Two recent posts on David Shearer are not very illuminating.
Gordom Campbell seemed frustrated at the lack of substance in many vague responses in an interview.
And yesterday here Anthony Robins tried to add to the coming out of the new Labour leader, and the lack of support from the strong Labour contingent here was very noticable.
I actually think Shearer is doing pretty good and he has gone up in my estimation since his announced support for MUNZ. It is all good stuff. There ya go.
Should I take your failure to respond to CV’s and my criticisms of the follicled ones as an act of treachery? Planning a coup d’etat Petey?
To be fair it seems New Zealand isn’t helping itself much either.
Was it his typo muzza? There’s a very big difference between a couple of minor mistakes that have been picked up and intentionally fucking New Zealand over like what John Keys party is up to.
National are selling off our future at a loss to foreign owners that will be stripping our country bare. They’re gutting our public sector workforce, increasing unemployment, reducing wages and people’s rights… but all that is A OK because John Key can have a little scoff at the opposition leader and it becomes news.
I wonder if the NZ Herald gave PoAL a discount on those full-paged adverts they’ve been running?
An extended interview of David Shearer by Gordon Campbell. Pretty sure there will be a post about it later on, but for the delectation of impatient political junkies….
edit: I see Pete Squirrel has linked to this above. But I’ll leave the link because I find linking via the linker’s website/blog is the worst kind of link-whoring, and always pisses me off.
That interview could be titled: “Dude, where’s the Labour Party?”
Right now, Labour would have a better chance of re-election if they switched David for Darien, without so much as a thank you bye, and let her rant free-reign over the airways. Hell, make it a co-leadership between her and Twyford – the only two Labour MPs who have either consistently publicly voiced representation for Labour’s roots over the past year or behaved in a manner that supported it.
I don’t know who Labour are any more, especially when the leader shy’s away from stock standard industrial disputes with a Len Brown-esque explanation and by saying that they will respond with the standard opposition model to National’s debate agendas.
“A moderate response”? “The “struggling middle classes”?
David Shearer knows this is rubbish and his personal fire comes out when he’s talking about real life. How can you come from an Iraqi or Somalian refugee camp and seriously look someone in the eye and talk about the idea of the “struggling middle classes”? No wonder he burbles. Having to swallow that shit must be intolerable. If people don’t know NZders live two families to a garage, how the hell can they comprehend the social conditions of a refugee camp, then compare it to their decadent lifestyle, describing themselves as “struggling”. What it describes is a population completely devoid of awareness of life on earth. These people need a wake up, not a to be tucked into bed. Ignorance and denial will cost the disadvantaged, not the gobblers at the table. If Shearer’s upcoming speeches are officially reigned in for the good of the party, they’ll be the dishwater they are described to be.
So, my advice, since he enjoys getting it: Find two co-leaders representing Labour’s roots… maybe Fenton and Twyford. Set to work nationwide filing the airways with no nonsense hard talking, actions and vision, based in those roots and give NZ a spearhead for a united Left that people can see is different – not moderated National Lite. Unite the LEFT David, don’t sell Lite Right. The public perception of the Labour brand is that they are the leaders of the Left. Where they go, the minor partys follow. Use that advantage – even if it is complete bollocks. Because no party will, or ever will, move Left once in power to help the poor and disadvantaged if they spend all their electioneering time imitating a “compassionate” Right. Everyone always moves right.
And just for the record: NZ didn’t “inherit” the more disgusting features of our culture. We built them, one excess at a time. Credit where credit’s due.
Why and how would Labour want to please everyone across the whole spectrum? Are they competing for Young Oxymoroner of the Year? Listen, there are no “compassionate, hard-arsed liberals”. People largely live a sub/cultural norm, regardless of their personal thoughts on a matter. They may know a thing is wrong, but they will act to preserve their cultural identity, even if it means doing the wrong thing, reluctantly, apologetically; explaining they had no choice, that they were under orders; and finally bursting forth with abuse to protect the abberation and reconcile the irreconcilable. There may be rare exceptions, but casually blending a word with an opposing adjective doesn’t make the result possible in real life.
It isn’t a matter of pleasing everyone, it’s a matter of creating a legislative base that does not allow wide cracks to open for people to fall through and restrains those who will not curb their misanthropic tendencies in industrial relations, social relations and in economic arrangements. You can’t do that by being afraid to scare someone – someone who has more than enough to bear it.
@Uturn
You get me wondering – what do Labour people believe in these days? What do lawyers, such a common group for aspiring candidates, think gives them insight into the aspiring upper lower class? It seems that when personal circumstances improve, altruisim and respect for all at whatever their level disappears.
That’s a large and difficult question to answer – I don’t have that kind of specific information. All I have is the history of Labour being a working class socialist party, the transitional Douglas and Clark years, and now finding they are not – even though they still try to associate with it. What does it say about a party that falls apart when its leader resigns? Where was its vision? What did it stand for? Were the beliefs and values grounded in human truths or were they manipulated cynical political expediencies?
The idea that comfort (read, excess) propagates self destruction is recorded throughout history. I would suggest that those who are prone to forgetting the values of their party – of not living their values – never truly held them to begin with. It’s popular for people to be encouraged to wander around full of nice ideas about fairness, social etiquette and manners, but how they arrived at those ideas – through a projection of their own issues, a ticket into social identity, or an understanding of who they really are – makes an large difference. If someone is expressing who they are, they cannot then forget it and trade it in. If someone adopts nice ideas without self awareness, as they are influenced by the responses their actions bring, they will change into something else. Their values were a temporary development. These people are not visionaries or leaders.
For example, how is that John Key can hold up his upbringing as evidence of compassionate insight, turn around and make a career in money off other people’s misery and attack those who were like him?
How can Shearer say he was enlightened on the back of a truck with a handful of orange peels, and then turn around and protect the people who create a system that would have our own children running after a truck for food scraps?
After just 6 years and two examples, NZ’s affair with “look at me I understand life” type candidates has gone stale.
If the lawyers I have met are anything to go by, they are adept and useful administrators, sometimes exceptionally well versed in the way humans behave and when “on stage” excellent communicators. It is a good idea to have sound laws underpinning society, but what those laws are and which direction they proceed should not be decided solely by lawyers. Once again, the appearance of certain useful traits and skills does not mean a person will be a good leader – unless their understanding of people and the law was incidental to their overall arrival as a true leader or visionary. They need something inside them that does not change; if not a genuine charismatic streak, then an archetypal spark, or soul, something that unavoidably constructively connects them to other people, humanity, call it what you like.
Sooner or later, a person has to face what they are, realise the price to be paid and not betray themselves or those who rely on them. Both Key and Shearer can sit on the back of that metaphorical truck and throw stones at the children chasing, and I’ll not condemn them as frauds, if they admit that is what they truly are. If one of them is not like that, then not much good will come of being scared of what you are.
Don’t really care what it’s called. The Huffington Post (which I don’t read) isn’t a commenter at the Standard. If it was, I’d expect it to start or contribute to discussions on sites like this, as a commenter, not as an advertiser for its own wares. I don’t like to be forced to contribute to the visitor numbers at a blog I’m not voluntarily visiting. It’s not just an information way station, it’s your personal blog. If you want to talk about something in discussion fora like this one, link to it directly. I’m sure many like me very seldom follow links to somehwere else via a commenter’s blog, so indirect linking hinders convesration, as well as being bloody annoying.
I don’t think you do yourself, or your blog any favours by indulging in this kind of “marketing” behaviour.
Just, you know, saying…..
edit afterthought. It’s the kind of thing I expect from Pete
Philip, I did read a very interesting article about a possible link between schizophrenia and inflammation in the brain, and a large trial of an antibiotic which seemed to have significant therapeutic effects in some cases, at your site. So the technique does increase visitor traffic in some cases. In that instance it would have likely taken a bit of time to find the article elsewhere.
But if you are talking politics on a political site, linking to political aticles elsewhere in the net, via your site, probably antagonises more potential readers than it procures.
In my opinion.
Listing the internet sites I visit for news and information would be time-consuming and embarrassing. – proving I spend far too much time in front of this screen. For your satisfaction there are “aggregation” sites amongst them, but as far as I know, they don’t link-whore at the Standard.
Senior management at ACC were told three months ago that they had possibly made the biggest privacy breach in New Zealand history, but they have made no effort to investigate or contain the breach with the recipient.
…
The board was given an example of a branch medical adviser who covertly communicated with an ACC assessor providing false information to manipulate a medical report in ACC’s favour.
Well, I guess we should be expecting the senior managers to be getting a big “stress” bonus !
A timely example of why wholesale information sharing between Govt departments should not go ahead – the risk of serious breaches of privacy is just too great.
@burt
I am of the opinion that the “leak” of sensitive personal information from ACC is far from accidental. As of late and showcased in the Herald, ACC have been militant in the manner in which they treat claimants in an effort to cover up the billions of dollars lost in financial transactions in failed investment companies offshore.
ACC have morphed from an institution that was once considerate in it’s approach to claimants, to an organisation that is openly hostile towards claimants.
Walking home yesterday I was listening to National Radio’s The Panel featuring (in a poverty stricken manner) no less a luminary than Stephen Franks (ACT candidate and misanthrope extraordinare). Stephen in his gormless simple minded manner made the assertion (backed by surveys no less carefully filtered by himself) that people on the “right” were generally happier than those on the “left”. Of course he did not get challenged….maybe the experience of being the host of one of these programs leads to the development of a “what the fuck, just let it go” attitude, a form of sanity preservation technique?
So for all those RWNJs who think that I am less happy than them, well yes I am (breifly) every time I realise that short of a well tested totalitarian technique I have to share the planet with you. That thought passes rapidly as I return to my usual cheery liking for my fellow citizens and our joint welfare.
Happily I will now stroll off to work with the joyous thought that I was fortunate enough to be born me and not a Stephen Franks with a blinkered mean nasty little world view. My generosity of spirit flies like a lark, singing……..the “left’s” joy knows no boundaries.
I listened to the same interview .where the hell did Franks get that idea
from. most of the great comics throughout the world have been people of the Left.Chaplin, Elton ,Warris and even Vic Oliver , the list is endles .
Most of the London East End
Jews are know for their wonderfull sense of humour he vast
majority being supporters of the political left many from the far left. Its interesting I have heard Franks often on Mora”s progamme I have never once heard him laugh .
I think he got his talking points from this. I presume he didn’t mention that, in that survey,
(a) more people identified as ‘left’ than ‘right’
(b) the best way to improve happiness was found to be a better work-life balance (i.e., work less)
People with higher incomes in a society tend to score higher on ‘happiness’. But, for ‘developed’ economies, and over time, increments in GDP do not correlate with Subjective Well-Being (SWB – the technical definition of ‘happiness’ in the psychological literature).
Interestingly, SWB is a composite measure that includes measures of positive and negative affect (feelings) and Life Satisfaction. As this study found, economic prosperity seems to affect SWB through ‘Life Satisfaction’ rather than through positive feelings.
That is, wealthier people pat themselves on the back for successfully acquiring life’s luxuries, conveniences and status symbols. Some studies have found that they actually have less positive affect than their less wealthy compatriots – possibly because they work longer hours and it is a consistent finding that people have less positive affect at work than elsewhere in their life.
The same study found that positive affect (what we usually think of as ‘happiness’) was correlated with better quality social relationships and the development and use of skills.
I was listening to The Panel on RNZ yesterday and Stephen Franks was saying how those on the left aren’t any fun because they are only ever ‘against’ things, rather than ‘for’ things. I wrote a post on this remarkably stupid statement and invite people to come and add to the list of things that those on the left are ‘for’. http://afinetale.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/for.html
Why should there be? The left isn’t in government and hasn’t been for some time. Should there be oodles of joy oozing from a community that is watching their country being ruined? Get the left back in government, then we’ll start seeing some good news.
You’re sort of illustrating Frank’s point. You seem to be destined to have no fun for another three or six years.
You may not have noticed, but despite claims of doom the country hasn’t been ruined by past National (or Labour) governments. Not everyone gets the policies they prefer but most people manage to survive our democracy.
Look for the positives in Shearer – you do have hopes for what he can do don’t you? Or are you just an envy shade of Green?
Well I’m not sure that is a fair assessment Pete, the 4th Labour government (not a left govt) did tremendous damage to our society and began a process of widening inequality that is starting to bear fruit today. The further down the road of enriching the wealthy we go, the less our society will resemble ‘egalitarian New Zealand’.
Shearer? I hope he wins back some swing voters in the middle.
An envy shade of green? What a terribly clumsy sentence. Little wonder that your oratory didn’t manage to get you elected.
This is an assertion I have also heard on the Panel from the mouth of David Farrar. As with Franks’s little tirade, nobody challenged him either.
Foolishly, the self-styled “leftist” Chris Trotter said the same thing on one of his Panel appearances. He had gone to watch P.J. O’Rourke speak at a function organised by Farrar, and he was brimful of enthusiasm for the “camaraderie” and “bonhomie” he reckoned he experienced in the room full of right wingers. “I doubt very much,” he intoned with deadly gravitas, “that you’d ever get the same degree of cordiality in a left wing event.”
Perhaps even more objectionable than Franks’s rancorous slur on yesterday’s programme was the pathetic response of Jeremy Elwood. “I have to agree,” he purred, desperate to win the approval of the cadaverous SS member.
I’ve commented for a long time at Kiwiblog, most of that as an outsider, and for quite a while here. The degree of and incessant bitterness of attacks here is a noticable difference. However I don’t know how much of this is weighted by the fact that it’s always been while National are in government and Labour have struggled.
I’d previously been on Aardvark (probably more right than left,) for a few years, and while there was quite a bit of moaning there was far less vitriol and personal attack there too.
Dunne could have an attack of conscience over future generations of NZers and vote against asset sales. But that’s more in the realms of fantasy rather than reality.
You obviously don’t have any idea. For at least the first year I was active there I was very much an outsider and experienced gang attacks and heaps of vitriol and personal abuse. That gradually changed to acceptance of me as a lefty who was prepared to stand up to the crap. I still have strongly contested debates there, much more on the issue than personal attack than it ued to be.
I often prod righty debate there as I prod lefty debate here.
So I’m thinking that after another year or two here I might be grudingly accepted as an alternative view, apart from by a few inevitable resident troll attacks (I still get that at KB).
I take to the attack with positive gusto, much strong and positive vitriol and extremely strong positive personal attacks on any negative bastard like Dunne who attempts to negatively rob me and my fellow positive citizens of their positively hard earned belongings like SOEs. Thier negative thinking and nasty negative larceny deserves a positive thrashing.
sSome things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best
@Pete Georg
Personal attacks and abusive comments are routine on KB, it’s all part of the culture of commenting on blogs and frankly it’s best to ignore it and just carry on as per normal. Don’t take it personally is the motto.
Good one Alex, I happily agree with you, with much pleasure and joy, I stand for all those things, all positive and user friendly to everybody except the usual parasitic RWNJs.
Should appointments to public service appointments like these be more open, more transparent and subject to more public scrutiny?
Should former politicians, especially ex-Cabinet ministers, be subject to a ‘stand-down’ period (3 years, 4 years, or 6 years?) before appointment to senior public servant positions?
Deaker counsels Pownceby: “Just say nothing”.
July 7, 2004
Anybody who has been unfortunate enough, or silly enough, to listen for more than a few minutes to Radio Sport’s Murray Deaker will be well aware of his malicious, occasionally almost deranged, campaign of vilification against New Zealand football administrators, players, coaches and teams – in particular the Otago Highlanders and the All Blacks. For some four years now, he has never missed an opportunity to express just how “sick and tired” he is of the “boofheads” who refuse to “communicate” with “the fans”. That means, of course, that they refuse to talk to Murray Deaker.
The reason for that of course is easy to pinpoint: Deaker’s arrogant and ignorant behaviour before, and especially after, the All Blacks’ 1999 World Cup semifinal loss to France. Fans were dismayed and disgusted by the moronic antics of Deaker and his acolytes like Martin Devlin—but the players were utterly outraged. (Just read Jeff Wilson’s or Josh Kronfeld’s or Norm Hewitt’s autobiographies to see this.)
Deaker’s anti-All Black crusade took a remarkably loathsome turn in 2002, when he decided to back John O’Neill and Vernon Pugh’s conspiracy to rob the World Cup sub-hosting from New Zealand, treacherously turning on the NZRFU chiefs, repeatedly calling them “dumb”, blaming them alone for the betrayal and sycophantically “interviewing” Pugh (“a man of integrity”, “loves the game”) and O’Neill (“incredibly smart Aussie”, “a man of integrity”).
Deaker’s campaign reached its nadir on Sunday 16 November, the day after the All Blacks had lost to Australia in the World Cup semifinal. Having promised just the day before that he would “not be leading the death squad” if New Zealand lost, Deaker interviewed the new NZRFU chief Chris Moller. Actually, he didn’t interview Moller, he shouted at him for an hour: “They’re saying the All Blacks are ARROGANT, they’re IGNORANT…. Chris, DAMN you! Why should we be so PLEASANT?”
Deaker became almost apopleptic as the determinedly pleasant and unflappable Moller remained calm in the face of this blizzard of self-righteous indignation. Lately, of course, it’s been all sunshine and smiles; Deaker’s old Auckland Grammar teaching colleague and mate Graham Henry is in charge of the All Blacks, and Deaker now has unfettered access. The grizzling has stopped, at least until they lose a match.
But no doubt many radio listeners gasped tonight, when they heard the great broadcaster say this: “How should Soulan Pownceby handle the media? He should just say nothing. Mark Todd had the right idea about how to handle the media: JUST SAY NOTHING.” Perhaps Christopher Hitchens (also a notorious drunkard) is the most infamous flip-flopper in media history, but surely Murray Deaker’s advice to anyone, even the beleaguered Pownceby, to “just say nothing” to the media is about the most hypocritical about-turn that we’ve seen in this country for some time.
I challenge anyone else to provide a more craven example of humbug by a New Zealand media personality.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – DEAKER-WATCH is a series dedicated to highlighting the contributions of Murray Deaker to New Zealand public life.
Nah given the mentality of the media they will soon be writing about how its making us all wealthier by the fact the billionaires are even sawnning around our airspace…
“That is about the only thing that will get [young people] out of bed before 7 o’clock at night to vote, but it’s not politically sustainable to put interest back on student loans. It may not be great economics, but it’s great politics.
So when Labour removed student loan interest it was the mother of all bribes, but not putting it back is just “great politics”?
I’m all for interest-free loans, hell, I think the courses should be free, but is this not hypocritical? This story has also been watered down since I first read it, I’m sure it explicitly said “lose the election” or something similar.
The low-level nasty that fucks me off this year about loans is that, as a part time student, I’m not eligible for course related costs. I’ve got a job, fair enough, but this week I have to drop $200 on a textbook that is only moderately useful since my home pc committed suicide. It’ll take weeks to actually get together all the stuff I need for course, as opposed to sorting it all at the beginning of semester. I pity those who aren’t in a good job like mine.
I can’t see the reasoning – it’s just a petty, bullshit way of making people’s lives a bit more difficult for little change in the govt purse.
Key will be voted out for numerous reasons and he should stop making it a virtue of losing the next election by pinning it on student interest-free loans.
Yep, create a problem/crisis and then criticise anyone who won’t consider asset sales as ‘part of’ the ‘solution’. Councils are not in debt just because of spending money on fripperies. Increased costs and unfunded extra responsibilities from central government are part of the issue.
The aim here goes beyond local body asset sales. As was ACT policy, Smith is aiming to restrict the kinds of things councils can spend money on. He’s calling for them to stick to ‘core business’ – which he assumes is a non-political, uncontestable notion.
In a democracy, a citizenry should be able to spend money on what it wishes – Smith’s proposals are a case (as DTB points out) of central government saying it knows better than local citizens what they should be spending their money (i.e., rates levied by elected representatives) on.
It’s clearly anti-democratic, paternalistic and interfering with the collective choices of citizens.
The rationale for Auckland borrowing is in hansard.
Hon David Parker: Is he reinforced in the concern that lay behind his statement given the reality that in New Zealand’s largest city council, Auckland City Council, rates were held at falsely low levels by increasing council debt by the greatest amount ever in New Zealand’s history, from $322 million at 30 June 2008, to $1,149 million at 30 June 2010—an increase of over a billion dollars in 2 years under John Banks?
Hon RODNEY HIDE: No, funnily enough, and the reason is that ahead of the reforms, Treasury functions across the various councils in Auckland were amalgamated, and Auckland City Council took on that role. So it borrowed $416 million, which it then on-lent to other councils, saving them considerable money because we had just one council. The Auckland City Council also borrowed another $215 million on behalf of Metro Water, which the council then on-lent. If that is netted out, we will find that the trend for debt in the Auckland City Council is exactly as predicted. In fact, Auckland City Council, in taking on that function ahead of the amalgamation, saved Auckland ratepayers some considerable money.
Auckland City Council debt more than trebled in his last 3 years as Mayor!
2007 2008 2009 31/10/2010
$135m $322m $499m $738 million !!!!!!!!
The Act spin that debt increased because the old Auckland City was borrowing for the new City is untrue. (That extra $416m of borrowing in the 2010 year took Auckland City Council debt to $1,155m at the time of amalgamation, but is excluded from the above figures.)
To be fair the whole system needs an overhaul, there are to many courses floating round which offer little benefit for the money spent.
For example,
I am in the horticulture industry post trade certs the qualification which recognises someone as qualified in their particular field is a National certificate level 4.
Now you can take out a loan of @ $2-3000 dollars and obtain this certificate in 6-9 months at various polytechs.
Recently I interviewed to fill a position and interviewed only candidates that had this certificate as the role need someone with a reasonable base behind them,
One of the candidates knowledge fell far below what should and used to be required to obtain the certificate especially in regard to botanical knowledge and pest identification etc. Otherwise he was keen with good references.
I actually felt sorry for him in that he had taken out a loan on the basis that the the course would enable him to start work as a qualified gardener when due to the fact that it is so rushed, brief and open book it does nothing of the sort.
So in other words a waste of money.
The ridiculous thing about it is that on paper he has the same qualification as someone that has completed a 3-4 year apprenticeship but without the depth of knowledge or skill.
These courses need to be canned and proper apprenticeships need to begin again and labours policy on this was a good one.
Also I have been extremely concerned in the manner in which applied handlers certificates have been given out in recent years on 1 day courses tied up with growsafe.
An applied handlers cert allows you to access some quite dangerous chemicals in large quantities and shouldn’t be issued lightly and certainly not to people who have obtained a basic growsafe for the first time on the same day.
Another computer scam alert! Phone call. Broken reception -distant female caller- accent.
“You have a problem with your computer sir and I want to help you fix it,” she says having to repeat it several times.
“What is wrong with my computer?”
“If you turn it on I will talk you through and fix it.”
“But what is wrong with it?”
“Just turn on your computer etc etc….”
” No I won’t. Nothing wrong with it. You madam, are a scammer, a cheat, and a liar,” I bravely offer.
“Oh….” Beep beep beep. Gone.
I led them down the path of allowing them to assist and appearing stupid when their instructions would not work, after a lengthy fault diagnosis with a gullible user they ascertained I was using one of those new fangled iPhones for internet access, they promptly hung up.
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Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
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Two recent posts on David Shearer are not very illuminating.
Gordom Campbell seemed frustrated at the lack of substance in many vague responses in an interview.
And yesterday here Anthony Robins tried to add to the coming out of the new Labour leader, and the lack of support from the strong Labour contingent here was very noticable.
This week there’s an attempt to show David Shearer emerging? But is he shunned too much by his own?
A successful leader needs to have followers who believe in him.
Hence Peter Dunne is by definition a “successful leader” because you “believe in him” lol Hey is that kool-aid in the fridge?
Standard diversion – anything but Shearer? Where’s his support? Doesn’t seem to be here.
Standard diversion – who is Peter Dunne? Where’s his support? Doesn’t seem to be anywhere.
Where’s Shearer’s support?
Answer:
Red Alert
http://www.labour.org.nz
Where’s Dunne’s support?
Answer:
in his hairstyle
A successful leader needs to have followers who believe in him.
It is actually more important for a successful leader to at least have followers. How is United Follicle’s polling Petey?
EDIT: Bet me to it CV!
Morning troll duty Greg? Will you pledge enthusiastic support for Shearer? Or avoid that one?
Ha Petey you are such a laugh!
I actually think Shearer is doing pretty good and he has gone up in my estimation since his announced support for MUNZ. It is all good stuff. There ya go.
Should I take your failure to respond to CV’s and my criticisms of the follicled ones as an act of treachery? Planning a coup d’etat Petey?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10791657
To be fair its seems Shearer is not helping himself much!
To be fair it seems New Zealand isn’t helping itself much either.
Was it his typo muzza? There’s a very big difference between a couple of minor mistakes that have been picked up and intentionally fucking New Zealand over like what John Keys party is up to.
National are selling off our future at a loss to foreign owners that will be stripping our country bare. They’re gutting our public sector workforce, increasing unemployment, reducing wages and people’s rights… but all that is A OK because John Key can have a little scoff at the opposition leader and it becomes news.
I wonder if the NZ Herald gave PoAL a discount on those full-paged adverts they’ve been running?
http://werewolf.co.nz/2012/03/waiting-for-the-man/
An extended interview of David Shearer by Gordon Campbell. Pretty sure there will be a post about it later on, but for the delectation of impatient political junkies….
edit: I see Pete Squirrel has linked to this above. But I’ll leave the link because I find linking via the linker’s website/blog is the worst kind of link-whoring, and always pisses me off.
Thanks JS, that was the first real insight I’ve had into Shearer’s ideas. I thought it rather interesting and on the whole, positive.
That interview could be titled: “Dude, where’s the Labour Party?”
Right now, Labour would have a better chance of re-election if they switched David for Darien, without so much as a thank you bye, and let her rant free-reign over the airways. Hell, make it a co-leadership between her and Twyford – the only two Labour MPs who have either consistently publicly voiced representation for Labour’s roots over the past year or behaved in a manner that supported it.
I don’t know who Labour are any more, especially when the leader shy’s away from stock standard industrial disputes with a Len Brown-esque explanation and by saying that they will respond with the standard opposition model to National’s debate agendas.
“A moderate response”? “The “struggling middle classes”?
David Shearer knows this is rubbish and his personal fire comes out when he’s talking about real life. How can you come from an Iraqi or Somalian refugee camp and seriously look someone in the eye and talk about the idea of the “struggling middle classes”? No wonder he burbles. Having to swallow that shit must be intolerable. If people don’t know NZders live two families to a garage, how the hell can they comprehend the social conditions of a refugee camp, then compare it to their decadent lifestyle, describing themselves as “struggling”. What it describes is a population completely devoid of awareness of life on earth. These people need a wake up, not a to be tucked into bed. Ignorance and denial will cost the disadvantaged, not the gobblers at the table. If Shearer’s upcoming speeches are officially reigned in for the good of the party, they’ll be the dishwater they are described to be.
So, my advice, since he enjoys getting it: Find two co-leaders representing Labour’s roots… maybe Fenton and Twyford. Set to work nationwide filing the airways with no nonsense hard talking, actions and vision, based in those roots and give NZ a spearhead for a united Left that people can see is different – not moderated National Lite. Unite the LEFT David, don’t sell Lite Right. The public perception of the Labour brand is that they are the leaders of the Left. Where they go, the minor partys follow. Use that advantage – even if it is complete bollocks. Because no party will, or ever will, move Left once in power to help the poor and disadvantaged if they spend all their electioneering time imitating a “compassionate” Right. Everyone always moves right.
And just for the record: NZ didn’t “inherit” the more disgusting features of our culture. We built them, one excess at a time. Credit where credit’s due.
Why and how would Labour want to please everyone across the whole spectrum? Are they competing for Young Oxymoroner of the Year? Listen, there are no “compassionate, hard-arsed liberals”. People largely live a sub/cultural norm, regardless of their personal thoughts on a matter. They may know a thing is wrong, but they will act to preserve their cultural identity, even if it means doing the wrong thing, reluctantly, apologetically; explaining they had no choice, that they were under orders; and finally bursting forth with abuse to protect the abberation and reconcile the irreconcilable. There may be rare exceptions, but casually blending a word with an opposing adjective doesn’t make the result possible in real life.
It isn’t a matter of pleasing everyone, it’s a matter of creating a legislative base that does not allow wide cracks to open for people to fall through and restrains those who will not curb their misanthropic tendencies in industrial relations, social relations and in economic arrangements. You can’t do that by being afraid to scare someone – someone who has more than enough to bear it.
@Uturn
You get me wondering – what do Labour people believe in these days? What do lawyers, such a common group for aspiring candidates, think gives them insight into the aspiring upper lower class? It seems that when personal circumstances improve, altruisim and respect for all at whatever their level disappears.
That’s a large and difficult question to answer – I don’t have that kind of specific information. All I have is the history of Labour being a working class socialist party, the transitional Douglas and Clark years, and now finding they are not – even though they still try to associate with it. What does it say about a party that falls apart when its leader resigns? Where was its vision? What did it stand for? Were the beliefs and values grounded in human truths or were they manipulated cynical political expediencies?
The idea that comfort (read, excess) propagates self destruction is recorded throughout history. I would suggest that those who are prone to forgetting the values of their party – of not living their values – never truly held them to begin with. It’s popular for people to be encouraged to wander around full of nice ideas about fairness, social etiquette and manners, but how they arrived at those ideas – through a projection of their own issues, a ticket into social identity, or an understanding of who they really are – makes an large difference. If someone is expressing who they are, they cannot then forget it and trade it in. If someone adopts nice ideas without self awareness, as they are influenced by the responses their actions bring, they will change into something else. Their values were a temporary development. These people are not visionaries or leaders.
For example, how is that John Key can hold up his upbringing as evidence of compassionate insight, turn around and make a career in money off other people’s misery and attack those who were like him?
How can Shearer say he was enlightened on the back of a truck with a handful of orange peels, and then turn around and protect the people who create a system that would have our own children running after a truck for food scraps?
After just 6 years and two examples, NZ’s affair with “look at me I understand life” type candidates has gone stale.
If the lawyers I have met are anything to go by, they are adept and useful administrators, sometimes exceptionally well versed in the way humans behave and when “on stage” excellent communicators. It is a good idea to have sound laws underpinning society, but what those laws are and which direction they proceed should not be decided solely by lawyers. Once again, the appearance of certain useful traits and skills does not mean a person will be a good leader – unless their understanding of people and the law was incidental to their overall arrival as a true leader or visionary. They need something inside them that does not change; if not a genuine charismatic streak, then an archetypal spark, or soul, something that unavoidably constructively connects them to other people, humanity, call it what you like.
Sooner or later, a person has to face what they are, realise the price to be paid and not betray themselves or those who rely on them. Both Key and Shearer can sit on the back of that metaphorical truck and throw stones at the children chasing, and I’ll not condemn them as frauds, if they admit that is what they truly are. If one of them is not like that, then not much good will come of being scared of what you are.
(reply to ‘just saying’..)
do you use any mainstream news-aggregation websites..like..i dunno..huffington post..?
..where a lot of their material is links to other material from other sites..?
..it’s called ‘news-aggregation’…just saying..a new media-model..and is what i also do at whoar..
..but hey..!..you just stick with yr te kuiti bugle..eh..?
..and a question for you…
..dosen’t the quality of the information outweigh some delivery ‘piss-off’ in yr mind..?
..one that is just ‘in yr mind’..?
phil-at-whoar.
...it’s called ‘news-aggregation…
Don’t really care what it’s called. The Huffington Post (which I don’t read) isn’t a commenter at the Standard. If it was, I’d expect it to start or contribute to discussions on sites like this, as a commenter, not as an advertiser for its own wares. I don’t like to be forced to contribute to the visitor numbers at a blog I’m not voluntarily visiting. It’s not just an information way station, it’s your personal blog. If you want to talk about something in discussion fora like this one, link to it directly. I’m sure many like me very seldom follow links to somehwere else via a commenter’s blog, so indirect linking hinders convesration, as well as being bloody annoying.
I don’t think you do yourself, or your blog any favours by indulging in this kind of “marketing” behaviour.
Just, you know, saying…..
edit afterthought. It’s the kind of thing I expect from Pete
so what was the headline in the te kuiti bugle today..?
where do you get yr ‘news/information’ from..?
..the herald..?
phil-at-whoar.
Herald and information in the same sentence without the words ‘false’ or ‘misleading’ -lol.
seriously..where do you get yr news/information/new ideas from..?
indulge me..
phil-at-whoar.
Philip, I did read a very interesting article about a possible link between schizophrenia and inflammation in the brain, and a large trial of an antibiotic which seemed to have significant therapeutic effects in some cases, at your site. So the technique does increase visitor traffic in some cases. In that instance it would have likely taken a bit of time to find the article elsewhere.
But if you are talking politics on a political site, linking to political aticles elsewhere in the net, via your site, probably antagonises more potential readers than it procures.
In my opinion.
Listing the internet sites I visit for news and information would be time-consuming and embarrassing. – proving I spend far too much time in front of this screen. For your satisfaction there are “aggregation” sites amongst them, but as far as I know, they don’t link-whore at the Standard.
Only in a monopoly;
Stuff: Privacy breach on 9000 ACC claims
Well, I guess we should be expecting the senior managers to be getting a big “stress” bonus !
What’s that got to do with a monopoly?
Meanwhile as usual the relevant Minister (Judith Collins in this case) has refused to front.
Here’s yet another congratulation to be offered to the lady and John Key for the new ministerial standard of not fronting up.
A timely example of why wholesale information sharing between Govt departments should not go ahead – the risk of serious breaches of privacy is just too great.
@burt
I am of the opinion that the “leak” of sensitive personal information from ACC is far from accidental. As of late and showcased in the Herald, ACC have been militant in the manner in which they treat claimants in an effort to cover up the billions of dollars lost in financial transactions in failed investment companies offshore.
ACC have morphed from an institution that was once considerate in it’s approach to claimants, to an organisation that is openly hostile towards claimants.
Walking home yesterday I was listening to National Radio’s The Panel featuring (in a poverty stricken manner) no less a luminary than Stephen Franks (ACT candidate and misanthrope extraordinare). Stephen in his gormless simple minded manner made the assertion (backed by surveys no less carefully filtered by himself) that people on the “right” were generally happier than those on the “left”. Of course he did not get challenged….maybe the experience of being the host of one of these programs leads to the development of a “what the fuck, just let it go” attitude, a form of sanity preservation technique?
So for all those RWNJs who think that I am less happy than them, well yes I am (breifly) every time I realise that short of a well tested totalitarian technique I have to share the planet with you. That thought passes rapidly as I return to my usual cheery liking for my fellow citizens and our joint welfare.
Happily I will now stroll off to work with the joyous thought that I was fortunate enough to be born me and not a Stephen Franks with a blinkered mean nasty little world view. My generosity of spirit flies like a lark, singing……..the “left’s” joy knows no boundaries.
stephen franks was also talking actual factual-crap..
..conservatives are by their very nature very scared..afraid of a lot…
..but most of all..of change…
phil-at-whoar.
I listened to the same interview .where the hell did Franks get that idea
from. most of the great comics throughout the world have been people of the Left.Chaplin, Elton ,Warris and even Vic Oliver , the list is endles .
Most of the London East End
Jews are know for their wonderfull sense of humour he vast
majority being supporters of the political left many from the far left. Its interesting I have heard Franks often on Mora”s progamme I have never once heard him laugh .
I think he got his talking points from this. I presume he didn’t mention that, in that survey,
(a) more people identified as ‘left’ than ‘right’
(b) the best way to improve happiness was found to be a better work-life balance (i.e., work less)
People with higher incomes in a society tend to score higher on ‘happiness’. But, for ‘developed’ economies, and over time, increments in GDP do not correlate with Subjective Well-Being (SWB – the technical definition of ‘happiness’ in the psychological literature).
Interestingly, SWB is a composite measure that includes measures of positive and negative affect (feelings) and Life Satisfaction. As this study found, economic prosperity seems to affect SWB through ‘Life Satisfaction’ rather than through positive feelings.
That is, wealthier people pat themselves on the back for successfully acquiring life’s luxuries, conveniences and status symbols. Some studies have found that they actually have less positive affect than their less wealthy compatriots – possibly because they work longer hours and it is a consistent finding that people have less positive affect at work than elsewhere in their life.
The same study found that positive affect (what we usually think of as ‘happiness’) was correlated with better quality social relationships and the development and use of skills.
yeah..yr right..
..he gives every impression of being a miserable bastard..
..but if you want sad looking bugger..
..you can’t go past banks as he fights the urge to nana-nap during questiontime…
..i sometimes wonder if he is wondering w.t.f. is he doing there..
(..as are many others…)
..he is rich..he is getting on in years….
..he dosen’t have to do this any more..
phil-at-whoar.
Sorry. Somehow I managed to delete my content as I posted.
Can’t be bothered retyping it.
I was listening to The Panel on RNZ yesterday and Stephen Franks was saying how those on the left aren’t any fun because they are only ever ‘against’ things, rather than ‘for’ things. I wrote a post on this remarkably stupid statement and invite people to come and add to the list of things that those on the left are ‘for’.
http://afinetale.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/for.html
You must admit there isn’t oodles of joy oozing from a leftish place like this.
There are three certainties in life; Death, Taxes and Pete George talking shite.
Why should there be? The left isn’t in government and hasn’t been for some time. Should there be oodles of joy oozing from a community that is watching their country being ruined? Get the left back in government, then we’ll start seeing some good news.
You’re sort of illustrating Frank’s point. You seem to be destined to have no fun for another three or six years.
You may not have noticed, but despite claims of doom the country hasn’t been ruined by past National (or Labour) governments. Not everyone gets the policies they prefer but most people manage to survive our democracy.
Look for the positives in Shearer – you do have hopes for what he can do don’t you? Or are you just an envy shade of Green?
Well I’m not sure that is a fair assessment Pete, the 4th Labour government (not a left govt) did tremendous damage to our society and began a process of widening inequality that is starting to bear fruit today. The further down the road of enriching the wealthy we go, the less our society will resemble ‘egalitarian New Zealand’.
Shearer? I hope he wins back some swing voters in the middle.
An envy shade of green? What a terribly clumsy sentence. Little wonder that your oratory didn’t manage to get you elected.
and of course the tories were a bundle of joy under Lab5 – not bitching about gay conspiracies or social engineering at all, were they…
And yet leftist humour is inherently funnier than that of the right.
as opposed to say mr oils’ place..?…at the penguins..?
..do point out a ‘fun’ rightwing site for us all there..p.g..
..and it also feeds into the given..that ..with very few exceptions..
..rightwingers usually come with their requisite sense-of-humour-byepass at birth..
..i guess it must be difficult to be permanently scared..and funny…
phil-at-whoar.
This is an assertion I have also heard on the Panel from the mouth of David Farrar. As with Franks’s little tirade, nobody challenged him either.
Foolishly, the self-styled “leftist” Chris Trotter said the same thing on one of his Panel appearances. He had gone to watch P.J. O’Rourke speak at a function organised by Farrar, and he was brimful of enthusiasm for the “camaraderie” and “bonhomie” he reckoned he experienced in the room full of right wingers. “I doubt very much,” he intoned with deadly gravitas, “that you’d ever get the same degree of cordiality in a left wing event.”
Perhaps even more objectionable than Franks’s rancorous slur on yesterday’s programme was the pathetic response of Jeremy Elwood. “I have to agree,” he purred, desperate to win the approval of the cadaverous SS member.
There could be some validity to the argument.
I’ve commented for a long time at Kiwiblog, most of that as an outsider, and for quite a while here. The degree of and incessant bitterness of attacks here is a noticable difference. However I don’t know how much of this is weighted by the fact that it’s always been while National are in government and Labour have struggled.
I’d previously been on Aardvark (probably more right than left,) for a few years, and while there was quite a bit of moaning there was far less vitriol and personal attack there too.
Try looking for and working on positives more.
Dunne could have an attack of conscience over future generations of NZers and vote against asset sales. But that’s more in the realms of fantasy rather than reality.
You’ve never been an outsider on the RWNJ sites.
You obviously don’t have any idea. For at least the first year I was active there I was very much an outsider and experienced gang attacks and heaps of vitriol and personal abuse. That gradually changed to acceptance of me as a lefty who was prepared to stand up to the crap. I still have strongly contested debates there, much more on the issue than personal attack than it ued to be.
I often prod righty debate there as I prod lefty debate here.
So I’m thinking that after another year or two here I might be grudingly accepted as an alternative view, apart from by a few inevitable resident troll attacks (I still get that at KB).
I take to the attack with positive gusto, much strong and positive vitriol and extremely strong positive personal attacks on any negative bastard like Dunne who attempts to negatively rob me and my fellow positive citizens of their positively hard earned belongings like SOEs. Thier negative thinking and nasty negative larceny deserves a positive thrashing.
you talk utter shit p.g…
..the trolls/bottom-dwellers at both oils’ and penguins are beyond virulent…
..and all they have is shouted cliches/slogans and ad homs…
..and the level/degree of both is far far worse than i have ever seen at any lefty-blog…
..you know that..
..this is yet another of yr many faces is it…?
..i have this mental image of you ..p.g…as this jelly-like chameleon….
..constantly changing/morphing into something different..dependant on where you are..
..and your words utterly meaningless..
..as they also change with each morphing..
phil-at-whoar.
why am i in moderation..?
phil-at-whoar.
sSome things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best
ok Pete?
You sing, I’ll whistle. And always look on the bright siide of life, dum dum dee dee
@Pete Georg
Personal attacks and abusive comments are routine on KB, it’s all part of the culture of commenting on blogs and frankly it’s best to ignore it and just carry on as per normal. Don’t take it personally is the motto.
Kevin – I learnt not to take it personally long ago. And not just there.
Good one Alex, I happily agree with you, with much pleasure and joy, I stand for all those things, all positive and user friendly to everybody except the usual parasitic RWNJs.
Thanks, feel free to add some of your own, the left is a broad church and we don’t all necessarily stand for exactly the same things.
No jobs for you,
but jobs for my cronies …?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10791656
Should appointments to public service appointments like these be more open, more transparent and subject to more public scrutiny?
Should former politicians, especially ex-Cabinet ministers, be subject to a ‘stand-down’ period (3 years, 4 years, or 6 years?) before appointment to senior public servant positions?
DEAKER-WATCH No. 1
Deaker counsels Pownceby: “Just say nothing”.
July 7, 2004
Anybody who has been unfortunate enough, or silly enough, to listen for more than a few minutes to Radio Sport’s Murray Deaker will be well aware of his malicious, occasionally almost deranged, campaign of vilification against New Zealand football administrators, players, coaches and teams – in particular the Otago Highlanders and the All Blacks. For some four years now, he has never missed an opportunity to express just how “sick and tired” he is of the “boofheads” who refuse to “communicate” with “the fans”. That means, of course, that they refuse to talk to Murray Deaker.
The reason for that of course is easy to pinpoint: Deaker’s arrogant and ignorant behaviour before, and especially after, the All Blacks’ 1999 World Cup semifinal loss to France. Fans were dismayed and disgusted by the moronic antics of Deaker and his acolytes like Martin Devlin—but the players were utterly outraged. (Just read Jeff Wilson’s or Josh Kronfeld’s or Norm Hewitt’s autobiographies to see this.)
Deaker’s anti-All Black crusade took a remarkably loathsome turn in 2002, when he decided to back John O’Neill and Vernon Pugh’s conspiracy to rob the World Cup sub-hosting from New Zealand, treacherously turning on the NZRFU chiefs, repeatedly calling them “dumb”, blaming them alone for the betrayal and sycophantically “interviewing” Pugh (“a man of integrity”, “loves the game”) and O’Neill (“incredibly smart Aussie”, “a man of integrity”).
Deaker’s campaign reached its nadir on Sunday 16 November, the day after the All Blacks had lost to Australia in the World Cup semifinal. Having promised just the day before that he would “not be leading the death squad” if New Zealand lost, Deaker interviewed the new NZRFU chief Chris Moller. Actually, he didn’t interview Moller, he shouted at him for an hour: “They’re saying the All Blacks are ARROGANT, they’re IGNORANT…. Chris, DAMN you! Why should we be so PLEASANT?”
Deaker became almost apopleptic as the determinedly pleasant and unflappable Moller remained calm in the face of this blizzard of self-righteous indignation. Lately, of course, it’s been all sunshine and smiles; Deaker’s old Auckland Grammar teaching colleague and mate Graham Henry is in charge of the All Blacks, and Deaker now has unfettered access. The grizzling has stopped, at least until they lose a match.
But no doubt many radio listeners gasped tonight, when they heard the great broadcaster say this: “How should Soulan Pownceby handle the media? He should just say nothing. Mark Todd had the right idea about how to handle the media: JUST SAY NOTHING.” Perhaps Christopher Hitchens (also a notorious drunkard) is the most infamous flip-flopper in media history, but surely Murray Deaker’s advice to anyone, even the beleaguered Pownceby, to “just say nothing” to the media is about the most hypocritical about-turn that we’ve seen in this country for some time.
I challenge anyone else to provide a more craven example of humbug by a New Zealand media personality.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
DEAKER-WATCH is a series dedicated to highlighting the contributions of Murray Deaker to New Zealand public life.
NZ: The Billionaires’ Playground
Gee I feel better already. By playground do they mean “circus”?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10791406
Nah given the mentality of the media they will soon be writing about how its making us all wealthier by the fact the billionaires are even sawnning around our airspace…
Super rich people (swoon)
Key rules out interest on student loans, says it’ll cost him the next election
So when Labour removed student loan interest it was the mother of all bribes, but not putting it back is just “great politics”?
I’m all for interest-free loans, hell, I think the courses should be free, but is this not hypocritical? This story has also been watered down since I first read it, I’m sure it explicitly said “lose the election” or something similar.
The low-level nasty that fucks me off this year about loans is that, as a part time student, I’m not eligible for course related costs. I’ve got a job, fair enough, but this week I have to drop $200 on a textbook that is only moderately useful since my home pc committed suicide. It’ll take weeks to actually get together all the stuff I need for course, as opposed to sorting it all at the beginning of semester. I pity those who aren’t in a good job like mine.
I can’t see the reasoning – it’s just a petty, bullshit way of making people’s lives a bit more difficult for little change in the govt purse.
Key will be voted out for numerous reasons and he should stop making it a virtue of losing the next election by pinning it on student interest-free loans.
Act is really getting into the Nanny State meme.
hmmmm… wasn’t John Banks the guy who kept Auckland City rates increasing at par with inflation by increasing borrowing by 500%?
He is a vile little man, that much is without question.
Notice the repetition of the Nick Smith comments http://www.interest.co.nz/news/58131/local-govt-minister-nick-smith-warns-councils-increasing-debt-levels-hits-back-figures-lo
This is setting the table for the local asset sell offs, if I had to speculate…
Yep, create a problem/crisis and then criticise anyone who won’t consider asset sales as ‘part of’ the ‘solution’. Councils are not in debt just because of spending money on fripperies. Increased costs and unfunded extra responsibilities from central government are part of the issue.
The aim here goes beyond local body asset sales. As was ACT policy, Smith is aiming to restrict the kinds of things councils can spend money on. He’s calling for them to stick to ‘core business’ – which he assumes is a non-political, uncontestable notion.
In a democracy, a citizenry should be able to spend money on what it wishes – Smith’s proposals are a case (as DTB points out) of central government saying it knows better than local citizens what they should be spending their money (i.e., rates levied by elected representatives) on.
It’s clearly anti-democratic, paternalistic and interfering with the collective choices of citizens.
yep..banks blew council debt right out the door..
..i dunno how rightwingers that do this/that then declare po-faced that they are economic-rationalists…
..’a safe pair of hands’..
..phil-at-whoar.
The rationale for Auckland borrowing is in hansard.
Hon David Parker: Is he reinforced in the concern that lay behind his statement given the reality that in New Zealand’s largest city council, Auckland City Council, rates were held at falsely low levels by increasing council debt by the greatest amount ever in New Zealand’s history, from $322 million at 30 June 2008, to $1,149 million at 30 June 2010—an increase of over a billion dollars in 2 years under John Banks?
Hon RODNEY HIDE: No, funnily enough, and the reason is that ahead of the reforms, Treasury functions across the various councils in Auckland were amalgamated, and Auckland City Council took on that role. So it borrowed $416 million, which it then on-lent to other councils, saving them considerable money because we had just one council. The Auckland City Council also borrowed another $215 million on behalf of Metro Water, which the council then on-lent. If that is netted out, we will find that the trend for debt in the Auckland City Council is exactly as predicted. In fact, Auckland City Council, in taking on that function ahead of the amalgamation, saved Auckland ratepayers some considerable money.
and here
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/auckland-city-council/news/article.cfm?o_id=13&objectid=10633684
All very nice but a load of bollocks none the less.
http://pc.blogspot.co.nz/2011/10/poor-old-banksie.html
To be fair the whole system needs an overhaul, there are to many courses floating round which offer little benefit for the money spent.
For example,
I am in the horticulture industry post trade certs the qualification which recognises someone as qualified in their particular field is a National certificate level 4.
Now you can take out a loan of @ $2-3000 dollars and obtain this certificate in 6-9 months at various polytechs.
Recently I interviewed to fill a position and interviewed only candidates that had this certificate as the role need someone with a reasonable base behind them,
One of the candidates knowledge fell far below what should and used to be required to obtain the certificate especially in regard to botanical knowledge and pest identification etc. Otherwise he was keen with good references.
I actually felt sorry for him in that he had taken out a loan on the basis that the the course would enable him to start work as a qualified gardener when due to the fact that it is so rushed, brief and open book it does nothing of the sort.
So in other words a waste of money.
The ridiculous thing about it is that on paper he has the same qualification as someone that has completed a 3-4 year apprenticeship but without the depth of knowledge or skill.
These courses need to be canned and proper apprenticeships need to begin again and labours policy on this was a good one.
Also I have been extremely concerned in the manner in which applied handlers certificates have been given out in recent years on 1 day courses tied up with growsafe.
An applied handlers cert allows you to access some quite dangerous chemicals in large quantities and shouldn’t be issued lightly and certainly not to people who have obtained a basic growsafe for the first time on the same day.
Reporters without Borders annual Enemies of the Internet –
Libya’s off the list, but who’s on? Bahrain, China, Myanmar, North Korea, Australia…
Rest in peace Jock.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10790841
Another computer scam alert! Phone call. Broken reception -distant female caller- accent.
“You have a problem with your computer sir and I want to help you fix it,” she says having to repeat it several times.
“What is wrong with my computer?”
“If you turn it on I will talk you through and fix it.”
“But what is wrong with it?”
“Just turn on your computer etc etc….”
” No I won’t. Nothing wrong with it. You madam, are a scammer, a cheat, and a liar,” I bravely offer.
“Oh….” Beep beep beep. Gone.
They are lying to you, so tell a lie back.
Try telling them you don’t have a computer. Insist on it – they give up very quickly.
I led them down the path of allowing them to assist and appearing stupid when their instructions would not work, after a lengthy fault diagnosis with a gullible user they ascertained I was using one of those new fangled iPhones for internet access, they promptly hung up.