I found his situation really upsetting – a man in poor health goes undiagnosed – and apparently everyone did everything properly. It seems like ticking the boxes to me, it doesn’t reflect well on the spirit of Wellington health services at all.
“…Coroner Ian Smith said he was satisfied the health practitioners involved with Mr Leach met all acceptable standards.
“It is clear, however, that his health had badly deteriorated over the last weeks and that as a resident at the Capital & Coast District Health Board hostel, the issue of his diarrhoea should have highlighted that this man had a medical condition that needed attention.”
He was pleased that since Mr Leach’s death a corroborative inter-agency group had been set up to assist the homeless. …”
Dear oh dear. It is acceptable for health professionals to miss diarrhoea as symptom. I knew our health system was in a decline, but really? Oh well, make a donation to an associated cause and move on.
“…subjective assessment of the patient rather than objective assessment of the symptoms.”
I’m sorry to say that my experience of doctors, so far, supports this idea: skilled people trapped in either a comfortable and delusional world of their own; looking outwards to the patient as a victim they must help because they themselves are better, sometimes achieving good results despite the overuse of subjective measures; or trapped in a personal battle between their disgust of lower class people and their urge to be professional to whoever walks through the door. It is both sweet, amusing and sad to watch and if you are the patient, it is also extremely irritating and costly.
Some of that behaviour is theoretically a basis for an official complaint, but since the same system turns out these people, like the coroner in the above story, I think they would be unable or unwilling to address the issue. It is understandable that doctors in our society must live a life that limits their experience in the art of medicine in order to become technically experienced doctors, but the irreconcilable issues simply raise questions about our society that are too large to fix with a word or pen.
I don’t know whether you are stupid or you just don’t understand English or if you are plain contrary. Probably all of the above, because your comment supports my observations.
Your comment base comment, followed by a diatribe, was –
““…subjective assessment of the patient rather than objective assessment of the symptoms.”
I’m sorry to say that my experience of doctors, so far, supports this idea”
My comment that you must have a limited experience of medical professionals was a rebuttal from my experience of likely dealing with many more medical professionals than yourself.
I’m afraid how my comment supports your views on medical professionals is too obtuse for my poor grasp of english.
Actually, here I agree with HS – and I’m both “allied professional” and feel like a frequent visitor to A&E/wards/GP, as patient (payback for a misspent youth 🙂 ) or support person.
Some doctors or other medical staff are cocks. Some are tired. Some are busy. In these cases, subjective assessment is a risk. But the vast majority of doctors, therapists, nurses, even porters and technicians are damned fine, well trained, and take the time to do a fair assessment, regular monitoring and patient communication. Hell, I can’t stop doctors etc bringing out models of the latest piece of my body to fall apart. Just gimme the pill and tell me if I can drink while taking it!
There is always the human factor in judgement, but I think you’re being very unfair in claiming that negligent and superficial diagnoses are the norm.
Some doctors or other medical staff are cocks. Some are tired. Some are busy. In these cases, subjective assessment is a risk. But the vast majority of doctors, therapists, nurses, even porters and technicians are damned fine, well trained, and take the time to do a fair assessment, regular monitoring and patient communication
That’s true. The careless ones are, thankfully, a minority…
there are many awesome doctors out there, but some are too overworked / cynical / inexperienced / incompetent that their decision-making in complex cases goes out the window and a subjective assessment of patient character or personal situation comes in, sometimes with tragic outcomes. I know good doctors are aware that this happens all too often.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there rosy, the patients personal circumstances were diagnosed instead of his physical condition. Although the liberty was probably not available to Mr Leach… the best thing people can do is try a few different doctors to find a good one.
The sad truth of the matter is that John David Leach’s death looks like it was preventable. From his condition being undiagnosed, to being evicted while unwell and then being bailed by the police to homelessness, this is another sign that the system is failing.
The question regarding incompetency within the medical profession is best answered by the amount of treatment injuries that occur. Since 2003, treatment injuries more than quadrupled in New Zealand to approximately 8829 in 2011. With most of these being caused by GP’s, this is a clear indication that the skill level of our doctors is in decline.
If Mr Leach had died from a blood clot in the brain, you could understand why it had gone undiagnosed… but a large brain tumor he likely had for a long time should have been diagnosed and he should not have been evicted with obviously serious health conditions.
As if we needed another clear example of the of how much of the doctrine we have swallowed here in NZ and, how far we have fallen here is “godszone”.
Upetting in an understatement, and I have to highlight the comment below to illustrate the sicknes that is now NZ.
“Coroner Ian Smith said he was satisfied the health practitioners involved with Mr Leach met all acceptable standards.
“It is clear, however, that his health had badly deteriorated over the last weeks and that as a resident at the Capital & Coast District Health Board hostel, the issue of his diarrhoea should have highlighted that this man had a medical condition that needed attention.”
– excuse me coroner, what is it, you are satisfied all acceptable standards were met, or is it that his deterioration should have been highlighted – read picked up by professionals – FAIL
Until these smears are outed for what they are then NOTHING can change,,
What hope really on the tract we are on…people still not prepared to stand up and be counted!
The misdiagnosis was bad but things like that will happen – we’re only human after all.
What’s more concerning was that he was turfed out when he was obviously mentally and physically unwell and getting worse:
The hostel manager said Mr Leach’s tenancy was cancelled because of health and safety concerns for himself and other tenants given his poor physical and mental health.
Yeah, the old ‘abide by house rules, no excuses’ meme. Personal responsibility and all that. The Downtown Community Mission is the only organisation that comes out of this with any respect.
Oh, and the police looked after him for a day, basically because he couldn’t keep his trousers up, does this suggest severe weight loss as well? That highlights another problem that’s been a concern since mental health services have been the responsibility of the community – the number of people with problems who end up in custody for being disruptive rather than criminal. Police aren’t trained for this, nor should they be.
A worker preparing the building for demolition found him in the stairwell – he had been living there for several days before his death.
The coroner’s findings into Mr Leach’s death were released yesterday.
Peter Leach said his brother kept in close contact with his family and had worked in construction for much of his life.
Originally from Greymouth, he moved to Wellington in the 1990s. He had been employed on the new Wellington Hospital construction site but when the project finished he was left jobless.
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it’s done. Brother, can you spare me a dime?
Why should the Union have authority over the operations of the companies they should have none .This strike is about the union losing control ,and the poor workers are merely pawns in the game being played by the Union
Affco spokesman Rowan Ogg said a “substantial number” of union members had moved to individual contracts since the lockouts began in February. (this is really interesting doesnt seem to be to much loyalty to the union)
Affco chief executive Hamish Simson said the company had been targeted by the Council of Trade Unions and the meat workers’ union because of dwindling union membership at Affco sites.
“The union has already stated the dispute is not about wages but about the authority the union has over the operations of the company and ability to influence or retain members.”
Ah the talleys troll, affco said, affco said, affco said….not surprising there’s no other side of the dispute and yes James union numbers tend to dwindle with a rabid anti union employer who takes every opportunity to ensure its workers are non union.
Even re-employing workers sacked for good reasons as long as they aren’t in a union so it can continue with dangerous practices and ignore its obligations under several acts.
Your posts are as predictable as they are enlightening as an example of RWNJ CT driven spin.
Unlike you I dont see the labour market of the antebellum southern US states as one that is worth emulating. In fact, I dont see any other nation copying it, apart from maybe China and Vietnam.
Millsy they should have no control over the operations unless they are investing money in the company thats simple. It would appear that the Meat Workers union might have a bit of unallocated cash laying around
The potential of Red Alert keeps getting pushed under by MPs who seem to see it as a personal back pat generator and controlled message machine.
In a trivial post yesterday I’ve been banned for two weeks and threatened with more with an incorrect accusation. Social Media 101 seems to have been missed by some MPs. Mallard’s odd accusation.
Does a a parliamentary recess mean MPs don’t have to do anything about serious stuff?
Gosh did the naughty Labourites give you a spanking,diddums, We do tho like the way your knee immediately jerked, perhaps you should give more consideration to your on-going actions instead of harping on about their’s…
Pete, thanks for making your site a bit more readable. Now you have to work on what you’re writing about. You say in your rather long winded whinge fest about being banned from Red Alert:
He’s either confusing me with someone else – who would be being blocked from commenting too simply because Trevor has guessed wrong about their identity – or he’s trying some sort of warning message.
Or he’s trying to establish a pretext to ban me for longer.
You will note that the name used to make the comment that was blocked is Pete George. Somebody else has either used your name, for which you should contact Red Alert directly to get that email permanently banned, or you are lying and did in fact use another email address to try and bypass the two week banning!
Although Mallard can sometimes be a bit overgenerous with his moderation, I think he was perfectly justified in giving you a ban. You rattled on about spades and then called him a liar without any evidence to back up your assertion.
The defamation case is yet to be heard, which will hopefully shed more light on Judith Collins’ involvement in the ACC debacle. Personally I think it’s a bluff and the end result will be her credibility will be in tatters.
Cabinet has decided that the Crown has to retain 51% of the voting shares of the power companies, not 51% of the total shares. So while it can retain control its ownership share could be diluted right down so that its income from dividends could be minute.
Effectively the power companies could be pretty well completely privatised. The directors of the companies would be obliged to make decisions for the benefit of all shareholders, not only those that have voting rights.
Get the feeling we the public of New Zealand have been lied to?
I thought National could not top the bad month they had last month (ACC). Well they have this month with the Paid Parental Leave Bill and now the truth is coming out about dividends re energy asset sales.
Agreed Treetop. But when is it going to start penetrating skulls and being reflected in the polls?
I don’t like his politics, but thank God for Winston back in Parliament keeping things honest. To paraphrase him on the radio this morning about PPL: Such medieval arrogant thinking has no place in a modern democracy!
There is one particular Kiwi who definitely has the skull of a Neanderthal and whose skull is unlikely to be penetrated….and he holds the casting vote in this issue.
Too right, I always suspected the buggers would try and find a way around the 51% ownership issue. Mr Dung, is this the type of “honesty” your moral and upright persona will vote for?
I’m waiting for Pete George to start arguing that, although many people were left with the impression that Dunne was against asset sales, Dunne did actually express support for selling 99% of the ownership of SOEs as long as only 49% of the voting shares were sold.
Conspicuous by his absence. He must have just realised that the Follicle was going to sell NZ down the river, and is now having a good cry, or mental breakdown. So Petey, it’s not Your NZ. It’s Dunnes NZ to steal!! Go on defend this abomination Petey.
The difference between the current Neo-Liberal masters and the Fuedal overlords they replaced is that slaves were generally kept alive at subsistence levels so they could produce the goods that made the ruling class rich.
Our current bunch sees an excess of people as excuse to seek no minimum wage or conditions and actively degrades health and social services so that a labourer cannot even afford to survive to work.
You may have spotted the obvious end to our highly intelligent overlord’s plan. They are banking on people waiting for some time yet.
The difference between the current Neo-Liberal masters and the Fuedal overlords they replaced is that slaves were generally kept alive at subsistence levels so they could produce the goods that made the ruling class rich.
Actually, you’re wrong there. Slaves had to be well kept which why only the rich had them and tended to work them to work in the house. Having slaves was a status symbol. On the other hand, the slaves kept on the other side of the Atlantic were abused, underfed and worked to death under typical free-market dogma.
Feudal lords had clear responsibilities to care for their serfs, including the provision of sufficient land (and time) for a family to live off. Not these days of course.
So we can’t find any extra funding for PPL, but no problem to prop up one of the most elite, expensive schools in the country. I grew up in Whanganui and believe me the kids who went to this school were from born-to-rule Tory families who wanted for nothing, while the rest of us in the city’s public schools were from families on Struggle Street.
The priorities of this Government make me so ANGRY.
And meanwhile, as it was when I was at school, public schools nationwide are being told to tighten their belts, make do with no extra funding etc etc.
I wonder if the extra funding will allow the very small class size to be retained?
And allow other privileges of such a school to be retained?
If the 250 privileged kids were to be integrated into the State schools they would be absorbed as just another kid scattered here and there and very little burden on the State.
But should Whanganui Collegiate close, I bet those elite kids would just transfer to another Private school. Lindisfarne for example.
Grew up there myself, Frida. Used to have a mate at Collegiate who was required to do rifle shooting on a Saturday morning. The sessions were nicknamed ‘pleb practice’. Bloody ringies, eh?
The only reason why parents send their kids to private/Catholic schools is so their precious darlings cant catch poor people germs. They can carry on all they like, but that is the underlying fact.
If I had my way I would close every private, iwi and church run school in this country. This country will never heal its social and racial division unless their children all went to the same schools.
Hot on the heels of speculation of NZ adopting the Aussie dollar as our currency comes this
He said not a lot of people knew that the first Labour Prime Minister of Australia was a bloke called Watson, from Oamaru and the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand was an Australian, Michael Joseph Savage.
…It began, when our nations were colonised. We were governed from New South Wales for some time.
While there may similarities between our countries there is not a lot to like about the way the Aussies have treated and continue to treat their indigenous people, and nothing to respect in Australia’s unseemly enthusiasm for the immoral wars of the US or its’ treatment of refugees.
The thing about being ‘good mates’ is that it is supposed to allow you to have a dialogue even when there is disagreement. Well when it counts, and on the issues that are most contentious I don’t see Australia listening to NZ at all. So Mr Moore can joke all he likes about “Australia becoming a state of NZ” – the real joke is believing that there is any respect shared between us beyond the superficial fondness to be found in the comradeliness of bad jokes and copious quantities of beer.
“Welcoming the troops, Australia’s Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the decision to host them was a response to a changing global balance.
“The world needs to essentially come to grips with the rise of China, the rise of India, the move of strategic and political and economic influence to our part of the world,” he said”
– What a total load or garbage!
Yes I expect there to be a more permanent arrangement with NZ sometime, and the platform will either be laid by some “terror event”, or the TPPA enforcement as part of any FTA with the USA!
Groser wants to prioritize our taxes on getting pissed and taking expensive and unnecessary trips to Paris. Only an A hole of the first order would put such priorities above the welfare of our children…
Computer Society chief executive Paul Matthews said he feared the Patents Bill had been put on ice by the Government because concessions might be made to the US on the issue of software patents during trade negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
He had ”no solid evidence” that was the case, but there appeared to be no other realistic explanation for the delay, he said.
So, our government prepares a law that bans software patents, it’s set to go through and then the USA gets involved in the TPPA talks and it gets held up…
Yeah, I can’t think of any other reason for the delay either especially when…
”If we had software patents back in the days when computers and technology were emerging, then the whole sector wouldn’t exist. Since the Patents Bill changes were announced we have been approached by a number of overseas technology companies looking to relocate to New Zealand.
…we have businesses that want to locate here if the law goes ahead.
There really wasn’t anywhere else that the detailed private information about Cecil Walker could have come from, and in releasing it, PoAL management have scored a very significant own goal…
Who has defied the international community? Only North Korea?
Radio New Zealand National news, 2:00 p.m., Friday 13 April 2012
Newsreader Chris Whitta gravely intones: “North Korea has defied the international community and launched a rocket…”
While North Korea has certainly done exactly that, it’s surely a matter of profound public interest that when Britain, the United States, Australia and Israel defy the international community, their actions are never described in such plain terms.
I cannot recall a mainstream news organization (such as Radio New Zealand) ever calling the Bush
regime’s flouting of international law as “defiance”. I cannot remember Israel’s scofflaw leaders ever being called “defiant”, even during the brutal 22-day massacre in Gaza in 2008-9 or after the pirate action in which it slaughtered nine peace activists in 2010.
But North Korea launches a rocket, which kills nobody, and the Korean leadership is described as having “defied” the “international community”.
The rocket didn’t even work properly, so what is the big deal? The duplicitous responses to crimes against humanity and gross breaches of law by those who are apparently a part of the international “community” compared to North Korea launching a satellite rocket that didn’t even work properly is blatant hypocrisy!
The United Nations have said a North Korea rocket launch would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from developing its nuclear and missile programs. (Reuters)
Strange, I thought it was a rocket to launch a satellite so unless the UN and other states have hard proof that it was a missile test then there’s nothing wrong with the launch.
Personally, I see no problem with any country developing both space capability or the ability to defend itself. This demand that some countries not develop such ability seems to be solely to keep them as dependent countries, ie, to keep the US empire going.
There’s not much difference between a satellite lifter and a ballistic missile – and orbit is just a different type of target coordinate for the guidance system. Actually, ISTR reading that Sputnik was lifted by a converted missile (Ha – I freaking love wikipedia!).
If we were talking about Japan or Indonesia, I’d agree with you (like I’m not too worked up about Iran and it’s nuclear power plants). But North Korea is the geopolitical equivalent of the gun-nut loner in the shack with no electricity down in the bush.
There’s not much difference between a satellite lifter and a ballistic missile…
Well, if we want to get technical – there’s no difference.
Actually, ISTR reading that Sputnik was lifted by a converted missile
That’s really not all that unique. Why design and build a new rocket when you’ve already got a few lying around that could do the job?
But North Korea is the geopolitical equivalent of the gun-nut loner in the shack with no electricity down in the bush.
Well, they may become a little less belligerent with their new leader, too early to tell ATM of course.
The international community really doesn’t have the right to prevent them from developing rocketry. That said, they are alone and if they try to use those weapons aggressively the entire nation will get turned into a radioactive lunar landscape as Afghanistan and Iraq show.
North Korea is the geopolitical equivalent of the gun-nut loner in the shack with no electricity down in the bush.
Oh really?
How many Iraqi and Afghan and Pakistani civilians have been killed by North Korean drone strikes?
How many North Korean soldiers have dragged families out of their houses at night and machine-gunned them to death?
How many North Korean army squadrons compete amongst themselves to cut off and collect the most fingers of civilians they have killed?
How many North Korean secret service operatives have kidnapped civilians from other countries and transported them to secret locations to torture them, often to death?
True. But then US motivations are generally pretty understandable (if not likeable). NK has a history of kidnapping people from their homes in other countries and imprisoning them for years because the dear leader liked their movies.
Try accounting for that sort of thing in geopolitical models.
“Foreign minister Murray McCully says despite the closed off country’s claim the launch is for peaceful purposes, it violates UN Security Council Resolutions, aggravates tensions and undermines attempts to build peace and stability”
Yeah ok, so when NATO bombs some poor country into oblivion for “humanitarian reasons”, when there is only an “internal problem”, which the UN charter does cover, as it only deals with external security threats between nations supposedly, what did NZ say.
Israelis can be angry with Gunter Grass, but they must listen to him
After we denounce the exaggeration, after we shake off the unjustified part of the charge, we must listen to the condemnation of these great people.
by GIDEON LEVY
The harsh, and in some parts infuriating, poem by Gunter Grass of course immediately sparked a wave of vilifications against it and mainly against its author. Grass indeed went a few steps too far (and too mendaciously) – Israel will not destroy the Iranian people – and for that he will be punished, in his own country and in Israel. But in precisely the same way the poem’s nine stanzas lost a sense of proportion in terms of their judgment of Israel, so too the angry responses to it suffer from exaggeration. Tom Segev wrote in Haaretz: “Unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently confided in him, his opinion is vacuous.” (“More pathetic than anti-Semitic,” April 5 ). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Grass’ Nazi past, and Israeli embassies in Germany went so far as to state, ridiculously, that the poem signified “anti-Semitism in the best European tradition of blood libels before Passover.”
It is doubtful that Grass intended his poem to be published on the eve of Passover. It contains no blood libel. In fact, it is the branding of it as anti-Semitic that is a matter of tradition – all criticism of Israel is immediately thus labeled. Grass’ Nazi past, his joining the Waffen SS as a youth, does not warrant shutting him up some 70 years later, and his opinion is far from vacuous. According to Segev, anyone who is not a nuclear scientist, an Israeli prime minister or an Iranian president must keep silent on the stormiest issue in Israel and the world today. That is a flawed approach.
Grass’ “What Must Be Said” does contain things that must be said. It can and should be said that Israel’s policy is endangering world peace. His position against Israeli nuclear power is also legitimate. He can also oppose supplying submarines to Israel without his past immediately being pulled out as a counterclaim. But Grass exaggerated, unnecessarily and in a way that damaged his own position. Perhaps it is his advanced age and his ambition to attract a last round of attention, and perhaps the words came forth all at once like a cascade, after decades during which it was almost impossible to criticize Israel in Germany.
That’s the way it is when all criticism of Israel is considered illegitimate and improper and is stopped up inside for years. In the end it erupts in an extreme form. Grass’ poem was published only a few weeks after another prominent German, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Sigmar Gabriel, wrote that there is an apartheid regime in Hebron. He also aroused angry responses. Therefore it is better to listen to the statements and, especially, finally, to lift the prohibition against criticizing Israel in Germany.
Israel has many friends in Germany, more than in most European countries. Some of them support us blindly, some have justified guilt feelings and some are true, critical friends of Israel. There are, of course, anti-Semites in Germany and the demand that Germany never forget is also justified. But a situation in which any German who dares criticize Israel is instantly accused of anti-Semitism is intolerable.
Some years ago, after a critical article of mine was published in the German daily Die Welt, one of its editors told me: “No journalist of ours could write an article like that.” I was never again invited to write for that paper. For years, any journalist who joined the huge German media outlet Axel Springer had to sign a pledge never to write anything that casts aspersions on Israel’s right to exist. That is an unhealthy situation that ended with an eruption of exaggerated criticism like Grass’.
Grass is not alone. No less of a major figure, the great author Jose de Sousa Saramago opened the floodgates in his later years when, after a visit to the occupied territories, he compared what was going on there to Auschwitz. Like Grass, Saramago went too far, but his remarks about the Israelis should have been heeded: “Living under the shadow of the Holocaust and expecting forgiveness for everything they will do in the name of their suffering seems coarse. They have learned nothing from the suffering of their parents and their grandparents.”
After we denounce the exaggeration, after we shake off the unjustified part of the charge, we must listen to these great people. They are not anti-Semites, they are expressing the opinion of many people. Instead of accusing them we should consider what we did that led them to express it..
Yeah, Norman Finkelstein has some interesting things to say about the Germans’ Philo-Semitism/ultra-Political Correctness on Israel. Astonishing how so many around the world take precisely the wrong (particularist rather than universalist) message from the nazi holocaust. Let’s all make up for the 6 million dead 70 years ago by cheerfully standing by and watching the slow torture and destruction of the Palestinian people now.
Do you ever think we’ll see even five seconds of Finkelstein speaking on television in New Zealand? I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen people like that loathsome reptile Mark Regev telling lies, and never once having them contested by the head-nodders back in the studio.
As for them going to someone who actually knows what he is talking about, and is scrupulously honest and even-handed, like Finkelstein? Forget it.
“Mental skills” coach Gilbert Enoka disappointing on radio this morning
National Radio, Friday 13 April 2012
Nine To Noon with Kathryn Ryan
Interview with the All Blacks’ “mental skills coach” GILBERT ENOKA
It wasn’t all bad. As you would expect, Gilbert Enoka does have a few interesting things to say about his twelve years with the All Blacks. After the 2007 quarter-final loss in Cardiff, Enoka spent most of his time in the changing room “trying to contain the distress” of the players. Important work, no doubt, although he obviously failed to contain the distress of one DOUG HOWLETT, who went on a drunken one-man car-bonnet-stomping rampage in the small hours of the morning after.
He had a couple of good one-liners, including this one: “Just because it’s common sense doesn’t mean it’s common practice.”
He also had some interesting things to say about the All Blacks’ change of attitude toward the RWC; in 2007 they had insisted that World Cup games were just like any other games, but in 2011 the focus changed: the World Cup became the focus of the entire year. The team decided to acknowledge that the RWC was a knock-out tournament, and teams could perform “heroically”, like Tonga did against France. The All Blacks acknowledged that they too had to perform at the Cup, and that if they did not, they would “choke”.
Here Kathryn Ryan decided to interject with an especially inane comment: “The All Blacks choked in the final and still won!” she blurted cheerily.
Enoka’s a nice guy, but he wasn’t going to dignify such an idiotic outburst by affirming it. Instead, he riffed on the theme of tension and pressure….
ENOKA: We acknowledged that there would be moments of great tension and pressure. Some people just can’t execute.
RYAN: And then there is the high-performing team that loses its bottle at the critical moment.
ENOKA: Yeah…
[And so on, and so forth…]
You would have been gravely disappointed if you’d expected to hear something interesting or revelatory or—God forbid—HONEST from Gilbert Enoka about the big question from last year, viz., Why did the referee in the final fail so gruesomely to do his job? But Enoka is a key member of the All Black camp, so the iron-clad code of silence applies to him as much as it does to Graham Henry or any of the players.
But without any doubt Enoka would have been highly alert to the irony (intended or not) in Ryan’s comment about a team “losing its bottle at the critical moment” and failing to perform. Enoka, the expert in human motivation and performance management, knows that if ever there was an example of losing one’s bottle and grievously failing to perform, it was not either of the teams in the final. It was, of course, the referee (or as he is called in France, the non-referee) Craig Joubert.
Conclusion: It’s just too much to expect Gilbert Enoka, or anyone in the All Blacks’ camp, to break ranks and admit to the presence of that hideous South African elephant in the room.
Bloody hell Morrissey, we disagreed yesterday, now today. I have watched it 10 times, and the ref got it right. It is very dark at the bottom of those rucks and mauls, trust me I have spent a lot of time there. And the ref can only be on one side of them at a time. You would have needed two refs with night vision goggles to get a mere smidgen of what both sides were doing. (OK if I was honest I have spotted about 5 “penalty” offenses both ways..neither side benefited).
I will contend with all confidence that if need be that Beaver would have dropped a goal, honest. Actually, the winning of the game which Enoka and Henry never mention was the direction of the replacement halfback (Ellis) who refused to kick long despite being told to in the last 4 minutes. He insisted the forwards take it up, hold onto it. A hard head when others looked decidedly panicked (especially Henry).
I will lay on the floor in front of the TV and ask all parties (cat, dog, any local humans) to jump on top of me, don the night vision goggles and re appraise in slow motion. I promise not to earn the French a penalty by being on the wrong side of the carpet or by refusing to roll away, and I will definitley not hang on to the dog. We will still win. Promise.
Well that is a couple of very partisan gents would you not say? And they definitely dont appear to like the ABs do they? And yes, the clips showed some seriously bad reffing…indeed.
Some of us watched the whole game and saw all sorts of things that the ref missed like eye gouging players who should not have remained on the pitch. We saw Piri miss 4 penalties (another stupidly bad Henry move to pick a goal kicker with a stuffed ankle), we saw the ABs bomb a couple of tries.
Its all too late to complain, bit like the Suzie incident. Yes the ABs were lucky, but the ref ultimately, like in the quarter in Cardiff did not dictate the result. All up a very average French team played well above themselves and still managed to lose to a very beatable NZ team. Self inflicted wounds perhaps. I wont impugn Joubert or Barnes, their optometrists may bear some responsibility however.
I am curious Morrissey, did you want the ABs to lose?
Well that is a couple of very partisan gents would you not say?
Actually, it’s a couple of neutral commentators. They were, like anyone who watched the game in a fair-minded way, appalled by the referee’s refusal to do his job.
And they definitely dont appear to like the ABs do they?
Not true. They were critical of the referee’s failure to do his job. They acknowledged that the All Blacks cheated blatantly throughout the second half, but they did not blame them; they blamed the man who let them cheat.
All up a very average French team played well above themselves
Do you actually know anything about French rugby? The fact is that the Tricolors had not only played well BELOW their true ability, but in their first round games against NZ and Tonga, they didn’t even try to play. What you’ve written makes no sense—unless you’re trying to be condescending toward a team which has more talent to draw on than any other team in the world.
I wont impugn Joubert
Well, that’s a pity. I’m sure you actually have more integrity than that. If you continue to indulge Joubert’s outrageous non-performance, then you’re choosing to turn a blind eye to it.
or Barnes
And nor should you. There is no comparison between Barnes’ honest mistakes in 2007, and Joubert’s determined refusal to do his job in 2011.
I am curious Morrissey, did you want the ABs to lose?
No, of course not. I wanted to see a good game of football. Unfortunately, the referee (or more accurately, the non-referee) was determined to allow one team to kill the ball illegally and persistently.
Bloody hell Morrissey you are a belligerent bugger. Never ever wrong, can only see it your way. No one else could possibly be right or have their own opinion.
For that you get to play in my front row, your job is to question and badger the ref to death. My job as an aged flanker is to get away with whatever I can.
“Belligerent?” Oh hell, I’ll accept that. But go easy on the “bugger” allegation, please.
Never ever wrong, can only see it your way.
Not so. I’m often wrong, and I am prepared to reconsider my opinions.
No one else could possibly be right or have their own opinion.
Not true. I accept people will disagree over many things. But facts are not like opinions. The fact is: Craig Joubert failed to do his job in the RWC final. There are many opinions about why he failed to do his job, and I am prepared to be convinced that it was due to a failure of nerve, and not due to corruption on his part.
But that will require some skilled advocacy. I’m sure you’re up to the job, though, my friend.
If they selected their best and played to their ability, ref or no ref we would have been dog tucker.
Well, possibly. But quite possibly we (New Zealand) would still have won. I am just disappointed that we never got the chance to really find out.
I bid you good night, Bored. You have worked hard today, and done exceedingly well.
Guys, I hope I am not being rude in saying this, but could you please not talk about rugby so much here? I think it’s going to be interesting, so i start to read, but … no… it’s just sport!
Akismet is having some (presumed black friday) problems today. There have been some quite extensive timeouts on checking comments. But I think it may have been some network outages on the local networks around the NZ1 server for the last 30-40 minutes.
The universe of the Web-based marketplace allows you to sell just about anything online today—so why not your labor? The “help wanted” page has now upgraded itself for an Information Age economic crisis, with a new crop of services that link odd jobs to people looking to make a buck.
People bidding for casual work over the internet trademe/e-bay style but instead of the bids going up they go down. As the article points out, there are some downsides:-
There are crazier ways to earn a living, but that hungry pack of task gophers seems to be forming a physically and conceptually atomized workforce of people who, in some cases, could be less able to gauge the fair value of their labor, or to discern whether they’re being indirectly cheated or discriminated against.
When the race to fill an advertised job opening involves frantically underbidding the competition, eBay style, are there safeguards to ensure that standards don’t fall to exploitative depths? Is it easier to hire underage workers, arbitrarily withhold wages, or pressure people to take on extra hours or tasks they never bargained for at the outset?
Something that the government and other political parties need to think about and regulate. If it’s not regulated then we will see people being badly exploited and an explosion of poverty that makes the increase in poverty since neo-liberalism began seem small and insignificant with an accompanying increase of wealth by the few.
Yesterday Transport Minister Michael Wood was stood down after failing to properly declare a conflict of interest - namely his continued ownership of Auckland Airport shares while transport minister. Chris Hipkins and his Labour cronies tried to pass this off as Wood simply being forgetful, but this was somewhat undercut ...
Last year the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Solomon Islands signed a bilateral security agreement that includes police training and port visits by Chinese security advisors and naval vessels. This includes training in “crowd control” and protection of … Continue reading → ...
Yesterday’s revelation yesterday that Michael Wood’s ‘life admin’ got away on him and he didn't sell his Auckland Airport shares despite six warnings from the Cabinet Office was messy and 'unacceptable' enough for Hipkins to stand Wood down as Transport Minister until it was 'resolved'. Now it’s got even messier. ...
This is a guest post from Cameron Pitches is the former Convenor for the Campaign for Better Transport. These days he’s the Technology Manager at PortConnect It should be a surprise to nobody that cars are expensive to own and operate. Obviously they are an inherent part of the ...
You might’ve seen reports of the draft recommendations of the Electoral System review, released following a long public consultation. In this newsletter I’d like to offer some thoughts on those proposals, who they benefit, and a couple of other changes I think we need.It’s worth bearing in mind that these ...
Chris Hipkins must be starting to wonder whether any more Cabinet Ministers might embarrass him. The procession of Ministers this year making the headlines for the wrong reasons recalls the same sort of saga in the Key Government. Then, in 2014, Labour’s Chief Whip, Chris Hipkins said Key had ...
Hi,Thanks for the outpouring of advice and love over the weekend’s Wolves on the Roofpiece. I’m gonna throw some of your comments into a future newsletter, as I think there’s genuinely great advice in there for anyone suffering any kind of chronic pain, or battling the dark nighttime thoughts ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Socrates Takes The Rap: “Corrupting the youth”, the Athenian philosopher Socrates was convicted and executed for this offence more than 2,400 years ago. It is a sure sign of generational desperation: of the old order’s fear of the values and aspirations of its younger citizens; and of a generation no ...
Labour's "independent" review of the electoral system reported back today. You can read the full thing here, but most of it was basicly a rehash of the 2012 Electoral Commission review, and in response to the same questions, produced mostly the same answers: a lower threshold and removing the one-seat ...
ACT preens as party in waiting ahead of Election 2023, read an RNZ headline this morning. Foregone conclusions are totally the new black in election reporting this season. The article that followed was not quite so breathless, and concluded with the reminder that in the end it’s all up to the ...
ACT preens as party in waiting ahead of Election 2023, read an RNZ headline this morning. Foregone conclusions are totally the new black in election reporting this season. The article that followed was not quite so breathless, and concluded with the reminder that in the end it’s all up to the ...
Today transport Minister Michael Wood was stood down after failing to properly declare a conflict of interest. He'd bought shares in Auckland airport "as a teenager", hidden them in a trust when he became an MP, and failed to declare them for seven years, for three of which he was ...
Buzz from the Beehive At least one headline-grabbing ministerial announcement had not been posted on the government’s official website, when Point of Order checked early this afternoon. We learned from other sources that Michael Wood has been stood down as Transport Minister over over failing to properly disclose shares owned ...
Battered by storms, and soaring costs, New Zealand dairy farmers have countered by extracting higher production. As one commentator put it, end-of-season production “has been through the roof” . Westpac senior agri economist Nathan Penny notes in a report in the NZ Herald that we are probably looking at two ...
Not for the first time, David Seymour looks like an answer to a non-existent problem. Reportedly, ACT is promising to establish a Ministry of Regulations to cut through all that bureaucracy and red tape. Yep. To cut down on bureaucracy. Seymour is promising to create a whole new bureaucracy, presumably ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sara Peach In 1989, cartoonist Matt Groening told a reporter that his new television show, “The Simpsons,” would tackle the serious subjects in life. “It always amazes me how few cartoonists in print or animation go after the bigger issues, the kinds ...
This is a cross post from our friends at Bike Auckland. You can see the original post here.An Auckland for EverybodyIt’s 2024, and the Auckland Harbour Bridge is finally open and available to all modes of everyday transport. Using a dedicated lane protected from traffic, people walk, ...
It could be easy to shrug away Education Minister Jan Tinetti’s referral to the Privileges Committee as just another example of a Minister not following the rules of Parliament. But its significance should be recognised in the fact it is only the second time since 2008 that a Member of ...
Seeing is no longer believing. Surprisingly realistic – yet fake – images created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) are here. To date, most have seemed more like curiosities than genuine deception attempts. Last month, it was revealed that New Zealand’s National Party had used the AI image generation app Midjourney to ...
Young climate activists watch a livestream of Jacinda Ardern declaring a climate emergency in December 2020. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: There’s another call this morning to lower the voting age and to lower the threshold for parties to get into Parliament under MMP.Elsewhere, there’s news:most social homes ...
Interesting speech by Rowan Atkinson where he defends free speech. Timely too, as several countries are now facing the introduction of legislation which will be used to attack freedom of speech. New Zealand/Aotearoa is no exception. And this comes on top of actions of censorship, de-platforming and social pressure ...
The left has really been silent and allowed the traditional leftist commitment to free speech to erode and even fall out of favor. This has had an effect on a whole range of leftist issues, from journalism to environmental activism, worker’s rights, animal rights, etc. From June 17 to June ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – dominated today by announcements of who has been awarded King’s Birthday gongs – also carries news of a development in New Zealand’s relationship with Japan. This sits alongside the speech which Defence Minister Andrew Little delivered to the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue ...
The world is full of climate dashboards (and dashboards of dashboards), and so you might imagine that all datasets and comparisons are instantly available in whatever graphical form you like. Unfortunately, we often want graphics to emphasize a particular point or comparison, and generic graphs from the producers of ...
Not Even Close, Comrades! Occupy made it all the way to New Zealand, but its fate here did not differ substantially from its fate everywhere else around the world. The political praxis of identity politics, its extraordinary disintegrative power, made the organisation of any kind of credible threat to the ...
Take Me Home: Bowalley Road, North Otago. The long gravel road after which Chris Trotter’s blog is named. Near the road’s end is the farm where he spent the first nine years of his life.ONE OF THE JOYS of blogging is the instant feedback you get. Certainly, there are the trolls who ...
Steven Levitt, famous for his Freakanomics, shows that being an economist is not just mouthing supply and demand.Brian Easton writes – Anyone can call themselves an ‘economist’. Many do, despite having no qualifications in economics and hardly any formal training; they often make elementary errors. That is the ...
Today is New Zealand’s first King’s Birthday since 1951. It’s not Charlie’s actual birthday, any more than Queen’s Birthday was Liz’s, but it’s a public holiday nonetheless. Until the creation of Matariki, the monarch’s observed birthday marked the start of a black hole in New Zealand’s holiday calendar, stretching ...
All things change. Nations, sporting teams, individuals. All have a time of ascent, and, in time, of decline. Their time on the stage, in the spotlight - however brightly they shone, gone. A new generation in their place.We see it on this day, in what still sounds strange, King’s Birthday. ...
Hi,A few days ago I screwed up my back. Rather, I inflamed an old injury — agitating a naughty protruding disc on my spine so it pinched a nerve, turning my lower back into a swarm of confused electrical signals. As a bonus feature, my entire right leg felt like ...
Seymour smirked at his reflection.Hi he said.Hi Hi Hi Hi the different reflections from the mirrored surfaces around the bathroom responded. Those days are over he thought, no more having to knock on every bloody door in Epsom - everybody knows my name now.The theme tune to Cheers ran through ...
Last Sunday, we looked out across the seas to, of all places, the USA for inspiration and hope. We're going back again today to visit Joe Biden.But first, an octopus. Arguably this creature with more neurons in its arms than head qualifies as this planet’s first intelligent being.Arguably it also qualifies ...
When I left academia in 2011 I was forced to stop two book projects that were in the works. Without institutional support and resourcing it is impossible to conduct in-depth academic research that requires field research in foreign countries and … Continue reading → ...
Buzz from the Beehive Defence Minister Andrew Little, addressing big-wigs from around the world in Singapore, was oh-so-diplomatically disinclined to identify some countries as goodies or baddies in his government’s defence thinking. In his Speech To The IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2023, he did say New Zealand’s most recent defence assessment ...
This week’s hoon included Wellington City Councillor Tamatha Paulon the politics ofLets Get Wellington Movingand the great battle for the Thorndon Quay cycle way. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: The week’s news in Aotearoa’s political economy I covered via The Kākā for subscribers included:The Labour Government’s ...
Morning all,I’ve been taking a look at some of the new features Substack have released and I’m keen to find out how you access newsletters. Some of the features are only available on certain platforms.Whether you use a mobile device like a phone or tablet, or a PC or laptop. ...
Hello! This is the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the week.Here’s what you may have missed.Last Sunday’s column had a genuinely inspiring story about political leaders getting huge things done in the face of culture wars and conservative resistance. Readers told me this should ...
Steven Levitt, famous for his Freakanomics, shows that being an economist is not just mouthing supply and demand.Anyone can call themselves an ‘economist’. Many do, despite having no qualifications in economics and hardly any formal training; they often make elementary errors. That is the result of a conscious decision of ...
Over the years, we've published several calls for help with translations but most of them were rather generalized in nature like last year's blog post published in February 2022. This time around, we are asking for help with a quite specific task, namely to update existing translations for the rebuttals included ...
1. By what name is this work of art known?a. The Drowning Dog, Francisco Goyab.The Temptation of St Anthony, Hieronymus Boschc.Saturn Devouring His Son Peter, Paul Rubensd.Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown Waves To A Stuff Journalist Through A Window, Stuff Photographer Ricky Wilson2. Who was in the news ...
An effective campaign against the RMA reforms will be a nightmare for Hipkins.Graham Adams writes – After a Budget that failed to excite voters and a lacklustre party conference where his senior colleagues faintly praised him for his proletarian taste in food, the very last thing Chris Hipkins ...
Buzz from the BeehiveEducation Minister Jan Tinetti brings news of a book of rules for school board members at the same time as her own grasp of Parliament’s rule book has been brought into question. Tinetti has announced a compulsory code of conduct to “ensure school board members are ...
Photo by Branden Tate on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour from midday (my apologies for the late start today), including:the Government’s vague promise of sharing the costs of cyclone rebuilding and buy-backs ...
Last night was a big night for our most celebrated radio presenter.Mike Hosking was named the Sir Paul Holmes Broadcaster of the Year - for the third straight year - as well as Best Talk Presenter (breakfast/drive) at the New Zealand Radio awards. Do you feel proud Aotearoa?In the presenter category ...
Speak of the devil. The Australian website Crikey has just launched an investigative series about the notorious lobbying firm Crosby Textor, or C/T as it now prefers to be called. It transpires that two clients of C/T’s American subsidiary will benefit greatly from the AUKUS defence pact between the US, ...
Aotearoa’s failure to deal with the escalating pace of human-induced climate change was starkly on display yesterday. Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: Our planet is now warming and generating extreme climate events faster than our politicians, voters and institutions can agree to reduce the costs and share the burden of those events ...
It’s Friday and we’ve got a long weekend ahead of us. Here’s our latest roundup of stories that caught our eye this week. The Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt reviewed National’s new housing policy. On Tuesday Matt looked at some of the highlights from Auckland Transport’s ...
The facts are bald and simple; India is now the most populous country in the world and the fifth largest economy and is on track to becoming the fourth. Despite that, New Zealand’s relationship with India could best be described as in its infancy, even though New Zealand has ...
Open access notables Multiple studies indicate changes in the properties of Antarctic bottom water (AABW) over the past half century. These changes involve density and hence will affect both local and distant circulation of the oceans, not least overturning effects that are vital for marine biology but also climate and ...
Completed reads for May: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift Journey to the Centre of the Earth, by Jules Verne Round the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne The Secret of the Island, by Jules Verne From the Earth ...
Ben Roberts-Smith is apparently "Australia’s most decorated living soldier", having won a Victoria Cross for killing people in Afghanistan. But today, after a stupendous self-own defamation case, he's also been proven to be a war criminal who committed multiple murders: Ben Roberts-Smith VC, Australia’s most decorated living soldier, has ...
Hey Uncle Dave, My house got wrecked in the summer floods. Do you know if the government’s got any plans to help me, or are they too busy making bilingual road signs?Noah InsuranceYou picked a good day to ask, Noah, the Govt has just announced there’ll be an offer of ...
The government has looked at imposing a tax on nitrogen fertiliser, used heavily in NZ agriculture, but yesterday Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor conceded he had not convinced farming leaders to go ahead with it. ACT”s Mark Cameron claimed credit in Parliament for “killing” the plan. Both Federated ...
Are women the new Māori?Since Christopher Luxon has been leader National have shown they’re prepared to throw Māori under a bus. Be it not wanting them to have a seat at the table on water management, referring to the Treaty as a “little experiment”, or the monocultural candidate selection polices ...
Are women the new Māori?Since Christopher Luxon has been leader National have shown they’re prepared to throw Māori under a bus. Be it not wanting them to have a seat at the table on water management, referring to the Treaty as a “little experiment”, or the monocultural candidate selection polices ...
Buzz from the Beehive An email from Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta had yet to be posted on the government’s official website, when Point of Order made its morning check on our ministers and what they are (officially) up to. She was providing us with an account – a ...
Multiple reviews are examining options to address a $25M to $40M funding hole in its operating budget and a reported $300M, 70,000 hour maintenance backlog for huts, tracks and visitor assets.Thomas Cranmer writes – Following Friday’s revelation that Budget 2023has left the Department of Conservation ...
Property values fell a further 0.7% in May from April across Aotearoa, but Core Logic sees evidence in the data “the current downturn is winding up.” Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: There are fresh signs this morning the housing market-with-bits-tacked-on economy is brightening up going into winter, and just ...
This is a cross post by Malcom McCracken at Better things are possible. It was from between when National signalled their change in housing policy but before they announced it but highlights why the Medium Density Residential Standards are important. Yesterday, the leader of the National Party, Christopher Luxon, ...
Do the global climate models (GCMs) we use for describing future climate change really capture the change and variations in the region that we want to study? There are widely used tools for evaluating global climate models, such as the ESMValTool, but they don’t provide the answers that I ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). The world is getting hotter and the headlines are scary. So does climate change mean the world is about to pass ...
Politik (paywalled) reports that He waka eke noa, the farmers' scam to have the rest of us subsidise their emissions forever, so they can keep on destroying the planet, is dead: Reality appears to be about to shatter Jacinda Ardern's dream that New Zealand could lead the world in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two ministerial press statements today draw attention to the Government’s incorporation of mātauranga Māori in its science policies and programmes. One of these announced the launch of the national space policy, which will oblige our space boffins to bring indigenous knowledge into their considerations. The ...
The Stations of the Cross, as all of us know from our devout and Godly ways, is a series of fourteen stations that depict the final hours in the story of Christ our Lord - appearing before Pilate, shouldering the wooden cross, whistling the Monty Python tune, so on and ...
The Green Party are today launching a campaign asking for people to submit their stories of subpar, substandard and downright awful experiences of renting in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the draft report of the Independent Electoral Review and challenging all political parties to commit to implementing its final recommendations after the 2023 general election. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori announce Takuta Ferris will contest the Te Tai Tonga seat at this year’s General Election. “Takura ran for the Te Tai Tonga seat for Te Pāti Māori in 2020. It takes tremendous courage and commitment to put your hand up for another round in the ring ...
Focussed immigration has always been essential to our future, but New Zealanders need to be aware of the immediate dire situation our government is putting us in with a predicted record of one hundred thousand new immigrants moving to New Zealand in this year alone. That means we will have ...
Today, President of Te Pāti Māori, John Tamihere has confirmed that Heather Te-Au Skipworth will stand for Te Pāti Māori in the Tukituki electorate this election. ...
During New Zealand First coalition negotiations our policy was to train and resource 1800 new frontline police. We secured this coalition policy win to ensure our streets had a police force that could tackle crime - after years of neglect. Remember those previous nine years of neglect saw a ‘tag ...
Katie Kenny from Stuff published an article today with a lazy attempt at so-called ‘fact checking’ my recent comments on the World Health Organisation’s concerning new regulations being developed. What is most surprising is that throughout this entire ‘fact checking’ process, Kenny never once rang me asking for my side ...
The National Party has released another confused and rushed policy that will only further worsen the inequality that is driven by unaffordable housing. ...
Welcome to sunny and calm Wellington, which I know those of you who are visiting would of course expect to be the case. It’s been a busy week since we put forward the 2023 Budget. Labour MPs have been out across the motu giving the good oil on the Budget. ...
Kia orana, Talofa lava, Mālo e lelei, Taloha ni, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Noa’ia e mauri, Ni sa bula vinaka, Kia ora, Tena Koutou Katoa. Labour Party President Jill Day, Prime Minister Hipkins, Party faithful, delegates and comrades, whānau and friends, it’s a privilege to be here today. I begin my ...
One of my kaumātua up North stood before the Waitangi Tribunal and said: ‘He aha kē ahau, te tangata kore hara i mua i te Atua, e tu nei kia whakawaatia e koe, te tangata tāhae, te tangata hara, te tangata kore tikanga?Ko koe kē te tika, kia tū ...
New Zealanders will be highly concerned that the World Health Organisation proposes to effectively take control of independent decision making away from sovereign countries and place control with the Director General. W.H.O International Health Regulations on future outbreaks of disease aim to give the Director General extraordinary and wide-sweeping powers. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take responsibility for reducing inflation by taxing wealth instead of leaving RBNZ to continue hiking the Official Cash Rate. ...
The Green Party has released its list of candidates for the 2023 election. With a mix of familiar faces, fresh new talent, and strong tangata whenua voices, this exceptional group of candidates are ready to set the direction of the next Government. ...
Thank you for your invitation to be here, after yesterday's budget, and for the opportunity to talk with you. In the economic and social turmoil following the arrival of COVID 19 in New Zealand many concerns emerged. How would we keep our economy going and maintain our exports which are ...
The Māori Budget this year continues our proud track record of investing in whānau wellbeing, access to whare, and whakapapa, all of which support our Government’s plan to address the cost of living. ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson and Disability Issues Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan have wished the 39-strong New Zealand Special Olympics squad heading to Berlin the best of luck. The New Zealand athletes departed for Germany today and will begin competing from next week. “The athletes heading to the Special Olympics ...
A proposed temporary law change would enable rural Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti landowners dealing with masses of cyclone and flood debris to burn mixed waste so they can replant and return their land to productivity, Environment Minister David Parker said today. The proposed short-term law change would ensure that any ...
Legislation introduced in Parliament today will ensure New Zealand’s emergency management system learns the lessons of recent and previous responses to natural disasters, including severe weather events and other emergencies. The Emergency Management Bill replaces the two decades old Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002. “The strength of our emergency ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka met in Wellington this morning, reaffirming the strength and spirit of New Zealand and Fiji’s relationship, as outlined in the Duavata Relationship Statement of Partnership. “New Zealand and Fiji are connected by a kinship forged in Pacific culture, identity and interests, ...
Primary teachers have agreed to the Government’s pay offer which will see the top base salary step rise to $100,000 by December next year. The settlement will also see a number of improvements to primary teachers’ conditions, including more than double the classroom release time they currently have to ...
Associate Transport Minister Kiri Allan has announced the construction plan for the bridge on State Highway 25A that will reconnect the Coromandel peninsula, bringing more certainty to the region’s recovery efforts. “The Government is committed to reconnecting Coromandel communities quickly, and this plan to repair the damage along the highway ...
Tena koutou katoa and welcome to Parliament. It is a great pleasure for me to host you here today, for the second New Zealand Seafood Sustainability Awards. The awards started in 2020 and officially, are to be held every two years. But as with so many things, COVID got in the ...
Representation for women on public sector boards and committees is the highest it’s ever been with wāhine now making up 53.1 percent of public board and committee members,” Minister for Women Jan Tinetti said. Manatū Wāhine Ministry for Women’s 2022 stocktake of public sector boards and committees shows for the ...
A new law enabling sole parents on a benefit to receive child support payments for their tamariki was passed in Parliament today. “This change is estimated to lift as many as 14,000 children out of poverty and give families a median of $20 extra a week,” said Social Development and ...
Crack down on disposable vapes No new vape shops near schools or marae Restricted descriptions for product flavours The Government is taking action to reduce the number of young people taking up vaping, Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall has announced. “Too many young people are vaping, which is why we’re ...
Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka will visit New Zealand this week, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. “Prime Minister Rabuka officially visited New Zealand in 1998, over 25 years ago, and we look forward to welcoming him here once again,” Chris Hipkins said. “New Zealand and Fiji have a long ...
The King’s Birthday and Coronation Honours List 2023 includes sporting stars and administrators who reflect the best of New Zealand’s sporting community. Sir Wayne Smith has been knighted for services to rugby. Sir Wayne was Assistant Coach of the All Blacks at the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups and ...
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa taki tini ‘My success is not mine alone, but that of the people” The King’s Birthday and Coronation Honours list 2023 celebrates Māori from all walks of life, reflecting the achievements of those who have made a significant contribution to ...
The strength and diversity of service in New Zealand is a standout feature of today’s King’s Birthday and Coronation Honours list, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said. “Each of today’s 182 recipients has contributed individually to our country. Viewed collectively, their efforts reflect an overwhelming commitment to service.” Chris Hipkins said. ...
The Defence Ministers of New Zealand and Japan have signed a statement of intent for closer defence cooperation between the two Pacific regional partners. Andrew Little and H. E. Yasukazu Hamada met to sign the ‘Statement of Intent on Defence Cooperation in Maritime Security, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and ...
New Zealand’s most recent defence assessment identified climate change and geostrategic competition as the two greatest security challenges to our place in the South Pacific. To the first issue, partners engaging and re-engaging with Pacific Island Countries are finding that climate change is a security and existential threat in our ...
The government is continuing to support rangatahi in providing more funding into Maori Trades training and new He Poutama Rangatahi programmes across Aotearoa. “We’re backing 30 new by Māori for Māori Kaupapa employment and training programmes, which will help iwi into sustainable employment or progress within their chosen careers” says ...
Murihiku Marae was officially reopened today, setting a gold standard in sustainable building practices as well as social outcomes for the people of Waihōpai Invercargill, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. “The marae has been a central hub for this community since the 1980’s. With the support of $9.65 million ...
The first major public housing development in Whangārei for decades has reached completion, with 37 new homes opened in the suburb of Maunu today. The project on Tapatahi Crescent and Puriri Park Road, consists of 15 one-bedroom, 4 two-bedroom, 7 three-bedroom, 8 four-bedroom and 3 five-bedroom homes, as well as ...
Trade and Export Growth Minister Damen O’Connor will depart tomorrow for London to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Trade Ministers’ Meeting and then to Paris to vice-chair the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting. “My travel to the United Kingdom is well-timed, with the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (UK FTA) ...
The Fuel Industry (Improving Fuel Resilience) Amendment Bill would: boost New Zealand’s fuel supply resilience and economic security enable the minimum stockholding obligation regulations to be adapted as the energy and transport environment evolves. “Last November, I announced a six-point plan to improve the resiliency of our fuel supply from ...
The Government is making sure those on low incomes will no longer have to wait five weeks to get the minimum weekly rate of ACC, and improving the data collected to make the system fairer, Minister for ACC Peeni Henare said today. The Accident Compensation (Access Reporting and Other Matters) ...
A compulsory code of conduct will ensure school board members are crystal clear on their responsibilities and expected standard of behaviour, Minister of Education Jan Tinetti said. It’s the first time a compulsory code of conduct has been published for state and state-integrated school boards and comes into effect on ...
Tena koutou katoa and thank you, Mayor Nadine Taylor, for your welcome to Marlborough. Thanks also Doug Saunders-Loder and all of you for inviting me to your annual conference. As you might know, I’m quite new to this job – and I’m particularly pleased that the first organisation I’m giving a ...
The Government will enter into a funding arrangement with councils in cyclone and flood affected regions to support them to offer a voluntary buyout for owners of Category 3 designated residential properties. It will also co-fund work needed to protect Category 2 designated properties. “From the beginning of this process ...
The Government has announced changes to strengthen requirements in venues with pokie (gambling) machines will come into effect from 15 June. “Pokies are one of the most harmful forms of gambling. They can have a detrimental impact on individuals, their friends, whānau and communities,” Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds said. ...
The total Police workforce is now the largest it has ever been. Police constabulary stands at 10,700 officers – an increase of 21% since 2017 Māori officers have increased 40%, Pasifika 83%, Asian 157%, Women 61% Every district has got more Police under this Government The Government has delivered on ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta met with Korea President Yoon, as well as Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna, during her recent visit to Korea. “It was an honour to represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the first Korea – Pacific Leaders’ Summit. We discussed Pacific ambitions under the ...
The Government’s Research and Development Tax Incentive has supported more than $2 billion of New Zealand business innovation – an increase of around $1 billion in less than nine months. "Research and innovation are essential in helping us meet the biggest challenges and seize opportunities facing New Zealand. It’s fantastic ...
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The former transport minister was asked 12 times to sell his Auckland Airport shares and didn’t do it. Emily Writes, a parent, knows exactly what that’s like.It was revealed at question time today that now-former transport minister Michael Wood was asked 12 times by the cabinet office to sell ...
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In an unexpected plot twist, it’s now been revealed embattled minister Michael Wood was actually asked to get rid of his shares in Auckland Airport 12 times. Yesterday, prime minister Chris Hipkins said he believed Wood was asked to divest his shares on about half a dozen occasions – though ...
In an unexpected plot twist, it’s now been revealed embattled minister Michael Wood was actually asked to get rid of his shares in Auckland Airport 12 times. Yesterday, prime minister Chris Hipkins said he believed Wood was asked to divest his shares on about half a dozen occasions – though ...
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The National Party is standing by its call for Michael Wood to be sacked from all his ministerial posts. Wood, who retains his roles in the immigration and Auckland portfolio, was stood down as transport minister yesterday after it emerged he had continued to hold undeclared shares in Auckland Airport. ...
Michael Wood got parked as transport minister yesterday, his explanation about not selling airport shares found wanting. He’s the fifth minister to cause the prime minister problems since January, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Duncan, Associate Professor, School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University Getty Images Among a host of other recommendations, the Independent Electoral Review has proposed a referendum on extending the term of parliament to four years (from the current ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Duncan, Associate Professor, School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University Getty Images Among a host of other recommendations, the Independent Electoral Review has proposed a referendum on extending the term of parliament to four years (from the current ...
Jacinda Ardern announced military-style awards to formally acknowledge the pandemic’s frontline workers. But a year on, hundreds of seemingly eligible people and organisations have been turned down, while around 50,000 awards remain unclaimed.The early days of the pandemic were a blur for Terry Taylor. The president of the New ...
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A small Canterbury community claims victory after a David and Goliath battle. David Williams reports. Plans to build a cattle feedlot in a tiny Canterbury valley, near one of the country’s most polluted lakes, have been pulled. Farm company Wongan Hills had been granted city council consent to build massive ...
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The new New Zealand, where a human being, an ill construction worker, dies like an abandoned cat under a hedge.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/6734401/Brain-tumour-victim-dies-after-being-evicted
I found his situation really upsetting – a man in poor health goes undiagnosed – and apparently everyone did everything properly. It seems like ticking the boxes to me, it doesn’t reflect well on the spirit of Wellington health services at all.
Rosy I agree its a sad day when all humanity has been lost
Rosy to say that the situation as described is a disgrace and has the appearance of a cover up of gross negligence would be an understatement.
“…Coroner Ian Smith said he was satisfied the health practitioners involved with Mr Leach met all acceptable standards.
“It is clear, however, that his health had badly deteriorated over the last weeks and that as a resident at the Capital & Coast District Health Board hostel, the issue of his diarrhoea should have highlighted that this man had a medical condition that needed attention.”
He was pleased that since Mr Leach’s death a corroborative inter-agency group had been set up to assist the homeless. …”
Dear oh dear. It is acceptable for health professionals to miss diarrhoea as symptom. I knew our health system was in a decline, but really? Oh well, make a donation to an associated cause and move on.
No, it’s not acceptable. It suggests a subjective assessment of the patient rather than objective assessment of the symptoms.
“…subjective assessment of the patient rather than objective assessment of the symptoms.”
I’m sorry to say that my experience of doctors, so far, supports this idea: skilled people trapped in either a comfortable and delusional world of their own; looking outwards to the patient as a victim they must help because they themselves are better, sometimes achieving good results despite the overuse of subjective measures; or trapped in a personal battle between their disgust of lower class people and their urge to be professional to whoever walks through the door. It is both sweet, amusing and sad to watch and if you are the patient, it is also extremely irritating and costly.
Some of that behaviour is theoretically a basis for an official complaint, but since the same system turns out these people, like the coroner in the above story, I think they would be unable or unwilling to address the issue. It is understandable that doctors in our society must live a life that limits their experience in the art of medicine in order to become technically experienced doctors, but the irreconcilable issues simply raise questions about our society that are too large to fix with a word or pen.
You must have a very limited experience of the medical profession as this certainly not reflective of the vast majority people I work with.
And your interaction with them was as a patient?
I don’t know whether you are stupid or you just don’t understand English or if you are plain contrary. Probably all of the above, because your comment supports my observations.
Your comment base comment, followed by a diatribe, was –
““…subjective assessment of the patient rather than objective assessment of the symptoms.”
I’m sorry to say that my experience of doctors, so far, supports this idea”
My comment that you must have a limited experience of medical professionals was a rebuttal from my experience of likely dealing with many more medical professionals than yourself.
I’m afraid how my comment supports your views on medical professionals is too obtuse for my poor grasp of english.
Well said Higher Standard. Uturn needs to do just that and get off his head
Actually, here I agree with HS – and I’m both “allied professional” and feel like a frequent visitor to A&E/wards/GP, as patient (payback for a misspent youth 🙂 ) or support person.
Some doctors or other medical staff are cocks. Some are tired. Some are busy. In these cases, subjective assessment is a risk. But the vast majority of doctors, therapists, nurses, even porters and technicians are damned fine, well trained, and take the time to do a fair assessment, regular monitoring and patient communication. Hell, I can’t stop doctors etc bringing out models of the latest piece of my body to fall apart. Just gimme the pill and tell me if I can drink while taking it!
There is always the human factor in judgement, but I think you’re being very unfair in claiming that negligent and superficial diagnoses are the norm.
+1. I’ve been blown away by the dedication of just about everyone I’ve ever encountered in the medical profession at every station.
That’s true. The careless ones are, thankfully, a minority…
there are many awesome doctors out there, but some are too overworked / cynical / inexperienced / incompetent that their decision-making in complex cases goes out the window and a subjective assessment of patient character or personal situation comes in, sometimes with tragic outcomes. I know good doctors are aware that this happens all too often.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there rosy, the patients personal circumstances were diagnosed instead of his physical condition. Although the liberty was probably not available to Mr Leach… the best thing people can do is try a few different doctors to find a good one.
The sad truth of the matter is that John David Leach’s death looks like it was preventable. From his condition being undiagnosed, to being evicted while unwell and then being bailed by the police to homelessness, this is another sign that the system is failing.
The question regarding incompetency within the medical profession is best answered by the amount of treatment injuries that occur. Since 2003, treatment injuries more than quadrupled in New Zealand to approximately 8829 in 2011. With most of these being caused by GP’s, this is a clear indication that the skill level of our doctors is in decline.
If Mr Leach had died from a blood clot in the brain, you could understand why it had gone undiagnosed… but a large brain tumor he likely had for a long time should have been diagnosed and he should not have been evicted with obviously serious health conditions.
There should have been social/health services available as a backstop.
But most are gone and under-resourced now. The outfit which pushed him out to the street when he clearly had nowhere to go is also culpable.
But Frontline Staff have been left intact and even been Improved. Minister Riled said so.
As if we needed another clear example of the of how much of the doctrine we have swallowed here in NZ and, how far we have fallen here is “godszone”.
Upetting in an understatement, and I have to highlight the comment below to illustrate the sicknes that is now NZ.
“Coroner Ian Smith said he was satisfied the health practitioners involved with Mr Leach met all acceptable standards.
“It is clear, however, that his health had badly deteriorated over the last weeks and that as a resident at the Capital & Coast District Health Board hostel, the issue of his diarrhoea should have highlighted that this man had a medical condition that needed attention.”
– excuse me coroner, what is it, you are satisfied all acceptable standards were met, or is it that his deterioration should have been highlighted – read picked up by professionals – FAIL
Until these smears are outed for what they are then NOTHING can change,,
What hope really on the tract we are on…people still not prepared to stand up and be counted!
The misdiagnosis was bad but things like that will happen – we’re only human after all.
What’s more concerning was that he was turfed out when he was obviously mentally and physically unwell and getting worse:
and thus left to die alone.
Nothing was done adequately in this case.
Yeah – it does seem to be remarkably selfish to offload the problem even though the man is in obvious decline.
Yeah, the old ‘abide by house rules, no excuses’ meme. Personal responsibility and all that. The Downtown Community Mission is the only organisation that comes out of this with any respect.
Oh, and the police looked after him for a day, basically because he couldn’t keep his trousers up, does this suggest severe weight loss as well? That highlights another problem that’s been a concern since mental health services have been the responsibility of the community – the number of people with problems who end up in custody for being disruptive rather than criminal. Police aren’t trained for this, nor should they be.
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it’s done. Brother, can you spare me a dime?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eih67rlGNhU
That’s both horrific and deeply sad..
+1 🙁
Very interesting from the Herald today
Why should the Union have authority over the operations of the companies they should have none .This strike is about the union losing control ,and the poor workers are merely pawns in the game being played by the Union
Affco spokesman Rowan Ogg said a “substantial number” of union members had moved to individual contracts since the lockouts began in February. (this is really interesting doesnt seem to be to much loyalty to the union)
Affco chief executive Hamish Simson said the company had been targeted by the Council of Trade Unions and the meat workers’ union because of dwindling union membership at Affco sites.
“The union has already stated the dispute is not about wages but about the authority the union has over the operations of the company and ability to influence or retain members.”
Ah the talleys troll, affco said, affco said, affco said….not surprising there’s no other side of the dispute and yes James union numbers tend to dwindle with a rabid anti union employer who takes every opportunity to ensure its workers are non union.
Even re-employing workers sacked for good reasons as long as they aren’t in a union so it can continue with dangerous practices and ignore its obligations under several acts.
Your posts are as predictable as they are enlightening as an example of RWNJ CT driven spin.
Do you want to ban unions and bring back slavery?
Unlike you I dont see the labour market of the antebellum southern US states as one that is worth emulating. In fact, I dont see any other nation copying it, apart from maybe China and Vietnam.
Millsy they should have no control over the operations unless they are investing money in the company thats simple. It would appear that the Meat Workers union might have a bit of unallocated cash laying around
And what if the company wants to make all their workers expendable by having them just queue outside the gate everyday with no guarantee of work?
going by that logic then surely the owners should have no control over the workers unless they themselves are doing the work? surely?
do you see how stupid such arguments get?
“It would appear that the Meat Workers union might have a bit of unallocated cash laying around”
well the SFO doesnt agree with you on that one
oh god – the one dimensional stupidity – it burns!
The unions should have full control, there should be no owners.
fify
What about the investment of opportunity cost that workers make to spend 15 or 20 years with a company? Counts for nothing in RWNJ world, obviously.
I reckon wee Jimmy wants to return to the good old days.
Lying, thieving, dishonourable treacherous scumbags.
Are there no depths to which they will not sink?
I admire your restraint KTH! Appalling indeed!
Why hasn’t the Security Intelligence Service prevented these agents of foreign corporations from betraying New Zealand?
You ssometimes have to just admire the utter disrespect/distain they have for people.
How will the NACT fans spin this…
Backlash anytime soon?
No, there isn’t. What we’re seeing is what happens when psychopaths are elected to parliament.
Hey middle nz. Ever get the feeling you’ve been had?
The potential of Red Alert keeps getting pushed under by MPs who seem to see it as a personal back pat generator and controlled message machine.
In a trivial post yesterday I’ve been banned for two weeks and threatened with more with an incorrect accusation. Social Media 101 seems to have been missed by some MPs. Mallard’s odd accusation.
Does a a parliamentary recess mean MPs don’t have to do anything about serious stuff?
Gosh did the naughty Labourites give you a spanking,diddums, We do tho like the way your knee immediately jerked, perhaps you should give more consideration to your on-going actions instead of harping on about their’s…
Pete, thanks for making your site a bit more readable. Now you have to work on what you’re writing about. You say in your rather long winded whinge fest about being banned from Red Alert:
You will note that the name used to make the comment that was blocked is Pete George. Somebody else has either used your name, for which you should contact Red Alert directly to get that email permanently banned, or you are lying and did in fact use another email address to try and bypass the two week banning!
Although Mallard can sometimes be a bit overgenerous with his moderation, I think he was perfectly justified in giving you a ban. You rattled on about spades and then called him a liar without any evidence to back up your assertion.
The defamation case is yet to be heard, which will hopefully shed more light on Judith Collins’ involvement in the ACC debacle. Personally I think it’s a bluff and the end result will be her credibility will be in tatters.
And the chiseling begins.
Cabinet has decided that the Crown has to retain 51% of the voting shares of the power companies, not 51% of the total shares. So while it can retain control its ownership share could be diluted right down so that its income from dividends could be minute.
Effectively the power companies could be pretty well completely privatised. The directors of the companies would be obliged to make decisions for the benefit of all shareholders, not only those that have voting rights.
Get the feeling we the public of New Zealand have been lied to?
I thought National could not top the bad month they had last month (ACC). Well they have this month with the Paid Parental Leave Bill and now the truth is coming out about dividends re energy asset sales.
Agreed Treetop. But when is it going to start penetrating skulls and being reflected in the polls?
I don’t like his politics, but thank God for Winston back in Parliament keeping things honest. To paraphrase him on the radio this morning about PPL: Such medieval arrogant thinking has no place in a modern democracy!
Hear hear.
when is it going to start penetrating skulls and being reflected in the polls?
Your average Kiwi has a skull as thick as a Neanderthal and a brain to match.
There is one particular Kiwi who definitely has the skull of a Neanderthal and whose skull is unlikely to be penetrated….and he holds the casting vote in this issue.
It’s NACT, I just assume that they’re lying and then I can be pleasantly surprised when I find out that they told a truth…
I haven’t been pleasantly surprised yet.
Too right, I always suspected the buggers would try and find a way around the 51% ownership issue. Mr Dung, is this the type of “honesty” your moral and upright persona will vote for?
I’m waiting for Pete George to start arguing that, although many people were left with the impression that Dunne was against asset sales, Dunne did actually express support for selling 99% of the ownership of SOEs as long as only 49% of the voting shares were sold.
Conspicuous by his absence. He must have just realised that the Follicle was going to sell NZ down the river, and is now having a good cry, or mental breakdown. So Petey, it’s not Your NZ. It’s Dunnes NZ to steal!! Go on defend this abomination Petey.
The difference between the current Neo-Liberal masters and the Fuedal overlords they replaced is that slaves were generally kept alive at subsistence levels so they could produce the goods that made the ruling class rich.
Our current bunch sees an excess of people as excuse to seek no minimum wage or conditions and actively degrades health and social services so that a labourer cannot even afford to survive to work.
You may have spotted the obvious end to our highly intelligent overlord’s plan. They are banking on people waiting for some time yet.
Actually, you’re wrong there. Slaves had to be well kept which why only the rich had them and tended to work them to work in the house. Having slaves was a status symbol. On the other hand, the slaves kept on the other side of the Atlantic were abused, underfed and worked to death under typical free-market dogma.
Feudal lords had clear responsibilities to care for their serfs, including the provision of sufficient land (and time) for a family to live off. Not these days of course.
Nice to have?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/103225/unions-against-extra-funding-for-school
So we can’t find any extra funding for PPL, but no problem to prop up one of the most elite, expensive schools in the country. I grew up in Whanganui and believe me the kids who went to this school were from born-to-rule Tory families who wanted for nothing, while the rest of us in the city’s public schools were from families on Struggle Street.
The priorities of this Government make me so ANGRY.
And meanwhile, as it was when I was at school, public schools nationwide are being told to tighten their belts, make do with no extra funding etc etc.
I wonder if the extra funding will allow the very small class size to be retained?
And allow other privileges of such a school to be retained?
If the 250 privileged kids were to be integrated into the State schools they would be absorbed as just another kid scattered here and there and very little burden on the State.
But should Whanganui Collegiate close, I bet those elite kids would just transfer to another Private school. Lindisfarne for example.
ianmac – I believe Lindisfarne is already integrated.
Grew up there myself, Frida. Used to have a mate at Collegiate who was required to do rifle shooting on a Saturday morning. The sessions were nicknamed ‘pleb practice’. Bloody ringies, eh?
Te Reo – as a WHS girl, I wasn’t good enough to be spoken to by a Ringie 🙂
Took great pleasure in smashing them all in Debating Finals and Scholarship Results though!
The only reason why parents send their kids to private/Catholic schools is so their precious darlings cant catch poor people germs. They can carry on all they like, but that is the underlying fact.
If I had my way I would close every private, iwi and church run school in this country. This country will never heal its social and racial division unless their children all went to the same schools.
Hot on the heels of speculation of NZ adopting the Aussie dollar as our currency comes this
While there may similarities between our countries there is not a lot to like about the way the Aussies have treated and continue to treat their indigenous people, and nothing to respect in Australia’s unseemly enthusiasm for the immoral wars of the US or its’ treatment of refugees.
The thing about being ‘good mates’ is that it is supposed to allow you to have a dialogue even when there is disagreement. Well when it counts, and on the issues that are most contentious I don’t see Australia listening to NZ at all. So Mr Moore can joke all he likes about “Australia becoming a state of NZ” – the real joke is believing that there is any respect shared between us beyond the superficial fondness to be found in the comradeliness of bad jokes and copious quantities of beer.
Police pursuits
Police are adrenaline junkies who love the thrill of the chase.
If only Blair, Bush and Cheney could be rendered to The Hague.
Special report: Rendition ordeal that raises new questions about secret trials.
Joe, have a read of the last two paragraphs on this weeks http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.nz/ sums up Britains “acquiescence” to the US very well.
The whole article is a great read Bored that’s left me wondering whether the contingent of US marines arriving here next week is the lead up to a continued presence.
“Welcoming the troops, Australia’s Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the decision to host them was a response to a changing global balance.
“The world needs to essentially come to grips with the rise of China, the rise of India, the move of strategic and political and economic influence to our part of the world,” he said”
– What a total load or garbage!
Yes I expect there to be a more permanent arrangement with NZ sometime, and the platform will either be laid by some “terror event”, or the TPPA enforcement as part of any FTA with the USA!
I rather desperately hope not!
Abdel Hakim Belhaj – There is some background reading for someone to do!
Christchurch City Council has declared the city a fracking-free zone, as concerns over the practice mount.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/christchurch-declared-fracking-free-zone-4831402
Tim Groser – Asshole of the Week
Groser wants to prioritize our taxes on getting pissed and taking expensive and unnecessary trips to Paris. Only an A hole of the first order would put such priorities above the welfare of our children…
US attacks computer patents
So, our government prepares a law that bans software patents, it’s set to go through and then the USA gets involved in the TPPA talks and it gets held up…
Yeah, I can’t think of any other reason for the delay either especially when…
…we have businesses that want to locate here if the law goes ahead.
Slaters leaking backfires
There really wasn’t anywhere else that the detailed private information about Cecil Walker could have come from, and in releasing it, PoAL management have scored a very significant own goal…
Who has defied the international community? Only North Korea?
Radio New Zealand National news, 2:00 p.m., Friday 13 April 2012
Newsreader Chris Whitta gravely intones: “North Korea has defied the international community and launched a rocket…”
While North Korea has certainly done exactly that, it’s surely a matter of profound public interest that when Britain, the United States, Australia and Israel defy the international community, their actions are never described in such plain terms.
I cannot recall a mainstream news organization (such as Radio New Zealand) ever calling the Bush
regime’s flouting of international law as “defiance”. I cannot remember Israel’s scofflaw leaders ever being called “defiant”, even during the brutal 22-day massacre in Gaza in 2008-9 or after the pirate action in which it slaughtered nine peace activists in 2010.
But North Korea launches a rocket, which kills nobody, and the Korean leadership is described as having “defied” the “international community”.
The rocket didn’t even work properly, so what is the big deal? The duplicitous responses to crimes against humanity and gross breaches of law by those who are apparently a part of the international “community” compared to North Korea launching a satellite rocket that didn’t even work properly is blatant hypocrisy!
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/04/12/207313.html
Strange, I thought it was a rocket to launch a satellite so unless the UN and other states have hard proof that it was a missile test then there’s nothing wrong with the launch.
Personally, I see no problem with any country developing both space capability or the ability to defend itself. This demand that some countries not develop such ability seems to be solely to keep them as dependent countries, ie, to keep the US empire going.
There’s not much difference between a satellite lifter and a ballistic missile – and orbit is just a different type of target coordinate for the guidance system. Actually, ISTR reading that Sputnik was lifted by a converted missile (Ha – I freaking love wikipedia!).
If we were talking about Japan or Indonesia, I’d agree with you (like I’m not too worked up about Iran and it’s nuclear power plants). But North Korea is the geopolitical equivalent of the gun-nut loner in the shack with no electricity down in the bush.
Lots more.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.wikipaintings.org/
http://www.wikia.com/Wikia
http://keywiki.org/index.php/Main_Page
http://tfrwiki.midworld.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
http://www.iep.utm.edu/
http://www.ancientweb.org/
http://eol.org/
.http://www.pantheon.org/
http://www.wolframalpha.com/
http://www.opensecrets.org/index.php
http://www.infoplease.com/
Well, if we want to get technical – there’s no difference.
That’s really not all that unique. Why design and build a new rocket when you’ve already got a few lying around that could do the job?
Well, they may become a little less belligerent with their new leader, too early to tell ATM of course.
The international community really doesn’t have the right to prevent them from developing rocketry. That said, they are alone and if they try to use those weapons aggressively the entire nation will get turned into a radioactive lunar landscape as Afghanistan and Iraq show.
North Korea is the geopolitical equivalent of the gun-nut loner in the shack with no electricity down in the bush.
Oh really?
How many Iraqi and Afghan and Pakistani civilians have been killed by North Korean drone strikes?
How many North Korean soldiers have dragged families out of their houses at night and machine-gunned them to death?
How many North Korean army squadrons compete amongst themselves to cut off and collect the most fingers of civilians they have killed?
How many North Korean secret service operatives have kidnapped civilians from other countries and transported them to secret locations to torture them, often to death?
True. But then US motivations are generally pretty understandable (if not likeable). NK has a history of kidnapping people from their homes in other countries and imprisoning them for years because the dear leader liked their movies.
Try accounting for that sort of thing in geopolitical models.
I wonder how many citizens were shot for laughing at the failure, no doubt they were required to openly grieve for their loss.
Exactly Morrissey!
“Foreign minister Murray McCully says despite the closed off country’s claim the launch is for peaceful purposes, it violates UN Security Council Resolutions, aggravates tensions and undermines attempts to build peace and stability”
Yeah ok, so when NATO bombs some poor country into oblivion for “humanitarian reasons”, when there is only an “internal problem”, which the UN charter does cover, as it only deals with external security threats between nations supposedly, what did NZ say.
Puppets and grandstanders!
The hypocrisy of the Viktor Bout case pisses me off too.
The “International community” of course meaning…..the United States.
Israelis can be angry with Gunter Grass, but they must listen to him
After we denounce the exaggeration, after we shake off the unjustified part of the charge, we must listen to the condemnation of these great people.
by GIDEON LEVY
The harsh, and in some parts infuriating, poem by Gunter Grass of course immediately sparked a wave of vilifications against it and mainly against its author. Grass indeed went a few steps too far (and too mendaciously) – Israel will not destroy the Iranian people – and for that he will be punished, in his own country and in Israel. But in precisely the same way the poem’s nine stanzas lost a sense of proportion in terms of their judgment of Israel, so too the angry responses to it suffer from exaggeration. Tom Segev wrote in Haaretz: “Unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently confided in him, his opinion is vacuous.” (“More pathetic than anti-Semitic,” April 5 ). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Grass’ Nazi past, and Israeli embassies in Germany went so far as to state, ridiculously, that the poem signified “anti-Semitism in the best European tradition of blood libels before Passover.”
It is doubtful that Grass intended his poem to be published on the eve of Passover. It contains no blood libel. In fact, it is the branding of it as anti-Semitic that is a matter of tradition – all criticism of Israel is immediately thus labeled. Grass’ Nazi past, his joining the Waffen SS as a youth, does not warrant shutting him up some 70 years later, and his opinion is far from vacuous. According to Segev, anyone who is not a nuclear scientist, an Israeli prime minister or an Iranian president must keep silent on the stormiest issue in Israel and the world today. That is a flawed approach.
Grass’ “What Must Be Said” does contain things that must be said. It can and should be said that Israel’s policy is endangering world peace. His position against Israeli nuclear power is also legitimate. He can also oppose supplying submarines to Israel without his past immediately being pulled out as a counterclaim. But Grass exaggerated, unnecessarily and in a way that damaged his own position. Perhaps it is his advanced age and his ambition to attract a last round of attention, and perhaps the words came forth all at once like a cascade, after decades during which it was almost impossible to criticize Israel in Germany.
That’s the way it is when all criticism of Israel is considered illegitimate and improper and is stopped up inside for years. In the end it erupts in an extreme form. Grass’ poem was published only a few weeks after another prominent German, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Sigmar Gabriel, wrote that there is an apartheid regime in Hebron. He also aroused angry responses. Therefore it is better to listen to the statements and, especially, finally, to lift the prohibition against criticizing Israel in Germany.
Israel has many friends in Germany, more than in most European countries. Some of them support us blindly, some have justified guilt feelings and some are true, critical friends of Israel. There are, of course, anti-Semites in Germany and the demand that Germany never forget is also justified. But a situation in which any German who dares criticize Israel is instantly accused of anti-Semitism is intolerable.
Some years ago, after a critical article of mine was published in the German daily Die Welt, one of its editors told me: “No journalist of ours could write an article like that.” I was never again invited to write for that paper. For years, any journalist who joined the huge German media outlet Axel Springer had to sign a pledge never to write anything that casts aspersions on Israel’s right to exist. That is an unhealthy situation that ended with an eruption of exaggerated criticism like Grass’.
Grass is not alone. No less of a major figure, the great author Jose de Sousa Saramago opened the floodgates in his later years when, after a visit to the occupied territories, he compared what was going on there to Auschwitz. Like Grass, Saramago went too far, but his remarks about the Israelis should have been heeded: “Living under the shadow of the Holocaust and expecting forgiveness for everything they will do in the name of their suffering seems coarse. They have learned nothing from the suffering of their parents and their grandparents.”
After we denounce the exaggeration, after we shake off the unjustified part of the charge, we must listen to these great people. They are not anti-Semites, they are expressing the opinion of many people. Instead of accusing them we should consider what we did that led them to express it..
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israelis-can-be-angry-with-gunter-grass-but-they-must-listen-to-him-1.423194
Yeah, Norman Finkelstein has some interesting things to say about the Germans’ Philo-Semitism/ultra-Political Correctness on Israel. Astonishing how so many around the world take precisely the wrong (particularist rather than universalist) message from the nazi holocaust. Let’s all make up for the 6 million dead 70 years ago by cheerfully standing by and watching the slow torture and destruction of the Palestinian people now.
Do you ever think we’ll see even five seconds of Finkelstein speaking on television in New Zealand? I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen people like that loathsome reptile Mark Regev telling lies, and never once having them contested by the head-nodders back in the studio.
As for them going to someone who actually knows what he is talking about, and is scrupulously honest and even-handed, like Finkelstein? Forget it.
“Mental skills” coach Gilbert Enoka disappointing on radio this morning
National Radio, Friday 13 April 2012
Nine To Noon with Kathryn Ryan
Interview with the All Blacks’ “mental skills coach” GILBERT ENOKA
It wasn’t all bad. As you would expect, Gilbert Enoka does have a few interesting things to say about his twelve years with the All Blacks. After the 2007 quarter-final loss in Cardiff, Enoka spent most of his time in the changing room “trying to contain the distress” of the players. Important work, no doubt, although he obviously failed to contain the distress of one DOUG HOWLETT, who went on a drunken one-man car-bonnet-stomping rampage in the small hours of the morning after.
He had a couple of good one-liners, including this one: “Just because it’s common sense doesn’t mean it’s common practice.”
He also had some interesting things to say about the All Blacks’ change of attitude toward the RWC; in 2007 they had insisted that World Cup games were just like any other games, but in 2011 the focus changed: the World Cup became the focus of the entire year. The team decided to acknowledge that the RWC was a knock-out tournament, and teams could perform “heroically”, like Tonga did against France. The All Blacks acknowledged that they too had to perform at the Cup, and that if they did not, they would “choke”.
Here Kathryn Ryan decided to interject with an especially inane comment: “The All Blacks choked in the final and still won!” she blurted cheerily.
Enoka’s a nice guy, but he wasn’t going to dignify such an idiotic outburst by affirming it. Instead, he riffed on the theme of tension and pressure….
ENOKA: We acknowledged that there would be moments of great tension and pressure. Some people just can’t execute.
RYAN: And then there is the high-performing team that loses its bottle at the critical moment.
ENOKA: Yeah…
[And so on, and so forth…]
You would have been gravely disappointed if you’d expected to hear something interesting or revelatory or—God forbid—HONEST from Gilbert Enoka about the big question from last year, viz., Why did the referee in the final fail so gruesomely to do his job? But Enoka is a key member of the All Black camp, so the iron-clad code of silence applies to him as much as it does to Graham Henry or any of the players.
But without any doubt Enoka would have been highly alert to the irony (intended or not) in Ryan’s comment about a team “losing its bottle at the critical moment” and failing to perform. Enoka, the expert in human motivation and performance management, knows that if ever there was an example of losing one’s bottle and grievously failing to perform, it was not either of the teams in the final. It was, of course, the referee (or as he is called in France, the non-referee) Craig Joubert.
Conclusion: It’s just too much to expect Gilbert Enoka, or anyone in the All Blacks’ camp, to break ranks and admit to the presence of that hideous South African elephant in the room.
Bloody hell Morrissey, we disagreed yesterday, now today. I have watched it 10 times, and the ref got it right. It is very dark at the bottom of those rucks and mauls, trust me I have spent a lot of time there. And the ref can only be on one side of them at a time. You would have needed two refs with night vision goggles to get a mere smidgen of what both sides were doing. (OK if I was honest I have spotted about 5 “penalty” offenses both ways..neither side benefited).
I will contend with all confidence that if need be that Beaver would have dropped a goal, honest. Actually, the winning of the game which Enoka and Henry never mention was the direction of the replacement halfback (Ellis) who refused to kick long despite being told to in the last 4 minutes. He insisted the forwards take it up, hold onto it. A hard head when others looked decidedly panicked (especially Henry).
I have watched it 10 times
Watch it an eleventh time, but this time make sure you’re sober.
I will lay on the floor in front of the TV and ask all parties (cat, dog, any local humans) to jump on top of me, don the night vision goggles and re appraise in slow motion. I promise not to earn the French a penalty by being on the wrong side of the carpet or by refusing to roll away, and I will definitley not hang on to the dog. We will still win. Promise.
I suggest you watch this for a start….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=1XBqetaCfgo
Well that is a couple of very partisan gents would you not say? And they definitely dont appear to like the ABs do they? And yes, the clips showed some seriously bad reffing…indeed.
Some of us watched the whole game and saw all sorts of things that the ref missed like eye gouging players who should not have remained on the pitch. We saw Piri miss 4 penalties (another stupidly bad Henry move to pick a goal kicker with a stuffed ankle), we saw the ABs bomb a couple of tries.
Its all too late to complain, bit like the Suzie incident. Yes the ABs were lucky, but the ref ultimately, like in the quarter in Cardiff did not dictate the result. All up a very average French team played well above themselves and still managed to lose to a very beatable NZ team. Self inflicted wounds perhaps. I wont impugn Joubert or Barnes, their optometrists may bear some responsibility however.
I am curious Morrissey, did you want the ABs to lose?
Would’ve lost Key the elections.
Well that is a couple of very partisan gents would you not say?
Actually, it’s a couple of neutral commentators. They were, like anyone who watched the game in a fair-minded way, appalled by the referee’s refusal to do his job.
And they definitely dont appear to like the ABs do they?
Not true. They were critical of the referee’s failure to do his job. They acknowledged that the All Blacks cheated blatantly throughout the second half, but they did not blame them; they blamed the man who let them cheat.
All up a very average French team played well above themselves
Do you actually know anything about French rugby? The fact is that the Tricolors had not only played well BELOW their true ability, but in their first round games against NZ and Tonga, they didn’t even try to play. What you’ve written makes no sense—unless you’re trying to be condescending toward a team which has more talent to draw on than any other team in the world.
I wont impugn Joubert
Well, that’s a pity. I’m sure you actually have more integrity than that. If you continue to indulge Joubert’s outrageous non-performance, then you’re choosing to turn a blind eye to it.
or Barnes
And nor should you. There is no comparison between Barnes’ honest mistakes in 2007, and Joubert’s determined refusal to do his job in 2011.
I am curious Morrissey, did you want the ABs to lose?
No, of course not. I wanted to see a good game of football. Unfortunately, the referee (or more accurately, the non-referee) was determined to allow one team to kill the ball illegally and persistently.
Bloody hell Morrissey you are a belligerent bugger. Never ever wrong, can only see it your way. No one else could possibly be right or have their own opinion.
For that you get to play in my front row, your job is to question and badger the ref to death. My job as an aged flanker is to get away with whatever I can.
…you are a belligerent bugger.
“Belligerent?” Oh hell, I’ll accept that. But go easy on the “bugger” allegation, please.
Never ever wrong, can only see it your way.
Not so. I’m often wrong, and I am prepared to reconsider my opinions.
No one else could possibly be right or have their own opinion.
Not true. I accept people will disagree over many things. But facts are not like opinions. The fact is: Craig Joubert failed to do his job in the RWC final. There are many opinions about why he failed to do his job, and I am prepared to be convinced that it was due to a failure of nerve, and not due to corruption on his part.
But that will require some skilled advocacy. I’m sure you’re up to the job, though, my friend.
Goodo. We probably agree on the French. If they selected their best and played to their ability, ref or no ref we would have been dog tucker.
If they selected their best and played to their ability, ref or no ref we would have been dog tucker.
Well, possibly. But quite possibly we (New Zealand) would still have won. I am just disappointed that we never got the chance to really find out.
I bid you good night, Bored. You have worked hard today, and done exceedingly well.
Guys, I hope I am not being rude in saying this, but could you please not talk about rugby so much here? I think it’s going to be interesting, so i start to read, but … no… it’s just sport!
Sorry, Vicky…
Akismet is having some (presumed black friday) problems today. There have been some quite extensive timeouts on checking comments. But I think it may have been some network outages on the local networks around the NZ1 server for the last 30-40 minutes.
Just looking around it seems ok right now…
Hoping for a trifecta
So that’s a couple of the most lunatic rightwing bloggers out of the picture… who will be the third?
This is something we need to be aware is coming.
People bidding for casual work over the internet trademe/e-bay style but instead of the bids going up they go down. As the article points out, there are some downsides:-
Something that the government and other political parties need to think about and regulate. If it’s not regulated then we will see people being badly exploited and an explosion of poverty that makes the increase in poverty since neo-liberalism began seem small and insignificant with an accompanying increase of wealth by the few.
I can’t reply directly Morrissey, so I’ll say here “S’okay!” 😀