstances. For example the income required by a single person living with their parents is obviously a lot less than that for a man with spouse and 10 kids.
I remember some years ago that the Government, and I don’t know whether it was a Labour or a National one, said that intellectually handicapped people in sheltered workshops had to be paid the full minimum wage. The mother of one such man was interviewed in the paper. She was appalled because, as she said, her son’s work was only worth a couple of dollars an hour. If the workshop had to pay him the minimum wage they couldn’t afford him. He was apparently proud that he could go out to work and earn something and it gave him something to do and a place to get out of his home. Now he was going to be stuck there.
That is an extreme case I know but it is a real example of the sort of person, and business, you appear to regard as a free-loader
ut what do you mean by “The full costs of the labour they use”?
Interesting question since you seem to know exactly what it means:The second is what does it cost that person, and any dependents they have, to live at an acceptable standard of living.
Personally, I prefer a Universal Income but that will require massive increases in taxes. IMO, we would most likely will be seeing the return of the 66% bracket to support that. Other rebalancing would also be needed such as dropping CEO salaries from the million dollar range to something far more realistic – say about $100k.
The living standard is either supported by directly by the business or indirectly through subsidies and the subsidies are paid for through taxes. The problem is that the RWNJs will immediately say that taxes have to be cut showing their propensity for wanting something but not wanting pay for it.
Good luck getting that through any parliament, at least the limit of $100k. If they tried to do that I would think that MPs would have to have it as an upper limit as well which would halve their incomes. As they say, ever seen a turkey vote for an early christmas.
Interestingly the bete-noires of the left, Milton Friedman and Richard Nixon, were both exponents of the Universal Income proposal.
If they tried to do that I would think that MPs would have to have it as an upper limit as well which would halve their incomes. As they say, ever seen a turkey vote for an early christmas.
How much we pay our servants should be up to us, not the parliamentarians or even some supposedly independent bunch.
Interestingly the bete-noires of the left, Milton Friedman and Richard Nixon, were both exponents of the Universal Income proposal.
Yes to bits 1 and 2.
When I was much younger MPs were paid a great deal less generously. I understand that an MPs salary was about equivalent to a head of department level secondary school teacher. Now it is about three times that figure.
I just threw the comment about MF and RN as an aside when you said you approved of the Universal Income idea.
I thought you might have been interested, if you didn’t already know it, that approval of the idea goes right across the political spectrum
When I was much younger MPs were paid a great deal less generously.
They were but the increase came in with the neo-liberal policy settings back in the 1980s IIRC. It was argued that they should be paid similar rates to what was in the private sector. Of course, back then even the private sector didn’t pay all that well and so what we got was what the private sector was paying in places like the US and the UK.
AFAIK, only The Alliance has policy that takes MPs salaries back to what they were and they apply it to all MPs. Being a minister or prime minister doesn’t get you any more.
I thought you might have been interested, if you didn’t already know it, that approval of the idea goes right across the political spectrum
I knew about it I also know that they don’t support my idea of an UI. Their versions tend to be significantly less than what I want because they think that tax should be set at 25% to 30% rather than set to what’s needed. In other words, it won’t be any better than the present UB. I believe it should be high enough to supply enough for people to be entrepreneurial with it.
IIRC, Roger Douglass’s version of it was so cumbersome as to be nearly unworkable. He really doesn’t seem to understand the concept of Universal.
Pensioners, who pay rates, would most likely be living mortgage free – own their property outright. So how do you compare a “living wage” for a person who doesn’t own a home, and is most likely paying rent at market prices, with the income of a property owning pensioner?
Why don’t you expand your comment to what it really means karol.
How can you have a single “Living wage” that is applied to everyone, whether it is a single person living with his parents or a couple with 6 children, when their circumstances are entirely different. The problem with the “Living wage” is that it doesn’t recognise that.
You are making my point for me. Pay the wage that the person is worth and worry about additional income requirements via a targeted benefit system.
I agree Karol .I would think that there is a large percentage of elderly people who like me managed to buy our modest home only because of the “State Advance Loan Scheme.I certainly hope that the next Labour Government will bring in similar scheme in for our young people. However what does make some rates expensive for people living on the pension only is the valuation of the building. So what happens is that some rich ‘P’ builds a flash house near the workers modest home and the value goes up and consequently the rates rise.
What I believe ,is that if someone has paid rates on the same house in the same area then there comes a time when that person is declared rate free .For example I have paid high rates on my home that is modest but in a very desirable area for nearly 50 years with no increase in the service .in fact less and less over the years. Have I not paid enough?
Have you not heard of the cost of living Alwyn, have you not noticed that the slaves today are not kept in a compound and fed by the slave masters and must manage their existence upon the wages given…
There are, I am sure, a lot of single pensioners (probably widows or widowers) for whom nearly all their income is National superannuation. A lot of them do own their homes.
It it a bit out of date but I am aware of a Retirement Commission study in 2008 that found, for people over 65, that 74.3% of them had New Zealand Superannuation as their main form of income and that, on average it was 83.1% of their income.
That is a very large number of people. http://www.cflri.org.nz/sites/default/files/docs/RI-Review-BP-Retirement-Income-History-2008.pdf
The table is on page 25. I doubt that the numbers have changed that much since then.
Thank-you. But the pages 23+ show the over 65s have the least problems with income over all age groups.
The 2004 Survey of Living Standards undertaken by the Ministry of Social Development showed that in that year the age group 65-plus was the least likely age group to be experiencing any form of economic hardship.
[..]
The favourable living standards situation position of those aged 65-plus was not a result of particularly high average cash incomes. In fact both the 2003-04 and 2006-07 Household Economic Surveys showed that most older people were in the lower middle income deciles. A little more than 20 per cent of older households had above average incomes.
[…]
The low levels of hardship experienced by older people despite most having only modest cash incomes also reflected a range of other factors which do not show up in cash income statistics.
• The 65-plus age group living in households were mainly homeowners with their mortgage paid off. Consequently, housing costs for most of the age group were low.
• Very few still had to support dependent children.
• The fully retired group no longer had work-related expenses.
• Most had some cash savings or investment assets, and few had significant debts
The decile stats for income show that less than 7% of pensioners are in the bottom two deciles re-percentage share of incomes. And my guess would be those would be the ones living in rental accommodation.
Yes, that is true.
In my opinion a retired married couple, who own their home without a mortgage, and who are in good health and able to do such things a the gardening,have as good a standard of living from New Zealand Super as does a couple with twice the income and 1 or 2 children who is trying to buy a home. For many indeed they “have never had it so good” in Harold MacMillan’s immortal words. Saying so doesn’t make me popular with retired people in that situation though I must add.
The point is however that the required income differs enormously with one’s circumstances. Saying that we should pay everyone a “Living wage” based on circumstances that apparently apply to only 6% of the population doesn’t make any sense. Let us pay people what they are worth in the job and if there is an income shortfall, which will vary with their cicumstances, make it up with targeted benefits.
In terms of your comment above that “The living wage applies to those in the workforce” I would have to say. Why does it therefore have to be worked out, not on what it costs to work, but on what it costs a couple with two children to support to get by? That, except for such costs as business apparel, travel costs to work and so on is the same whether a person is working or not. That is catered for by the in work tax rebate, or whatever it is called, that people who are actually working get. If we only pay the “Living wage” to those in the workforce is it not only reasonable to pay this rebate to those who work and say that people who want to extend it to beneficiaries are wrong?
The different income depending on circumstances is covered by WFF and so on. You appear to be quite accepting that Retired people should get less than the “Working wage”. Why are you not happy that people who don’t have any particular costs, 20 year old living at their parents home say, should also get less than the “Working wage”, and that so should anybody else whose work isn’t actually worth that much and that their additional costs be provided by targetted benefits?
I suppose a summary of my views is that if the idea of the “Living wage” makes sense so does a rates rebate to anyone on less than that figure. If the “Living wage” idea is crazy then the rates question can also be reconsidered.
ahh, the cost of “work-related” expenses;
-generally, the ownership and maintenance of a vehicle, or PT costs
-meal/s provision
-attire
-certification, registrations if required
-child-care
-time management that prioritises work attendance before family / relationships (yes, those that are employed are doing more).
-indemnities if required
-and just an observation, the addictions acquired to facilitate performance; caffeine, nicotine, analgesics
-professional support fees.
Seems to be a central rort to the entire “work will set you free” agenda; People are fortunate if they can retire with a mortgage-free home as a minimum to show for a life ‘down mill’.
Yeah, that’s about right. although I don’t know what price you could put on that “Time Management” bit.
It is the fact that these costs exist that make me favour the tax rebate ( and I don’t know exactly how it works) for people who are actually working. It shouldn’t apply to beneficiaries because they don’t have these costs
I sometimes think that we should have a deduction of, say $2 for each hour you worked, from your taxable income. That would reflect the cost of having a job. Something like that anyway although I don’t no what the rate should be or how you could operate it.
There is some sort of rental supplement available I believe, if your income is low enough. I am in favour of those sorts of benefits rather than lumbering an ill-targetted “Living wage” on employers.
phillip u
Are they made by Icebreaker, merino? Next thing there will be a mention that yes they are merino by Icebreaker as so many viewers have asked this question. Moi! And I’m not a viewer
by the way. Your anecdote is one of the reasons.
Incidentally Icebreaker is a major NZ brand. I think made in China. Capiche.
phillip u
Leave Morrisey to monitor the media. I feel he has thicker skin than you. Your settings are finer and more sensitive! Don’t watch, please – you’ll end up getting the speed wobbles and spin off into a shrinking vortex.
And I think not washing your knickers for a week is bound to be unsanitary. I think this must affect our international reputation for hygiene standards. Take him off the air, and open the windows to refresh.
And reading Mandela’s book by a jonolist. Brings out the now Pavlovian reaction in me about the gorilla who can read Nietzsche but can’t understand it.
Weren’t there some Spanish athletes who faked disabilities to get to the World Games for disabled people? It’s all a big joke to those with shallow minds. It’s those psychopaths again.
…social predators who charm, manipulate and ruthlessly plow their way through life … Completely lacking in conscience and feeling for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret.
Yes the secret service was too busy shagging tail to check out this guy! They had their crack detail just off their assignment guarding Obama in Colombia!
Its fraud. Worse, treason. The guy unfortunately sums up for me why so much of Africa is corrupt. Individuals who ignore their common interest, due to decades of neo-liberal press, and take with impunity. I mean look at Russia, any sensible nation uses its leadership churn to evolve and adapt to the demands on it as a nation. Its not just Africa that is corrupted, thirty years of stupid.
Folks, can I ask a question of you? Can anyone suggest how to go about making a complaint to the Health and Disability Commission and whether I’d be within my rights to do so. Or should I take my concerns to Citizen’s Advice Bureau first?
I’ll try to be brief
Exactly two years ago to the day I had an injury on my left foot. Went to physio. Unsuccessful treatments for two months. Referred to a sports medicine Dr who was more interested in the AB’s than my foot (although he isn’t my problem) He then referred me to a surgeon who then announced that no xray, ultrasound or MRI showed any bone damage so nothing much we can do and don’t know what’s wrong. Advice, just get ultrasound guided steroids injected into the area of pain every so often. They have been about 20% effective. Requested my GP refer me to a pain specialist last month. Have seen the pain specialist who gave me a diagnosis (nothing to do with bone, but to do with nerve damage) Completely different treatment planned. In the meantime I’ve had two years of pain, limited mobility and loss of enjoyment of doing things like going for walks.
Is there any point in raising this issue with the H&D Commission?. My main issue is that the medical practitioners gave up, didn’t refer me further and I have have missed out on a diagnosis and appropriate treatment for two years
(Sorry, TS isn’t an agony column, and that wasn’t brief – I do know however there are some smart minds here, some of who may be familiar with advocacy in regard to medical matters.
Rosie
Your anecdote is useful to people interested in our help systems such as health, which we imagine are functioning well with all the money that goes into them. Apart from being concerned about you, it gives a view into the workings of the health of the administration. Which can develop various faults, viruses, blockage and degeneration. So a certain amount of feedback from citizens is very healthy. And hopefully, I think there will be someone Who Knows.
Hi Rosie,
I’ve had some experience with H&D complaints.
I think this one would go nowhere. Sorry.
I’m assuming ACC was involved? Maybe request your records, though you may be distressed to find perjorative inferences. I hope you don’t. A complaint with ACC would also be unlikely to go anywhere, unless you find active interference from non-medical personnel. Even then, I believe a letter of apology is the best you could expect, though in serious cases, ACC has been known to make ex-gratia payments.
Hope this helps, and I hope you are finally finding some relief – chronic pain is so debilitating and uses up so many spoons!
Thank you both Warbly (sorry chronic bad habit of nicknaming folks, tell me if its annoying) and just saying.
Yes ACC has been involved at every point so far. However, I’ve yet to receive a letter of acceptance re the last appointment which was for the pain specialist – that would be costing $275 if I had to pay. (I don’t have $275)
To be honest the MOST I expect would be a letter of apology. What I would like to see is the previous practitioners involved be informed of the correct diagnosis and treatment and to know that they have caused a major inconvenience to their patient by giving up and not referring on
“To be honest the MOST I expect would be a letter of apology. What I would like to see is the previous practitioners involved be informed of the correct diagnosis and treatment and to know that they have caused a major inconvenience to their patient by giving up and not referring on”
Actually I think this sounds feasible. The Commissioner won’t get involved, but you can get support from the HDC advocates in a kind of mediation process. You can use the HD Act code of rights, to back up what you say to the practitioners. However you need to be aware that you may not get an apology, or may get a Clayton’s apology. Also even with an apology and a result in terms of previous practitioners being notified of the problem, you may still not feel satisfied. Much of that depends on how you approach the thing, and the integrity of the practioners.
Might be worth talking it through with an advocate to see what the options are.
Thank you weka. What you’ve said makes sense to me. I now have a copy of the H & D Code for service. A quick glance would indicate failure on the practitioners behalf. (section 10, right to complain) You’re right, I think seeking an advocate is wise
As it happens, I also have a new injury on the other foot that I couldn’t seek help for because I couldn’t afford the part payment that ACC no longer funds and subsequently have worsened the situation by not getting it seen to immediately. Secondly, that was an incorrect diagnosis and on top of the wait to get it seen to, the exercises I was given has damaged the achilles more. My sense of anger and distrust has just compounded! And this isn’t even the first time it’s happened. A prolapsed disc was incorrectly diagnosed for months back in 2007!!!
I’m not alone in receiving improper treatments and incorrect diagnoses, you hear the stories all the time. There are 2 cases in mind at this point in time, a one a family member, one a friend who have more cause than me to complain. One was botched surgery and the other was incorrect treatment that lead to permanent damage that now requires surgery.
Thanks again for your advice – that’s really helpful 🙂
I hear these stories all the time too Rosie, and have some of my own. Take some time to get a good strategy together, and make sure that in each step of the process you are not being disempowered and feel ok about what you are doing. Good luck! and let us know how you get on.
From the “No need for ordinary folk to be paranoid”–yeah right– file:
Three things that make tracking you by the authorities easier, obvious you think?
• using and carrying a smart phone
• operating a motor vehicle
• regularly using plastic cards/online transactions
Thanks for referring people to that link provided by NRT on how metadata can be used to profile people and track their movements etc.
I saw it yesterday and was going to post it here but it was on a long To Do List.
That link is an excellent example of why the collection of metadata is important – and highly disturbing. I highly recommend people take a few minutes to look at that link.
he he, personal MO- no smart phone, no car and one withdrawal from (usually the same) ATM a week. KISS.
However, on the present rates, it is difficult making that one withdrawal support me for the entire week. Oh well, sigh.
A misture of the Pitcarin Island syndrome, along with family culture, and deprivation. Probably happening in NZ now or will become noticeable if we go on as we are.
The John Banks Trophy for DUM QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Award No. 5: JOHN BANKS
(for week ending 14/12/2013)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“I’m not buckled, I’m not bent—”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—-Epsom M.P. John Banks (ACT), who will stand trial for electoral fraud next year, speaking in Parliament yesterday, Wednesday 11 December 2013. At this point, Banks was unable to proceed for some time, due to the House being filled with uproarious gales of scornful laughter, hoots of derision, and slow hand-clapping. No laughter from his National Support Party comrades, however; they just turned ashen with mortification and embarrassment.
Check out these other Dum Quotes and relive the inanity!….
No. 4 Steve Hansen: “The French definitely turned up to play.”
No 1 still stands the test of time! I’m told that surprise sex’s Julian Assange has lost all his hair, lives on raw fish and mutters ‘the precious, the precious’ to himself in his dank, sunless underground lair. But that may just be another dum (sic) quote.
It is another dum quote, my friend. You’re repeating the denigrating portrait of him that’s peddled in that disastrous government-approved hatchet job that “starred” Benedict Blunderpatch. I note that it’s already tanked at the box office: Americans may be bombarded with black propaganda daily, but only an ideologically motivated minority is buying into it.
One thing we can be sure of: this dog is one that not only Blunderpatch but none of the other principals suckered into appearing in it will ever boast about.
Well, it may be a crap film, but I suspect the reason it tanked is the subject matter. Nobody gives a flying one about Assange anymore and Snowden is far sexier these days (I mean that in a media friendly, safe, non rapey way).
Well, it may be a crap film,
Good. One honest statement to start off your post. Sadly, it’s all downhill from there…
…. but I suspect the reason it tanked is the subject matter.
You don’t suspect that at all. You know as well as I do that the American people, who are NOT as docile as Fox News, Hollywood and the White House assume they are, don’t like fiction posing as fact. And they can sniff out a government harassment campaign perfectly well.
Nobody gives a flying one about Assange anymore….
Another lie. If nobody “gives a flying one” about the world’s most celebrated dissident, why is one rogue state, plus a few vassals, hounding him?
…. and Snowden is far sexier these days (I mean that in a media friendly, safe,
You’ve even bought into the White House’s talking point about his “stripper girlfriend”. You are without doubt a Kool Aid drinker standing out above all the other Kool Aid drinkers.
…non rapey way).
Good man! You keep telling those lies! First have another swig of Kool Aid, though: it’s a mighty hot day down there in Jonest–, errr, Hurricanes country.
Well, if you want to come on all Fisky, I should point out that you misapplied ‘honest’ in your first para. I used the word ‘may’ which is not a statement of a definitive position. That’s because I haven’t seen it, but was relying on the reviews of others.
Point two is incorrect. I genuinely think it tanked because St Julian is of no interest to the cinema going public and he’s damaged goods to those with an interest in politics. Personally, I thought the film was going to be a hagiography of the sainted one, so avoided it for that reason, but I’m pleased to hear from you that it’s more truthful than I suspected.
Point 3 is incorrect. Nobody is hounding him. He has chosen to jail himself, which is pretty karmic in the circs.
Point 4 is incorrect. I’ve never heard about the girlfriend ( I assume it’s Snowden you’re talking about, not Assange?). As I said, I meant sexier in the sense that he is currently relevant. Assange is yesterdays news. Did you know he’s been self imprisoned for 3 years as of last week? Didn’t make the papers, because no one cares.
Point five is probably incorrect too, but as it makes no sense, except to you, I’ll ignore it.
“Nobody is hounding him. He has chosen to jail himself…”
That is a chilling statement. Your ideological zeal is quite phenomenal. You really missed your place in history: you would have been the perfect Red Guard forty-five years ago.
“… [Departmental lawyer] Zarifeh said the Department of Labour faced “substantial problems” in its case against Whittall, who has maintained his innocence and had earlier entered not guilty pleas.”
Oh, that is so pathetic. On the upside, the next government can always reopen the case or maybe make it the first one taken under the possible corporate manslaughter law change.
I wonder whose money it was/will be.
“Mr Whittall has proposed that a voluntary payment be made on behalf of the directors and officers of Pike River Coal Ltd (in receivership) at the time of the explosions to the families of the 29 men who died and the two survivors.
It means $110,000 will be given to each of the families and survivors – totalling $3.41m.
Mr Whittall’s lawyer Stuart Grieve QC today said a bank cheque has been given to the court and asked for Judge Jane Farish to make sure the money was available by Christmas.”
And: “Judge Farish said she heard that the charges would be dropped only two days ago.She told the court that the likelihood of a prosecution in this case was “extremely low” and that it may never have even reached trial, given all of the pre-trial arguments that would have been required. The decision not to prosecute was taken at “a very high level”, she said. ”
The ‘Sickest’ piece of Justice ever meted out my life-time by the New Zealand Court system, blood money paid in lieu of prosecuting the architect and person more or less with the sole responsibility for the actual construction and running of the Pike River mine…
“Infinito Gold is threatening a $1 billion lawsuit against Costa Rica for rejecting a toxic, open-pit gold mine after massive protests from local citizens.”
Three years of observations by ESA’s CryoSat satellite show that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing over 150 cubic kilometres of ice each year – considerably more than when last surveyed.
It’s official: East Antarctica is pushing West Antarctica around.
Now that West Antarctica is losing weight–that is, billions of tons of ice per year–its softer mantle rock is being nudged westward by the harder mantle beneath East Antarctica.
The discovery comes from researchers led by The Ohio State University, who have recorded GPS measurements that show West Antarctic bedrock is being pushed sideways at rates up to about twelve millimeters–about half an inch–per year. This movement is important for understanding current ice loss on the continent, and predicting future ice loss.
Impostor angers many at Madiba funeral
11 December 2013
There has been widespread anger after a shameless impostor perpetrated an outrageous display of fakery at the funeral service for Nelson Mandela.
Comments included: “He was moving his hands around, but there was no meaning”; “What happened at the memorial service is truly a disgraceful thing to see”; “Disgusting”; “Shameful hypocrisy” and “It should not happen at all.”
Mr Key’s office said Mr Ede took the photos in a personal capacity.
A spokeswoman said: “It is our understanding Mr Ede took pictures of the aftermath of the press gallery function and sent them to a blogger. Mr Ede did this off his own bat.”
She added: “In terms of the function, a number of staff from the Prime Minister’s office attended and enjoyed themselves and we appreciate the media putting on such a good function.”
Mr Goff said: “It shows that there is underlying network of people who get Whaleoil to do their dirty work for them.
“And that network goes as high as the Prime Minister’s office.”
Press gallery chair and Herald deputy political editor Claire Trevett said: “It seems a bizarre thing to do, especially because the photos do not show anything particularly startling about the after-effects of a party of 600 people.
“It does make me wonder what other contributions Mr Ede might have made, as well as whether this is sanctioned by the Prime Minister in any way.
Indeed. A PM communications person takes photographs on parliament property and communicates them to a partisan blogger on a weekday morning, but there is a clear delineation between his personal and professional roles /sarc 🙂
It does make me wonder what other contributions Mr Ede might have made
The “wondering” press gallery. If only there were regular opportunities for the journalists to ask instead of wondering! If only Key and Ede were easily accessible … say, working in the same building as the media? If only they had heard the name ‘Jason Ede’, years ago.
But oh well, it’s Christmas, we’ll never know. Pass the bottle, John!
Ede, who has not returned a request for comment, had previously been accused of being a source for Whale Oil, but this had never been confirmed.
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister’s Office ignored questions about whether it was appropriate for an adviser to the prime minister to be supplying such information to the blog. She confirmed Ede was the photographer.
“It is our understanding Mr Ede took pictures of the aftermath of the press gallery function and sent them to a blogger,” she said.
“Mr Ede did this off his own bat.
“In terms of the function, a number of staff from the Prime Minister’s Office attended and enjoyed themselves and we appreciate the media putting on such a good function.”
When asked by Fairfax Media in October about Ede’s relationship with Whale Oil, the spokeswoman said Ede was a senior adviser in the National leader’s office. He provided communication advice and support to the prime minister and to National Party MPs, including in the area of social media and other media.
“Jason works a lot in the area of social media and that includes getting out National’s message to a range of bloggers and other social media sites.”
Parliamentary press gallery chairwoman Claire Trevett said Ede was seen this morning by two witnesses. He had crouched among the butts taking photos with his phone.
Anyone who doubts the direct link between John Key’s office and WhaleOil really must click on the link Pascal’s Bookie provides.
Now all we need is for some of the journos in that twitter thread to turn down their free Xmas wine from Key, and start holding him to account instead. Well, I can dream.
Righto. The name is McCully. He bit the hand that feeds him. The owners of the hand bit him back. And they bit Rennie too. In the bum. For much the same reason. And then Rebstock bit McCully and Key and Rennie in the wallet. It’s a jungle out there.
“no definitive evidence” after expending half a mil. MFAT experience contracted out, to consultants; How’s that working out for our biggest markets…oh, wait…
“Actions of some MFAT employees in supplying information and personal views directly to Ministers, to the Labour Party Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade, to officials and former public servants outside MFAT and to the media fuelled the political debate. This directly undermined MFAT’s ability to provide Ministers with robust, unbiased advice once the Secretary had consulted and considered the views of staff at MFAT.”
“Prior to the change programme, MFAT had been regarded as an agency that could be trusted with government information. This trust, locally and internationally, is critically important given the role that MFAT undertakes on behalf of the Government and all New Zealanders.”
“The leaks of documents that had been prepared by MFAT staff detrimentally affected MFAT’s reputation as a trustworthy organisation, thereby damaging New Zealand’s interests and the Government’s trust and confidence in MFAT.”
Well done to the labour party for pulling this off, they managed to get away with damaging NZs reputation for political gain (and got away with it so fair play to them)
+1. Except McCully did the damage to NZ’s reputation for no gain. The last thing anyone should do is appoint someone who always looks untidy to the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Mr Blackman arrived in Auckland at 5.30am on a flight from Heathrow, travelling through San Francisco.
He declared loose-leaf tea he was carrying he came through Customs and believed it was responsible for the extensive bag search to which he was subjected.
“He said ‘we’re not worried about the tea’.” The official then returned to going through the bag, pulling out electronic equipment as he did so. “We’re going to have to detain this,” Mr Blackman said he was told. “We’re going to have to send this to a forensic investigator.”
When Mr Blackman pulled a phone out of his pocket, the official also took that, refusing permission for him to call his parents who were waiting in the arrival lounge.
Mr Blackman was also told to provide passwords for the equipment. “That is a real invasion of privacy.” One of the phones had no password but required a design to be traced on the screen. The official was unconcerned and said the forensic team would defeat security to access the device.
Mr Blackman asked why the items were being confiscated and the official refused to say – or to say how long the items would be kept.
Brit Shopkeeper was quizzed for eight HOURS by police – and had his computer seized and his DNA swabbed – after cracking ‘bad taste’ Nelson Mandela jokes on the internet.
Something like he decided to call his computer Mandela because it took so long to shut down.
Not very good but about par for a guy who owns a sandwick shop – bit short of a full picnic.
Has anyone got a comment on an idea I had of having a local peace corps approach. Having people go round the country doing useful things for others for bed and board. Better than sitting at home and being pressured into a gang. See the country and work, and feel positive about life
sort of thing. Here’s the link –
Also I thought about what Ian the employer of good work-keen overseas people said about NZ workers in his area being unreliable, and generally lacking in oomph.
I thought of anomie and put a bit from wikipedia explaining it and how it very likely can explain a lot of the NZ experience, and invite comment on this also.
“Behind the scenes the situation is, apparently, even worse. In spite of the fact that child poverty seems certain to become a major election issue for 2014, anti-poverty campaigners report extreme difficulty in persuading Labour MPs to embrace the policies required to eliminate it.”
“The ferocity with which the Old Guard responded to Cunliffe’s argument that Labour needs to undergo a radical ideological reorientation was instructive. It pointed to the presence of a powerful faction within Labour’s caucus that is absolutely determined to prevent the slightest deviation from the core elements of the 1984-1993 neoliberal “revolution”.
Needs to be a post on this issue.
How does the left deal with these turncoats?
What do you mean by “the left.” Do you mean for instance: the parliamentary left? The political economic left? The Labour Party membership? The socially liberal left?
Labour will lose the next election. Unless they pull out an Orewa moment (10th annivesary of “That Speech” coming up..) Cunliffe will struggle to get traction against a confident John Key who only needs to make a minimal effort with the populace to get them to like him. I will expect a full on attack campaign of scaremongering, about 70’s union bosses and anti-car green hippies who want to ruin this country, with Labour stuggling with a wishy-washy centre approach.
A national party victory, will, of course, have ramifications for the country, especially those that use the rump welfare state (superannuation and health care), as well as vulerable, low paid workers, and those in the welfare system, as we see an escalation of the downward pressure on incomes and living standards as a consequence.
New Zealand will pretty much be a sweatshop economy by 2020, with workers having to sleep in their cars as wages fail to keep up with rents.
I think it’ll be a vicious campaign, but the result is far from a done deal for the tories – if anything I reckon that labgrn have a slight advantage even now.
I would like to know what people have against paying council workers higher wages. You know, the people that process building consents, help you when you want to burrow a book from the libaray, put up with people’s abuse when they go and deal with dangerous dogs, ensure the water keeps flowing, keeps the green spaces mowed and the sports feilds ship-shape. They do all the stuff that keeps a city functioning, and they deserve a decent wage for it.
I actually believe all the kerfuffle about rates is just about rich people having to pay for things that poor people use (like parks, libararies, council housing, etc).
You maybe misinterpreted Paul’s meaning millsy. I think he’s agreeing with you, and saying that the wealthy who moan about rates want to have all the services but not pay for them.
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The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
New Zealand First are celebrating the announcement of an investment of $3.5 million into five new trapping devices. These are a range of bait and trap devices, all designed to be left unattended for long periods of time. NZ First conservation spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says that this latest development will ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Police New Zealand First is proud to have delivered on a key Coalition Agreement commitment to adding 1800 new frontline police, with the graduation of Recruit Wing 332 in Porirua today. Law and Order Spokesperson Darroch Ball says increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Conservation New Zealand First is proud to announce the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has allocated $3.5 million to develop innovative predator control approaches which will reduce the need for repeated 1080 use. $19.5 million of PGF funding was announced for Predator Free 2050 Limited in February ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries Today the Government announced the delivery of the promise to protect New Zealand interests by applying a new National Interest Test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. This further strengthening of the Overseas Investment Act will ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced further support as the Government of Samoa responds to a serious measles outbreak. “New Zealand will deploy a further 18 vaccination nurses, bringing the total to 30 working in Samoa over the next ...
The Coalition Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high-risk assets to overseas buyers. Under current Overseas Investment Act (OIA) rules, assets such as ports and airports, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity and ...
Rt Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Allegations raised this morning by Stuff Limited / Fairfax concern a party matter but I am confident that New Zealand First has operated within electoral laws, now and for the last 27 years. Declarable donations were declared to the Electoral Commission. Our ...
A medium-scale adverse event has been declared for the South Canterbury district, which will see up to $50,000 in funding made available to support farming communities which have been significantly affected by recent heavy rain and flooding in the area, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Two weeks of solid rain ...
The Government will phase out more single-use plastics following the success of its single-use plastic bag ban earlier this year and the release today of a pivotal report for dealing with waste. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealandreport, released by her Chief Science Advisor ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
The next phase of the Pike River Re-entry project is underway, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little says. “Fresh air will be pumped into the Pike River Mine drift this week, following acceptance of the plan for re-entry beyond the 170m barrier by New Zealand’s independent health and ...
New Zealand consumers will have greater certainty about their insurance cover when they need to make claims as a result of proposed government changes. “Insurance is vitally important in supporting consumers and businesses to be financially resilient when unexpected events happen,” Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi said. ...
The Crown is providing an opportunity for the hapu of Ngāpuhi to rebuild its framework from the ground up for collective negotiations to deal with its historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Crown is also ...
A Bill enabling referendums to be held with the 2020 General Election has passed its third reading. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Act is important for upholding the integrity of New Zealand’s electoral process. “The Government has committed to holding a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis at the next ...
The first release of public information on the two referendums to be held at next year’s General Election was made today with an informative new Government website going live. Additionally, the draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill has been released, showing the strict controls on cannabis that will apply if ...
The Government is taking action to protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections by banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon and passed under urgency. “There’s no need for anyone other than New ...
Governments and tech companies are holding a two-day workshop, hosted by YouTube/Google in Wellington, to test the Christchurch Call Shared Crisis Response Protocol. The workshop aims to refine and strengthen the response in the event of a terrorist attack with online implications. Companies, governments, civil society experts and NGOs will ...
The new independent Cancer Control Agency has formally opened today, delivering on the Government’s plan to improve cancer care in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health David Clark marked the occasion by announcing the membership of the Advisory Council that will be supporting ...
Small businesses who deal with government departments are set to be paid faster and have improved cash flow as a result, under a new strategy released today. The Government is backing recommendations from the Small Business Council (SBC) and has agreed to implement three initiatives immediately to support business and ...
The Education and Training Bill 2019, introduced in Parliament today, proposes the biggest education changes in decades and is an important step towards improving success for all our learners, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “The Bill’s rewrite of education legislation is long overdue. Indeed one Education Act, parts of which ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Bali to represent New Zealand at the 12th Bali Democracy Forum that will be held on the 5-6 December. “The Forum is a valuable opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences and best practice in building home-grown democracy and fostering ...
A package of new and expanded technology and other tools will encourage responsible camping and help communities and local councils better manage freedom camping this summer, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “Our Government has been investing to improve the freedom camping experience for everyone because we want to support ...
The government is laying the groundwork to understanding our genes – work that can help us tackle some of our biggest health challenges, like heart disease and diabetes, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. $4.7 million has been invested in the Genomics Aotearoa Rakeiora programme. The programme will ...
Nearly every state schools will receive a capital injection next year valued at $693 per student to bring forward urgent school property improvements, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The one-off cash injection is the first project to be announced from the Government’s infrastructure package ...
The Government has decided to bring forward major investments in New Zealand’s infrastructure to future proof the economy. “Cabinet has agreed to a significant boost to infrastructure investment. I have directed the Treasury to help bring together a package of projects that can be brought into the Government’s short and ...
It is a great pleasure to be with you today in Whanganui. Like the Prime Minister I grew up with the TV clip of Selwyn Toogood booming “What do you say Whanganui, the money or the bag?” to an unsuspecting ‘It’s in the Bag’ audience. For those under the age ...
New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, was officially opened in Blackball today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage alongside the family members of the Pike 29 and Ngāti Waewae. Local mayors and MP for the West Coast Hon Damien O’Connor were also in attendance. “Paparoa National Park ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark turned the first sod of earth on the infrastructure works for the new P-8A Poseidon fleet at RNZAF Base Ohakea today. “The Coalition Government’s investment in Ohakea will ensure the Royal New Zealand Air Force can manage, maintain and task the new fleet efficiently ahead ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare today announced the establishment of the new National Emergency Management Agency from 1 December 2019. The National Emergency Management Agency will replace the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. It will be an autonomous departmental agency, hosted by the Department of the Prime ...
Sustainable New Zealand Welcomes the Government’s Announcement on Phasing Out Waste But Wants to See More Action on Building and Construction Waste ...
Our Seas Our Future welcomes Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s announcement that the Government is aiming to phase out another round of single-use hard plastics, made of PVC and Polystyrene. ...
The Fraudster exposes the life and crimes of a million dollar conwoman Award-winning investigative team Stuff Circuit’s latest documentary exposes the cautionary tale of a woman who ripped off New Zealand businesses and government agencies, and a justice ...
Press Release 8 December 2019 Auckland, 8 December 2019 : The Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, presented the 262-page report on ‘Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand’ to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet should make a policy decision tomorrow that Auckland’s car and container port must close by 31 December 2029, Waterfront 2029 Spokesperson Michael Goldwater said today. ...
In light of increasing public concern over the harmful effects of plastic pollution, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, is presenting the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand report to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
The government will start phasing out polystyrene packaging and beverage containers in response to a major new report calling for a nationwide rethink on plastics in New Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern announced today. Here’s what you need to know about the announcement, and the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa report.For much ...
The Absolute Book is one of our picks of the year and you should buy it for someone you love for Christmas. A story that sticks like a biddi-bid, Elizabeth Knox said on Twitter the other day. Here, she writes about the books that stuck in her own psyche – ...
The government would argue it’s on track to reduce child poverty significantly by the next reporting round, and culture change is well underway at Work and Income. But change at WINZ is a slow-moving process. Pip Colgan is an advocate at Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP), which means she spends a ...
Frozen 2 is out, but more importantly the soundtrack is available for your kids to play on repeat. Sam Brooks ranks the songs by how likely it is that they’ll sing them into your face for the foreseeable future.Parents and caregivers, get your loins girded because Frozen 2 is here. The film ...
Five New Zealanders from across culturalspaces explain what it is they love about basketball.Historically, basketball has always held a relatively small but special in Aotearoa’s sporting landscape. The NBL was established in 1981, giving provinces the chance to duke it out for national supremacy. In 2002 the Tall Blacks ...
After 40 years at the frontline, the University of Otago's Professor Marie Crowe discusses her research on treatments beyond medicine to alleviate symptoms of mood disorders like bipolar and depression. ...
Everything you need to know about the suspension of buses in Auckland and the industrial action standoff that it springs from.What’s going on?Yesterday saw the cancellation of thousands of bus trips and a lot of people standing around at Auckland bus stops looking puzzled after services operated by NZ Bus ...
ASMS message to DHB Chairs and appointees The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) welcomes the District Health Board Chairs and board appointees announced by Health Minister David Clark. ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced this week. The new criterion, he explained, ” … emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
“CEAC – University of Auckland asks ‘Can democracy survive’? Subject; Can democracy survive? https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2019/12/03/can-democracy-survive-.html Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre Incorporated (CEAC) Press release 8th December ...
The Minister of Health’s announcement to appoint a new chair to the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has come as a surprise and with some disappointment, especially given he had personally asked me to stand again with his confidence to continue in ...
Hell’s bells it’s Gone By Lunchtime, with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire shooting the breeze on Kris Faafoi, Jason Kerrison, Winston Peters, NZ First donations, a cannabis referendum, and the year to come.Just when you thought politics was tucking under the duvet for Christmas, along comes the guy ...
Tis the season for hangovers, so we convinced some of New Zealand’s most experienced consumers of food and/or drink (OK, Spinoff staff and a bunch of chefs/hospo people) to share their tried-and-true culinary remedies.A hangover is a very individual thing. For some, it manifests as a splitting headache and extreme ...
Before Britain’s Got Talent: Champions hits our screens tonight, let’s take a fond look back at some of the show’s weirdest and most wonderful acts.Place your hands on your Golden Buzzer, because Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions kicks off this weekend. Champions is BGT bigger and better than it’s been before, ...
Following the raging success of the 2018 non-goat ethical Christmas gift guide, here for you today – responsibly wrapped in reusable gift wrap – is the 2019 list of ethical, sustainable, socially conscious, or charitable gift ideas to satisfy all kinds of family members and budgets.Budget Category: ‘Can we pay ...
Lime brought e-scooters to Auckland and changed the way we travel in less than a year. Now, the council is replacing it and Wave with three new contenders. Josie Adams goes to the Lime warehouse to say goodbye to the original scooters.In a warehouse in Eden Terrace, almost a thousand ...
Analysis - The government's first crack at cannabis legislation runs into trouble, a foreign donations bill is rammed through Parliament and a select committee refuses to listen to former NZ First officeholders. ...
Dr Ben Jansen is Oceania's leading prescriber of cannabis medicines, and a co-founder of the Hemp Foundation.org.nz “I’d like to thank the Labour Party and Chris Woodney. Thanks to his policy remit at Labours national conference, and Labours full support, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South Australia Australian 15 year olds were around three and a half years behind their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitri Perrin, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology More than a year ago, the world was shocked by Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui’s attempt to use CRISPR technology to modify human embryos and make them resistant to HIV, which led to the birth ...
Cabinet minister Kris Faafoi has apologised to the Prime Minister for his messages to Jason Kerrison regarding an immigration case, but will not lose his job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Flinders University The decision to merge the Department of Communications and the Arts with Transport, Infrastructure and Regional development (dropping the “Arts” entirely) ends a year in which Australian politics has been deeply confused over its ...
A historic referendum on independence has been completed in Bougainville. Johnny Blades of RNZ was there. People in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville have voted in an historic independence referendum. The long-anticipated referendum is the ultimate provision of 2001’s Bougainville Peace Agreement, which followed a brutal, protracted ...
Dairy farmers had some Xmas cheer this week, as dairy giant Fonterra told them the forecast payout would be the fourth-highest-ever, at the mid-point of its farmgate milk price range. The $7.30kg/ms means the cash payout for the season will reach $11.2bn, a rise of about $400m from the earlier forecast. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland When you find dinosaur skeletons, how can you tell how old the dinosaur was? Like, if the skeleton is from a child dinosaur or an adult dinosaur? – Henry, aged 8. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) has had to clarify the law with Police and receive their reassurance that while the amnesty for ammunition was not extended to 20 December, Police will act as if it has been. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall & Tim Denee (Massey University Press, $70)Superlative ...
This week a petition with more than 15,000 signatures was presented at parliament to Nicola Willis, MP and opposition spokesperson for Early Childhood Education. Also attending were Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick and Hon Nikki Kaye. ...
It’s that time of year again when, for the third year running, a new A Christmas Prince movie is released. Sam Brooks was in front of a TV screen for the latest instalment’s debut on Netflix last night, and here catalogues the many stupid, wild, and wildly stupid things he ...
One of the most highly rated members of Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet is under pressure over assurances given in relation to an immigration case. How bad could it get, asks Toby Manhire.There has never been a New Zealand prime minister more engaged with contemporary homegrown music than Jacinda Ardern. She’s forever ...
Kris Faafoi, Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media; Minister ofCommerce and Consumer Affairs;Minister of Government Digital Services; Associate Minister forHousing; MP for Mana.The latest allegations of a corruption scandal involving a Cabinet minister suggests this government is far too loose when it comes to providing access to power ...
The National Party cannot credibly critique the Government’s hikes to fuel tax while it refuses to commit to reversing these hikes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Simon Bridges has lambasted ...
Newspaper staff were among those to express dismay and fury during the frenzy of denunciations that followed publication of an ill-considered cartoon about Samoa and the measles epidemic. The Spinoffrecorded their reactions under the heading ODT cartoonist infuriates his colleagues with Sāmoa measles epidemic ‘joke’. It also reproduced the ...
New Zealand Police Association condemns comments made by People Against Prisons Aotearoa following the fatal police shooting of an armed man who had made threats of suicide. ...
A new poem by Harry Ricketts. The Writing Life You want to write.You want to be published.You want to be read. You want to be a cult figure.You want to be reviewed.You want to write. You want to win prizes.You want to be anthologised.You want to be read. You want to be taught in schools ...
As Christmas is near, it’s time to set the record straight on some of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of employment law that apply to the festive season. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Kris Faafoi immigration case Fiona Connor and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): ‘I’m on it bro’: Messages show Kris Faafoi offering help to ...
The Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta has announced changes to prevent Māori wards being voted down by referendums are off the table, saying she believes such a change is not possible within the coalition. ...
It’s officially the festive season, and what does that mean? An office Secret Santa with a budget of $20 and you’ve picked your boss. Instead of settling for a bottle of average wine and a ribbon, follow our essential guide on what to get those unique workmates.At last year’s Secret ...
The shooting of a suicidal man in Southland shows that police armament is dangerous, says criminal justice group People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The shooting comes just over a month into the controversial trial of heavily armed police teams in 3 regions ...
The Prime Minister should deal urgently with reports Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi offered to help a friend over an immigration case, National Party leader Simon Bridges says. ...
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...
A woman who went on a Tinder date with the man who murdered Grace Millane tells her story, and issues a warning to other women to trust their instincts when something doesn’t feel right.First published on Newshub.co.nzI went on a date with Grace Millane’s killer while her body lay in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gottfried Lechner, Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Telecommunications Research, University of South Australia, University of South Australia Satellites are becoming increasingly important in our lives, as they help us meet a demand for more data, exchanged at higher speeds. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond University According to the latest figures, homicides in Australia are at historic lows and compare well against international trends. So what do the trends tell us and why is the homicide rate in Australia declining? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy O’Rourke, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, The University of Queensland Welcome to the next article in our Designing Hospitals series, where we explore how architecture and design shape our hospitals and medical centres. Today, we look at what Indigenous people tell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results are bad news for Australian students, parents, employers and policymakers. Pretty much everyone. Australian 15-year-olds are now below the OECD average in mathematics, and our results in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Clode, Senior Research Fellow in Creative Writing, Flinders University It is only mid-November but we have to walk early to avoid the heat. A northerly wind picks up clouds of dust and pollen, sending dirty billows across the paddocks. The long ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes coming to fuel market, anti-vaxxer arrested in Samoa, and banks told to hold more capital.New recommendations to increase competition in the fuel market have been made by the Commerce Commission, reports the NZ Herald. Their conclusion is that it isn’t competitive ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. ...
An alliance of top researchers is trying to keep New Zealand ahead of complex health challenges from overuse of antibiotics, threats to freshwater quality and emerging infectious diseases. ...
The birthplace of the Labour Party is once again at the forefront of a new movement, this time harnessing the power of the collective to step away from coal towards a low carbon future.Blackball is a small place with a huge history. This week the town, 29 kilometres from Greymouth, ...
Life expectancy is increasing all the time, and now actuaries and retirement experts say young people need far more information on what they’ll need to do with their money if they live to 100. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. The message from the Retirement Income Interest Group of the New ...
Open mike 12/12/2013 
Open mike is your post.
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“I just tell them I don’t remember”
“What? But it was apartheid John”
“Hahaha yeah I know! So then I say ‘Oh but it was so long ago’! Hahahahahaha!”
“Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!”
http://static0.nydailynews.com/imageserve/b1981267d824013d553e767f025ca909/1200x.jpg
Should be a caption contest on that one..
Will do.
the national party..
..consistent in their consistency of being on the wrong side of history..
..from the vietnam war-crimes..thru to the ‘drill baby drill!’/’wot climate-crisis?’ of today..
..and via ‘the terrorist’..nelson mandela..
..the national party..always getting it so so ‘wrong’..
..phillip ure..
example of ‘wrong’..
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/if-our-politicians-were-brave-enough-or-even-simply-rational-they-would-follow-uruguays-lead-and-legalise-cannabis-8998461.html
“..For the criminal underworld –
– the ‘war on drugs’ –
– is an extraordinary money-spinner.
It’s a policy that would be a hammer blow to criminal gangs.
It would stop criminalising non-violent people – drastically undermine racist policing –
– be good for people’s health and it would save lives.
But while a mainstream British politician is more likely to have smoked cannabis – than to propose its legalisation –
– the courageous Uruguayan government has done just that..”
phillip ure..
(cont..)
Xox
More Beggars/homeless in Wellington streets. More state beneficiaries in the beehive…
A round of applause to the Wellington City Council for being No1 in agreeing that all it’s employees will be paid the ‘Living Wage’,(the monies for this coming from freezing the salaries of those higher up in the food chain),
And, a large f**k you to the spokesperson from the Wellington Chanber of Commerce for ‘whining’ about the above vote…
It’s easy to spend other peoples money. I bet you look forward to rate increases, or let me guess, you don’t live in Wellington?
Clear as day why this is flawed: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/advice-shows-%E2%80%9Cliving-wage%E2%80%9D-would-not-work
And this is key
“The “living wage” idea is based on a two-adult, two-child family, yet analysis shows that people in this situation make up only 6 per cent of families earning less than $18.40 an hour. Almost 80 per cent of those earning less than $18.40 are people without children, including young people and students.”
Confused, you guessed wrong,(as usual), a Wellington resident i am and have been most of my life,
So, it’s alright in your mind,(admittedly said mind from here has the appearance of suffering an as yet to be diagnosed disease),for the hierarchy of management at the Wellington City Council to be paid amounts up to $500,000+ annually,a fact i have yet to see you or any of the other ‘Wing-Nuts’ who appear on the Standard kick your afflicted little minds into whine mode over, but,should those who earn the least gain a pay rise that is adjudged to be the minimum a worker should expect to be able to ensure for Her/Himself and any family a ‘normal’ standard of living you choose to whine as if you are to pay the monies yourself,
The Wellington City Council have said that rates will not rise as a result of their applaudable vote FOR the ‘Living Wage’, the intention is to freeze the wages of those higher up the ‘food chain’ of council salaries,
To abbreviate the above, F**k off Noddy…
As I recall, the living wage regarding two parent and two kid families involved the other parent working half-time at the living wage, and working for families and other WINZ top-ups.
We could, of course reduce rates by cutting the overly generous pay of the non-working management, or reducing the administrative staff on over 100k a year.
A couple of good secretaries, on 60k, would do the job just as well.
Even more fat at the top to cut in Auckland. How many “Managers” do POAL, and other CCO’s, have, Again!
Yes KJT, what i suggested yesterday was that the Wellington City Council cut the CEO’s role into 2 positions each paying 200 grand a year, that would have been a saving of $100,000+,
i have not as yet done the research necessary to ascertain just how ‘fat’ the management of Wellington City’s Council actually is but cutting all the $200,000+ plus roles into 2 distinct jobs with 100,000 dollar annual salaries i would suggest would save the Council a reasonable pile of coin,
Of course such a template applied to the ‘bloated’ uckland Cit Council would result in millions saved, not only would Council direct employees be able to be afforded the ‘Living Wage’ but this could then be extended to contracted council workers…
The second part of this reform should be setting the maximum future salary cap at say $150000 or 6 times the minimum wage. No new hires can be paid more than this and current hires are wound back at x% per annum if the contract allows. Only exceptions to the cap are for exceptional technical requirements not general management hires sen tot the council on a case by case basis.. That’ll fix the budget.
So why shouldn’t childless people, young people and students get an increase? Last time I looked they were people too and voting members of society. I don’t see why they have to be paid SFA.
Yes, well done to the council!! It’s been on the cards for a bit now and was looking positive so it’s excellent that the vote followed through for the workers.
The woman (surname Bleakley?) from the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, last night on 3news came up with the silliest response. This isn’t a quote but it was something along the lines of “now they won’t get working for families or any other government subsidies” What? So, er, you right wing types actually want the government, via the taxpayer funding under paid workers – I thought you hated people getting any kind of assistance?! Oh wait, you want low wages and no assistance
i heard phil oreilly ceo of ‘business nz’ say that on the radio, justifying low pay rates in nz for workers because the govt tops anyone up, & i thought ‘wtf? i thought you guys hated govt assistance.’
@Idlegus
+1 yeah well said, clearly pointing out the two-faced illogic that our system is running on.
I think that the Council should extend this idea to the people who actually have to pay for it.
Every ratepayer who has an income that is less than the “Living wage” should be exempt from rates.
Why should people living on the pension, which is much, much less than the “Living wage” have to pay more in rates so that some of the councillors can get the warm fuzzies by handing out other people’s money?
Another thing that the Council should be required to explain is exactly who received the $20,000 worth of presents dished out instead of Christmas decorations for the city. Did any of the dosh go to friends or relatives of Councillors or Council staff? Who might have been told about this ahead of time? Will the Council publish a list of the recipients?
>>Every ratepayer who has an income that is less than the “Living wage” should be exempt from rates.
Already happens with a rebate if on community services card.
Every person, employed by the Council is to get a minimum rate of $18.40 /hour. At 2,000 hours per year that is $36,800/year n’est ce pas?
A single person living alone, as a very large number do, is only entitled to a community services card if their income is less than $26,554/year. Thus no rates relief for someone on more than $10,000/year LESS than the “living wage”. Not much help is it?
What is this shit Alwyn, deliberate lies or simply a stupid mistake on your part, people with community service cards which as far as i know includes pensioners can and do apply for rates relief and are granted such…
Read what I said for God’s sake.
We are being told that the $18.40/hr, or as I work it out $36,800/year is the minimum anyone can live on.
I am suggesting that you shouldn’t have to pay rates if you get less than that as you presumably don’t have enough to live on.
DV said you can get rates relief if you have a community services card., which is true.
However, and which bit of this did you not understand and which do you think is a “deliberate lie or a stupid mistake”. I pointed out that the MAXIMUM income to get a CSC is $26,554/year. For your presumably inumerate mind that is much LESS than the supposed “Living wage”. You may also note that at no point did I nominate that pensioners couldn’t get the card. I am merely pointing out that its availability goes long before reaching the level of the “Living wage”
Alwyn, read bad12’s comment at 4.1.1 above. Wgtnonians will not be paying more in rates.
It’s not so much about warm fuzzies, more about the practicalities of life for their workers.
The Council have already announced a rates increase of 2.5% next year which is more than the rate of inflation. And if you believe there won’t be demands for relativity increases for people currently on a bit more than the “Living wage” you are, I am sorry to say dreaming.
apparently inflation is likely to push towards the 3% next year (the costs component anyway).
I have just noticed this comment.
Do you have a reference for the 3% figure?
I haven’t seen anything that high. The Reserve Bank, for example are predicting an annual rate of 1.5% at end 2014 and 2.2% end 2015.
Teasury are predicting a non-tradeables figure of about 3% but a CPI figure of around 2%
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-11/rbnz-signals-2014-rate-increases-as-inflation-accelerates.html
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/forecasts/befu2013/012.htm
alwyn, do you really know how rates work. Do you own a house & pay rates? If you are on a low income or pension, & pay rates, you need advice today.
DV has mentioned the rebates on the community card which I am unsure of the details he refer to. But since 1973 there has been the The Rates Rebate Act 1973 which covers a number of Labour and Nats government. How its work (I think) is that the rates rebate given by the council under this scheme to low incomes earner/pensioners etc is recovered from the government so not to impact on the council’s budget.
Go to the WCC or Internal Affairs site rather than just guessing what happens. It just devalues your comment.
Pity. Slipped under the tory radar for so long, now they know it exists they will cut it…
The cutoff for that scheme, without dependents is $23,870/year. The rates rebate amount is up to $595.
$23,870/year is a lot less than the “Living wage isn’t it? And yes I did know about it and wasn’t just guessing as you appear to be doing.
You knew about it, but didn’t mention it till it was pointed out. Yeah, that sounds 100% dinkum. 🙄
Do you really want me to always anticipate every wrong thing that people might bring up and explain it in the original comment?I would have to post fifty page comments then.
Yes I did know about it. The reason I knew was that I had to see whether my mother qualified for it and then later whether another of my family was covered.
So, in spite of your disbelief, I did know about it and I knew the cutoff was well below the “Living wage”.
I did look it up to get the exact current rate but I did know it wasn’t very much.
I got a better question:
Why is it that some people think that they can get labour for less than it costs to supply it?
Interestingly enough, seemingly all these people who believe this vote for either National or Act and whinge about paying rates especially when it comes to paying people for their labour.
And claim they believe in, the “free market”.
I really don’t know how you can define what is meant by “get labour for less than it costs to supply it”. What on earth is “the cost of supplying labour”? I have no trouble with a concept like the value of the output of labour. I have no trouble with the concept of the cost of living a decent life.
However the idea that some single rate, which is what the “Living wage” is supposed to be, is in some way “the cost of supplying labour” doesn’t make any sense.
I much prefer to focus on two different things.
The first is what does a worker produce and what therefore is the value of that work and what they should be paid.
The second is what does it cost that person, and any dependents they have, to live at an acceptable standard of living. If this second figure is less than the first it should be made up by a benefit system which is what we currently have. WFF etc is the way to look after that.
Why should we subsidise businesses who cannot pay the costs of the resources they use, especially workers?
If they cannot pay the full costs of the labour they use then they are free loaders on the businesses and tax payers who do.
That is not even good capitalism.
Exactly KJT. That’s why that comment from thingo Bleakly from the Wellington Chamber of Commerce last night was so nuts.
But what do you mean by “The full costs of the labour they use”?
If by that you mean what it costs for that person to live a decent life it must vary with that person’s circumstances. For example the income required by a single person living with their parents is obviously a lot less than that for a man with spouse and 10 kids.
I remember some years ago that the Government, and I don’t know whether it was a Labour or a National one, said that intellectually handicapped people in sheltered workshops had to be paid the full minimum wage. The mother of one such man was interviewed in the paper. She was appalled because, as she said, her son’s work was only worth a couple of dollars an hour. If the workshop had to pay him the minimum wage they couldn’t afford him. He was apparently proud that he could go out to work and earn something and it gave him something to do and a place to get out of his home. Now he was going to be stuck there.
That is an extreme case I know but it is a real example of the sort of person, and business, you appear to regard as a free-loader
Interesting question since you seem to know exactly what it means: The second is what does it cost that person, and any dependents they have, to live at an acceptable standard of living.
Personally, I prefer a Universal Income but that will require massive increases in taxes. IMO, we would most likely will be seeing the return of the 66% bracket to support that. Other rebalancing would also be needed such as dropping CEO salaries from the million dollar range to something far more realistic – say about $100k.
The living standard is either supported by directly by the business or indirectly through subsidies and the subsidies are paid for through taxes. The problem is that the RWNJs will immediately say that taxes have to be cut showing their propensity for wanting something but not wanting pay for it.
Good luck getting that through any parliament, at least the limit of $100k. If they tried to do that I would think that MPs would have to have it as an upper limit as well which would halve their incomes. As they say, ever seen a turkey vote for an early christmas.
Interestingly the bete-noires of the left, Milton Friedman and Richard Nixon, were both exponents of the Universal Income proposal.
And you’ve immediately proved my point.
How much we pay our servants should be up to us, not the parliamentarians or even some supposedly independent bunch.
So?
Yes to bits 1 and 2.
When I was much younger MPs were paid a great deal less generously. I understand that an MPs salary was about equivalent to a head of department level secondary school teacher. Now it is about three times that figure.
I just threw the comment about MF and RN as an aside when you said you approved of the Universal Income idea.
I thought you might have been interested, if you didn’t already know it, that approval of the idea goes right across the political spectrum
They were but the increase came in with the neo-liberal policy settings back in the 1980s IIRC. It was argued that they should be paid similar rates to what was in the private sector. Of course, back then even the private sector didn’t pay all that well and so what we got was what the private sector was paying in places like the US and the UK.
AFAIK, only The Alliance has policy that takes MPs salaries back to what they were and they apply it to all MPs. Being a minister or prime minister doesn’t get you any more.
I knew about it I also know that they don’t support my idea of an UI. Their versions tend to be significantly less than what I want because they think that tax should be set at 25% to 30% rather than set to what’s needed. In other words, it won’t be any better than the present UB. I believe it should be high enough to supply enough for people to be entrepreneurial with it.
IIRC, Roger Douglass’s version of it was so cumbersome as to be nearly unworkable. He really doesn’t seem to understand the concept of Universal.
Pensioners, who pay rates, would most likely be living mortgage free – own their property outright. So how do you compare a “living wage” for a person who doesn’t own a home, and is most likely paying rent at market prices, with the income of a property owning pensioner?
Why don’t you expand your comment to what it really means karol.
How can you have a single “Living wage” that is applied to everyone, whether it is a single person living with his parents or a couple with 6 children, when their circumstances are entirely different. The problem with the “Living wage” is that it doesn’t recognise that.
You are making my point for me. Pay the wage that the person is worth and worry about additional income requirements via a targeted benefit system.
A “living wage” applies to people in the labour force. This doesn’t apply to retirees.
I agree Karol .I would think that there is a large percentage of elderly people who like me managed to buy our modest home only because of the “State Advance Loan Scheme.I certainly hope that the next Labour Government will bring in similar scheme in for our young people. However what does make some rates expensive for people living on the pension only is the valuation of the building. So what happens is that some rich ‘P’ builds a flash house near the workers modest home and the value goes up and consequently the rates rise.
What I believe ,is that if someone has paid rates on the same house in the same area then there comes a time when that person is declared rate free .For example I have paid high rates on my home that is modest but in a very desirable area for nearly 50 years with no increase in the service .in fact less and less over the years. Have I not paid enough?
Have you not heard of the cost of living Alwyn, have you not noticed that the slaves today are not kept in a compound and fed by the slave masters and must manage their existence upon the wages given…
As rate payers are property owners, how many would be earning less than a living wage?
There are, I am sure, a lot of single pensioners (probably widows or widowers) for whom nearly all their income is National superannuation. A lot of them do own their homes.
It it a bit out of date but I am aware of a Retirement Commission study in 2008 that found, for people over 65, that 74.3% of them had New Zealand Superannuation as their main form of income and that, on average it was 83.1% of their income.
That is a very large number of people.
http://www.cflri.org.nz/sites/default/files/docs/RI-Review-BP-Retirement-Income-History-2008.pdf
The table is on page 25. I doubt that the numbers have changed that much since then.
Thank-you. But the pages 23+ show the over 65s have the least problems with income over all age groups.
The decile stats for income show that less than 7% of pensioners are in the bottom two deciles re-percentage share of incomes. And my guess would be those would be the ones living in rental accommodation.
And the amounts of the elderly who are renting is increasing.
Yes, that is true.
In my opinion a retired married couple, who own their home without a mortgage, and who are in good health and able to do such things a the gardening,have as good a standard of living from New Zealand Super as does a couple with twice the income and 1 or 2 children who is trying to buy a home. For many indeed they “have never had it so good” in Harold MacMillan’s immortal words. Saying so doesn’t make me popular with retired people in that situation though I must add.
The point is however that the required income differs enormously with one’s circumstances. Saying that we should pay everyone a “Living wage” based on circumstances that apparently apply to only 6% of the population doesn’t make any sense. Let us pay people what they are worth in the job and if there is an income shortfall, which will vary with their cicumstances, make it up with targeted benefits.
In terms of your comment above that “The living wage applies to those in the workforce” I would have to say. Why does it therefore have to be worked out, not on what it costs to work, but on what it costs a couple with two children to support to get by? That, except for such costs as business apparel, travel costs to work and so on is the same whether a person is working or not. That is catered for by the in work tax rebate, or whatever it is called, that people who are actually working get. If we only pay the “Living wage” to those in the workforce is it not only reasonable to pay this rebate to those who work and say that people who want to extend it to beneficiaries are wrong?
The different income depending on circumstances is covered by WFF and so on. You appear to be quite accepting that Retired people should get less than the “Working wage”. Why are you not happy that people who don’t have any particular costs, 20 year old living at their parents home say, should also get less than the “Working wage”, and that so should anybody else whose work isn’t actually worth that much and that their additional costs be provided by targetted benefits?
I suppose a summary of my views is that if the idea of the “Living wage” makes sense so does a rates rebate to anyone on less than that figure. If the “Living wage” idea is crazy then the rates question can also be reconsidered.
a home that (unless property speculation was their game) has been paid for more than once to the bank, insured, rated and upkept.
ahh, the cost of “work-related” expenses;
-generally, the ownership and maintenance of a vehicle, or PT costs
-meal/s provision
-attire
-certification, registrations if required
-child-care
-time management that prioritises work attendance before family / relationships (yes, those that are employed are doing more).
-indemnities if required
-and just an observation, the addictions acquired to facilitate performance; caffeine, nicotine, analgesics
-professional support fees.
Seems to be a central rort to the entire “work will set you free” agenda; People are fortunate if they can retire with a mortgage-free home as a minimum to show for a life ‘down mill’.
Yeah, that’s about right. although I don’t know what price you could put on that “Time Management” bit.
It is the fact that these costs exist that make me favour the tax rebate ( and I don’t know exactly how it works) for people who are actually working. It shouldn’t apply to beneficiaries because they don’t have these costs
I sometimes think that we should have a deduction of, say $2 for each hour you worked, from your taxable income. That would reflect the cost of having a job. Something like that anyway although I don’t no what the rate should be or how you could operate it.
And the working renters who service property owners’ rate paying, through having some of it incorporated in their rents?
There is some sort of rental supplement available I believe, if your income is low enough. I am in favour of those sorts of benefits rather than lumbering an ill-targetted “Living wage” on employers.
things i don’t feel i needed to know:..an occaisonal-series..
..the tvone aged-news-reader/in-house reactionary peter williams..
..wears woolen underpants..
..and i just know..that whenever he pops up on screen again/in the future..
..that i will be thinking:..’he wears wollen underpants’..
..how about you..?
..will you think that now..?
..phillip ure..
I initially got a visual in my head of big ol saggy tighty whiteys except scratchier. But then I googled merino undies…
http://www.minus33.com/catalog/acadian-men-s-lightweight-boxer-brief/702AB
Not so bad really!
@ nz femme..
..sshh!!..don’t spoil it..!
phillip ure..
phillip u
Are they made by Icebreaker, merino? Next thing there will be a mention that yes they are merino by Icebreaker as so many viewers have asked this question. Moi! And I’m not a viewer
by the way. Your anecdote is one of the reasons.
Incidentally Icebreaker is a major NZ brand. I think made in China. Capiche.
@ greywarbler..
..we were also told he pays $50 a pair for them..
..and only has to change them once a week..
..whoar..!..eh..?..
(other/unanswered questions surge into/take over the mind:..does he sleep in them..?..or does he retrieve them from the floor each morning..?..)
..go on..!..mix up those images..!..i dare you..!
..and..see what gems/insights/nuggets-of-knowledge you are missing by ‘not being a viewer’…eh..?
..i’ll betcha you didn’t even know that one of the reasons to watch that bilge-effluent – is ‘cos the co-compere rawdon christie is nz’s ron burgandy…
..and he often has burgandy-moments..which are a both a delight and a hoot..
..this week he has been treating us/viewers by reading (adopting proper tones of solemnity/serious/po-face..)
..from nelson mandelas’ autobiography..
..they were brilliant ron-moments..
..then finishing..staring for a moment doe-eyed down the lens..
..and then chirping:..’and coming up next!..peter williams..and his wollen underpants..!’..
..ya hafta laff..!..eh..?
..sobbing uses up far too many tissues..
..phillip ure..
phillip u
Leave Morrisey to monitor the media. I feel he has thicker skin than you. Your settings are finer and more sensitive! Don’t watch, please – you’ll end up getting the speed wobbles and spin off into a shrinking vortex.
And I think not washing your knickers for a week is bound to be unsanitary. I think this must affect our international reputation for hygiene standards. Take him off the air, and open the windows to refresh.
And reading Mandela’s book by a jonolist. Brings out the now Pavlovian reaction in me about the gorilla who can read Nietzsche but can’t understand it.
do the fifty-buck-wear-for-a-week wollen-grunds suck all the grot away..?
..to an inner-chamber..?..(the science/physics of it all puzzles me..)
..does that inner-grot-chamber get a bit lumpy by the end of the week..?..
..can the casual observer note that the wearer must be at about day six..?..do they shift uncomfortably in their seats..?
..so many questions..
..that you don’t want to know the answers to..
..phillip ure..
“…..and only has to change them once a week..” Ewwww. That’s just….nasty. 🙁
Excuse me I’m eating my breakfast here
Reasons why I love football No 94: Rupert Murdoch’s favourite wank mag gets a serve from Cheltenham Town Ladies FC.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/dec/11/page-3-womensfootball
It’s almost unbelievable, this. Isn’t it? It’s no joke for those who are deaf, but frankly I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/9507647/Hunt-is-on-for-fake-Mandela-signer
Weren’t there some Spanish athletes who faked disabilities to get to the World Games for disabled people? It’s all a big joke to those with shallow minds. It’s those psychopaths again.
…social predators who charm, manipulate and ruthlessly plow their way through life … Completely lacking in conscience and feeling for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret.
A gentleman named LARRY CURLY said it perfectly…
Yes the secret service was too busy shagging tail to check out this guy! They had their crack detail just off their assignment guarding Obama in Colombia!
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/deaf-interpreter-nelson-mandela-memorial-fake-officials-article-1.1544251#ixzz2nDYMI0QM
Its fraud. Worse, treason. The guy unfortunately sums up for me why so much of Africa is corrupt. Individuals who ignore their common interest, due to decades of neo-liberal press, and take with impunity. I mean look at Russia, any sensible nation uses its leadership churn to evolve and adapt to the demands on it as a nation. Its not just Africa that is corrupted, thirty years of stupid.
Folks, can I ask a question of you? Can anyone suggest how to go about making a complaint to the Health and Disability Commission and whether I’d be within my rights to do so. Or should I take my concerns to Citizen’s Advice Bureau first?
I’ll try to be brief
Exactly two years ago to the day I had an injury on my left foot. Went to physio. Unsuccessful treatments for two months. Referred to a sports medicine Dr who was more interested in the AB’s than my foot (although he isn’t my problem) He then referred me to a surgeon who then announced that no xray, ultrasound or MRI showed any bone damage so nothing much we can do and don’t know what’s wrong. Advice, just get ultrasound guided steroids injected into the area of pain every so often. They have been about 20% effective. Requested my GP refer me to a pain specialist last month. Have seen the pain specialist who gave me a diagnosis (nothing to do with bone, but to do with nerve damage) Completely different treatment planned. In the meantime I’ve had two years of pain, limited mobility and loss of enjoyment of doing things like going for walks.
Is there any point in raising this issue with the H&D Commission?. My main issue is that the medical practitioners gave up, didn’t refer me further and I have have missed out on a diagnosis and appropriate treatment for two years
(Sorry, TS isn’t an agony column, and that wasn’t brief – I do know however there are some smart minds here, some of who may be familiar with advocacy in regard to medical matters.
Rosie
Your anecdote is useful to people interested in our help systems such as health, which we imagine are functioning well with all the money that goes into them. Apart from being concerned about you, it gives a view into the workings of the health of the administration. Which can develop various faults, viruses, blockage and degeneration. So a certain amount of feedback from citizens is very healthy. And hopefully, I think there will be someone Who Knows.
Hi Rosie,
I’ve had some experience with H&D complaints.
I think this one would go nowhere. Sorry.
I’m assuming ACC was involved? Maybe request your records, though you may be distressed to find perjorative inferences. I hope you don’t. A complaint with ACC would also be unlikely to go anywhere, unless you find active interference from non-medical personnel. Even then, I believe a letter of apology is the best you could expect, though in serious cases, ACC has been known to make ex-gratia payments.
Hope this helps, and I hope you are finally finding some relief – chronic pain is so debilitating and uses up so many spoons!
Thank you both Warbly (sorry chronic bad habit of nicknaming folks, tell me if its annoying) and just saying.
Yes ACC has been involved at every point so far. However, I’ve yet to receive a letter of acceptance re the last appointment which was for the pain specialist – that would be costing $275 if I had to pay. (I don’t have $275)
To be honest the MOST I expect would be a letter of apology. What I would like to see is the previous practitioners involved be informed of the correct diagnosis and treatment and to know that they have caused a major inconvenience to their patient by giving up and not referring on
Thanks again 🙂
Rosie
You can call me what suits but as my Gran used to say – Don’t call me Late for Dinner.
“To be honest the MOST I expect would be a letter of apology. What I would like to see is the previous practitioners involved be informed of the correct diagnosis and treatment and to know that they have caused a major inconvenience to their patient by giving up and not referring on”
Actually I think this sounds feasible. The Commissioner won’t get involved, but you can get support from the HDC advocates in a kind of mediation process. You can use the HD Act code of rights, to back up what you say to the practitioners. However you need to be aware that you may not get an apology, or may get a Clayton’s apology. Also even with an apology and a result in terms of previous practitioners being notified of the problem, you may still not feel satisfied. Much of that depends on how you approach the thing, and the integrity of the practioners.
Might be worth talking it through with an advocate to see what the options are.
Thank you weka. What you’ve said makes sense to me. I now have a copy of the H & D Code for service. A quick glance would indicate failure on the practitioners behalf. (section 10, right to complain) You’re right, I think seeking an advocate is wise
As it happens, I also have a new injury on the other foot that I couldn’t seek help for because I couldn’t afford the part payment that ACC no longer funds and subsequently have worsened the situation by not getting it seen to immediately. Secondly, that was an incorrect diagnosis and on top of the wait to get it seen to, the exercises I was given has damaged the achilles more. My sense of anger and distrust has just compounded! And this isn’t even the first time it’s happened. A prolapsed disc was incorrectly diagnosed for months back in 2007!!!
I’m not alone in receiving improper treatments and incorrect diagnoses, you hear the stories all the time. There are 2 cases in mind at this point in time, a one a family member, one a friend who have more cause than me to complain. One was botched surgery and the other was incorrect treatment that lead to permanent damage that now requires surgery.
Thanks again for your advice – that’s really helpful 🙂
I hear these stories all the time too Rosie, and have some of my own. Take some time to get a good strategy together, and make sure that in each step of the process you are not being disempowered and feel ok about what you are doing. Good luck! and let us know how you get on.
From the “No need for ordinary folk to be paranoid”–yeah right– file:
Three things that make tracking you by the authorities easier, obvious you think?
• using and carrying a smart phone
• operating a motor vehicle
• regularly using plastic cards/online transactions
Thanks to No Right Turn blog for the link below which shows what the NSA is chillingly capable of using data mining and real time locating.
https://www.aclu.org/meet-jack-or-what-government-could-do-all-location-data
Tiger Mountaion @ 10.
Thanks for referring people to that link provided by NRT on how metadata can be used to profile people and track their movements etc.
I saw it yesterday and was going to post it here but it was on a long To Do List.
That link is an excellent example of why the collection of metadata is important – and highly disturbing. I highly recommend people take a few minutes to look at that link.
he he, personal MO- no smart phone, no car and one withdrawal from (usually the same) ATM a week. KISS.
However, on the present rates, it is difficult making that one withdrawal support me for the entire week. Oh well, sigh.
Seems they’re co-opting the humble cookie too.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2013/12/11/nsa-uses-cookies-to-locate-its-targets.html?
So when copper prices rebound and the NZ$ collapses, Chrous stocks will soar?
Police Bullying, of Their Own
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11170966
hijra acknowledged- gays to gaol, along with the bestial
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11170973
“Now squeal like a ‘roo Jed “
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11171359
(this is tragic, and not for queasy tummies).
A misture of the Pitcarin Island syndrome, along with family culture, and deprivation. Probably happening in NZ now or will become noticeable if we go on as we are.
Nope, it’s going on (see it out my window); limited opportunities and folk turn inwards.
The John Banks Trophy for DUM QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Award No. 5: JOHN BANKS
(for week ending 14/12/2013)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“I’m not buckled, I’m not bent—”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—-Epsom M.P. John Banks (ACT), who will stand trial for electoral fraud next year, speaking in Parliament yesterday, Wednesday 11 December 2013. At this point, Banks was unable to proceed for some time, due to the House being filled with uproarious gales of scornful laughter, hoots of derision, and slow hand-clapping. No laughter from his National Support Party comrades, however; they just turned ashen with mortification and embarrassment.
Check out these other Dum Quotes and relive the inanity!….
No. 4 Steve Hansen: “The French definitely turned up to play.”
No. 3 Gosman: “At least the Creationist is logically consistent.”
No. 2 Monique Watson: “Obama has an investigation into it.”
No. 1 Te Reo Putake: “What is so special about Assange that Sweden should change its laws for him?”
No 1 still stands the test of time! I’m told that surprise sex’s Julian Assange has lost all his hair, lives on raw fish and mutters ‘the precious, the precious’ to himself in his dank, sunless underground lair. But that may just be another dum (sic) quote.
It is another dum quote, my friend. You’re repeating the denigrating portrait of him that’s peddled in that disastrous government-approved hatchet job that “starred” Benedict Blunderpatch. I note that it’s already tanked at the box office: Americans may be bombarded with black propaganda daily, but only an ideologically motivated minority is buying into it.
One thing we can be sure of: this dog is one that not only Blunderpatch but none of the other principals suckered into appearing in it will ever boast about.
Well, it may be a crap film, but I suspect the reason it tanked is the subject matter. Nobody gives a flying one about Assange anymore and Snowden is far sexier these days (I mean that in a media friendly, safe, non rapey way).
Snowden’s better looking, too.
Your analysis is as rigorous and as intelligent as it was two and a half years ago, when you were defending a different set of government liars….
🙄
Well, it may be a crap film,
Good. One honest statement to start off your post. Sadly, it’s all downhill from there…
…. but I suspect the reason it tanked is the subject matter.
You don’t suspect that at all. You know as well as I do that the American people, who are NOT as docile as Fox News, Hollywood and the White House assume they are, don’t like fiction posing as fact. And they can sniff out a government harassment campaign perfectly well.
Nobody gives a flying one about Assange anymore….
Another lie. If nobody “gives a flying one” about the world’s most celebrated dissident, why is one rogue state, plus a few vassals, hounding him?
…. and Snowden is far sexier these days (I mean that in a media friendly, safe,
You’ve even bought into the White House’s talking point about his “stripper girlfriend”. You are without doubt a Kool Aid drinker standing out above all the other Kool Aid drinkers.
…non rapey way).
Good man! You keep telling those lies! First have another swig of Kool Aid, though: it’s a mighty hot day down there in Jonest–, errr, Hurricanes country.
the ‘Suedehead’ youtube link Rosie provided is wonderful Morrissey.
Well, if you want to come on all Fisky, I should point out that you misapplied ‘honest’ in your first para. I used the word ‘may’ which is not a statement of a definitive position. That’s because I haven’t seen it, but was relying on the reviews of others.
Point two is incorrect. I genuinely think it tanked because St Julian is of no interest to the cinema going public and he’s damaged goods to those with an interest in politics. Personally, I thought the film was going to be a hagiography of the sainted one, so avoided it for that reason, but I’m pleased to hear from you that it’s more truthful than I suspected.
Point 3 is incorrect. Nobody is hounding him. He has chosen to jail himself, which is pretty karmic in the circs.
Point 4 is incorrect. I’ve never heard about the girlfriend ( I assume it’s Snowden you’re talking about, not Assange?). As I said, I meant sexier in the sense that he is currently relevant. Assange is yesterdays news. Did you know he’s been self imprisoned for 3 years as of last week? Didn’t make the papers, because no one cares.
Point five is probably incorrect too, but as it makes no sense, except to you, I’ll ignore it.
Every other point you made is 100% correct.
“Nobody is hounding him. He has chosen to jail himself…”
That is a chilling statement. Your ideological zeal is quite phenomenal. You really missed your place in history: you would have been the perfect Red Guard forty-five years ago.
no desire to see the film sorry, or the Apple one either. The Facebook one was revealing enough.
However, Now you see me…
banks has the air of a decaying possum on a country road..
..phillip ure..
All charges against former Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall have been dropped.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9508594/Charges-dropped-against-former-Pike-boss
“… [Departmental lawyer] Zarifeh said the Department of Labour faced “substantial problems” in its case against Whittall, who has maintained his innocence and had earlier entered not guilty pleas.”
Shared culpability one of them?
Oh, that is so pathetic. On the upside, the next government can always reopen the case or maybe make it the first one taken under the possible corporate manslaughter law change.
I wonder whose money it was/will be.
“Mr Whittall has proposed that a voluntary payment be made on behalf of the directors and officers of Pike River Coal Ltd (in receivership) at the time of the explosions to the families of the 29 men who died and the two survivors.
It means $110,000 will be given to each of the families and survivors – totalling $3.41m.
Mr Whittall’s lawyer Stuart Grieve QC today said a bank cheque has been given to the court and asked for Judge Jane Farish to make sure the money was available by Christmas.”
And: “Judge Farish said she heard that the charges would be dropped only two days ago.She told the court that the likelihood of a prosecution in this case was “extremely low” and that it may never have even reached trial, given all of the pre-trial arguments that would have been required. The decision not to prosecute was taken at “a very high level”, she said. ”
Whose “very high level?”
The ‘Sickest’ piece of Justice ever meted out my life-time by the New Zealand Court system, blood money paid in lieu of prosecuting the architect and person more or less with the sole responsibility for the actual construction and running of the Pike River mine…
Francis : The ‘connected’ Pope
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/europe/news/article.cfm?l_id=7&objectid=11168960
Dotcom was probably spied on after his arrest…. but by whom?
Coming soon to New Zealand?
“Infinito Gold is threatening a $1 billion lawsuit against Costa Rica for rejecting a toxic, open-pit gold mine after massive protests from local citizens.”
Just seen that from SumOfUs:
http://act.sumofus.org/go/3150?t=1&akid=3110.989881.OoeJ3K
More to ignore.
Three years of observations by ESA’s CryoSat satellite show that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing over 150 cubic kilometres of ice each year – considerably more than when last surveyed.
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/CryoSat/Antarctica_s_ice_loss_on_the_rise
This too.
It’s official: East Antarctica is pushing West Antarctica around.
Now that West Antarctica is losing weight–that is, billions of tons of ice per year–its softer mantle rock is being nudged westward by the harder mantle beneath East Antarctica.
The discovery comes from researchers led by The Ohio State University, who have recorded GPS measurements that show West Antarctic bedrock is being pushed sideways at rates up to about twelve millimeters–about half an inch–per year. This movement is important for understanding current ice loss on the continent, and predicting future ice loss.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-12/osu-eai121113.php?
Impostor angers many at Madiba funeral
11 December 2013
There has been widespread anger after a shameless impostor perpetrated an outrageous display of fakery at the funeral service for Nelson Mandela.
Comments included: “He was moving his hands around, but there was no meaning”; “What happened at the memorial service is truly a disgraceful thing to see”; “Disgusting”; “Shameful hypocrisy” and “It should not happen at all.”
Here’s a photo of the fraudster, waving his arm in the air….
http://cdn1.independent.ie/world-news/article29829821.ece/ALTERNATES/h342/PANews_bfce2d94-f4ec-4d75-b069-6d5218eab9d2_I1.jpg
🙂 Very good.
Whaleoil connection to the ninth floor confirmed:
Very interesting. I have heard the name before but this time some pretty senior reporters are all pointing the finger at him.
What is his role in DPMC and what are his links to Slater’s site?
EDIT: and the Herald are onto it … http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11171491
And some interesting comments:
In a personal capacity on his personal iPhone which he pays for himself, no doubt.
Indeed. A PM communications person takes photographs on parliament property and communicates them to a partisan blogger on a weekday morning, but there is a clear delineation between his personal and professional roles /sarc 🙂
Patrick Gower tweets …
“John Key employs Jason Ede to crouch among rubbish take photos on I-Phone of Press Gallery party and give photos to a blogger.”
I could grow to like you, Paddy.
So could I, but only when he’s fired.
lolz
It does make me wonder what other contributions Mr Ede might have made
The “wondering” press gallery. If only there were regular opportunities for the journalists to ask instead of wondering! If only Key and Ede were easily accessible … say, working in the same building as the media? If only they had heard the name ‘Jason Ede’, years ago.
But oh well, it’s Christmas, we’ll never know. Pass the bottle, John!
Christmas Time, downunder- ‘ spin the bottle’. (and even Anne, Amy or Judith, the three prized hens, will become attractive).
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/9509926/PMs-adviser-takes-photos-for-WhaleOil
laugh.
Ede, who has not returned a request for comment, had previously been accused of being a source for Whale Oil, but this had never been confirmed.
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister’s Office ignored questions about whether it was appropriate for an adviser to the prime minister to be supplying such information to the blog. She confirmed Ede was the photographer.
“It is our understanding Mr Ede took pictures of the aftermath of the press gallery function and sent them to a blogger,” she said.
“Mr Ede did this off his own bat.
“In terms of the function, a number of staff from the Prime Minister’s Office attended and enjoyed themselves and we appreciate the media putting on such a good function.”
When asked by Fairfax Media in October about Ede’s relationship with Whale Oil, the spokeswoman said Ede was a senior adviser in the National leader’s office. He provided communication advice and support to the prime minister and to National Party MPs, including in the area of social media and other media.
“Jason works a lot in the area of social media and that includes getting out National’s message to a range of bloggers and other social media sites.”
Parliamentary press gallery chairwoman Claire Trevett said Ede was seen this morning by two witnesses. He had crouched among the butts taking photos with his phone.
a Toad-in-the-hole in the wall.
Anyone who doubts the direct link between John Key’s office and WhaleOil really must click on the link Pascal’s Bookie provides.
Now all we need is for some of the journos in that twitter thread to turn down their free Xmas wine from Key, and start holding him to account instead. Well, I can dream.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9507062/Rebstock-report-singles-out-leaker
– Name and shame I say
Righto. The name is McCully. He bit the hand that feeds him. The owners of the hand bit him back. And they bit Rennie too. In the bum. For much the same reason. And then Rebstock bit McCully and Key and Rennie in the wallet. It’s a jungle out there.
“no definitive evidence” after expending half a mil. MFAT experience contracted out, to consultants; How’s that working out for our biggest markets…oh, wait…
“Actions of some MFAT employees in supplying information and personal views directly to Ministers, to the Labour Party Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade, to officials and former public servants outside MFAT and to the media fuelled the political debate. This directly undermined MFAT’s ability to provide Ministers with robust, unbiased advice once the Secretary had consulted and considered the views of staff at MFAT.”
“Prior to the change programme, MFAT had been regarded as an agency that could be trusted with government information. This trust, locally and internationally, is critically important given the role that MFAT undertakes on behalf of the Government and all New Zealanders.”
“The leaks of documents that had been prepared by MFAT staff detrimentally affected MFAT’s reputation as a trustworthy organisation, thereby damaging New Zealand’s interests and the Government’s trust and confidence in MFAT.”
Well done to the labour party for pulling this off, they managed to get away with damaging NZs reputation for political gain (and got away with it so fair play to them)
+1. Except McCully did the damage to NZ’s reputation for no gain. The last thing anyone should do is appoint someone who always looks untidy to the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
And the fuck is with this?:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11171475
Probably more to the story but at first glance its very dodgy
Well that ties in with something I picked up the other day from a link.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2520662/Neil-Phillips-quizzed-8-HOURS-police-Nelson-Mandela-Twitter-jokes.html
Brit Shopkeeper was quizzed for eight HOURS by police – and had his computer seized and his DNA swabbed – after cracking ‘bad taste’ Nelson Mandela jokes on the internet.
Something like he decided to call his computer Mandela because it took so long to shut down.
Not very good but about par for a guy who owns a sandwick shop – bit short of a full picnic.
spooky 😎
Has anyone got a comment on an idea I had of having a local peace corps approach. Having people go round the country doing useful things for others for bed and board. Better than sitting at home and being pressured into a gang. See the country and work, and feel positive about life
sort of thing. Here’s the link –
Also I thought about what Ian the employer of good work-keen overseas people said about NZ workers in his area being unreliable, and generally lacking in oomph.
I thought of anomie and put a bit from wikipedia explaining it and how it very likely can explain a lot of the NZ experience, and invite comment on this also.
More trubs for Shonkey and the lapdog Rebstock? How much more money are they gonna throw away to continue exposing McCully’s stupidity?
MFAT leak: ‘Person Y’ hits back
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11171532
For the benefit of Pukish Rogue, or Mr Kite there has been a show tonight.
Trotter writes a good article about the neoliberal dinosaurs in the Labour Party
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/12/12/a-sort-of-victory-is-labours-old-guard-undermining-cunliffes-lurch-to-the-left/
“Behind the scenes the situation is, apparently, even worse. In spite of the fact that child poverty seems certain to become a major election issue for 2014, anti-poverty campaigners report extreme difficulty in persuading Labour MPs to embrace the policies required to eliminate it.”
“The ferocity with which the Old Guard responded to Cunliffe’s argument that Labour needs to undergo a radical ideological reorientation was instructive. It pointed to the presence of a powerful faction within Labour’s caucus that is absolutely determined to prevent the slightest deviation from the core elements of the 1984-1993 neoliberal “revolution”.
Needs to be a post on this issue.
How does the left deal with these turncoats?
Reflects comments earlier today by some regulars. A good article indeed.
Please be more specific.
What do you mean by “the left.” Do you mean for instance: the parliamentary left? The political economic left? The Labour Party membership? The socially liberal left?
the ‘left right out’ 😀
It doesnt matter anyway.
Labour will lose the next election. Unless they pull out an Orewa moment (10th annivesary of “That Speech” coming up..) Cunliffe will struggle to get traction against a confident John Key who only needs to make a minimal effort with the populace to get them to like him. I will expect a full on attack campaign of scaremongering, about 70’s union bosses and anti-car green hippies who want to ruin this country, with Labour stuggling with a wishy-washy centre approach.
A national party victory, will, of course, have ramifications for the country, especially those that use the rump welfare state (superannuation and health care), as well as vulerable, low paid workers, and those in the welfare system, as we see an escalation of the downward pressure on incomes and living standards as a consequence.
New Zealand will pretty much be a sweatshop economy by 2020, with workers having to sleep in their cars as wages fail to keep up with rents.
I think it’ll be a vicious campaign, but the result is far from a done deal for the tories – if anything I reckon that labgrn have a slight advantage even now.
Very wise McFlock.
I would like to know what people have against paying council workers higher wages. You know, the people that process building consents, help you when you want to burrow a book from the libaray, put up with people’s abuse when they go and deal with dangerous dogs, ensure the water keeps flowing, keeps the green spaces mowed and the sports feilds ship-shape. They do all the stuff that keeps a city functioning, and they deserve a decent wage for it.
I actually believe all the kerfuffle about rates is just about rich people having to pay for things that poor people use (like parks, libararies, council housing, etc).
Sounds correct. Have it all, pay for nothing parasites.
So you want to get rid of libaries too?
An enemy of our libraries is an enemy of humanity.
You maybe misinterpreted Paul’s meaning millsy. I think he’s agreeing with you, and saying that the wealthy who moan about rates want to have all the services but not pay for them.
ae
as an aside, while TS can be an ‘eye-opener’, your wicked sense of humour can bring easing laughter lines of mirth.
Thanks 🙂 Frankly on some of the issues discussed here if I didn’t laugh, I’d cry.
I am agreeing with you Millsy