Labour should present their business proposals to the respective boards, live before a studio audience, with the winning bids given roses and the losers evacuated by trapdoor.
Because Labour will open the door wide open to National dipping into those funds for other reasons – supporting Tiwai point for instance. Building new economic infrastructure in Northland (motorways). Bailing out Queen St dairy farmer mates who acted speculatively.
Because that’s supporting new businesses and helping existing businesses, right?
then why couldn’t you convince the private investors of that fact?….it is a classic demonstration of neolib philosophy…socailised cost/risk for private profit.
Water security, both resident and farmer.
Fully metered and priced, as it should be.
Large foreign corporates like Veolia will require such metering and pricing to be undertaken before they will look at purchasing public water assets from NZ government organisations.
In other words, it will be a precondition to privatising NZ’s water assets.
It appears to have been formed by a massive slip.
It wasn’t man made! And yes Waikaremoana is a beautiful place .
But I’m sure the planners of the Ruataniwha Dam have no such intentions wrt emulating the beauty of Waikaremoana! And it is as much the environmental down stream effects of the dam that are just as disastrous as the flooding of the podocarp forest.
More humans every day say that living in some idilic little utopian backwater is a fantasy, so I think the government should not only allow things like the dam the should set the rules around the immediate lake surrounds and what the water will be used for.
Like restrict dairy and favour fruit and crop s . if we maximise what we can produce off our good land we could put more of the marginal land into trees.
Socailised cost/risk for private profit is the concern with Labour’s proposal, Pat.
The majority of new start-ups fail.
Moreover, is this a traditional investment whereby ACC and the Super Fund will have shareholder rights and receive dividends? Or is it more of a handout with merely hope of creating new employment and tax revenue?
Additionally, will a company’s ethics and things such as paying a living wage be an expectation of recipients? Will production be allowed to later shift offshore?
But Ad the environmental result is likely to be poisonous to the land and perhaps to the people over time from Ruataniwha. It is being built with the idea being stated that it will pay for itself, eventually. But over long term.
If it ever does get paid off, by that time there will be toxicity result and loss of production and health. The repairs needed to keep it strong will not be done and then….
It is too big and expensive for the needs and purses of the locality, and the planners are full of hubris and greed like the ones around Christchurch. Just get it built they thought, and then the water is available for individual benefit. I bet that they were being greatly helped by Alan Hubbard, hence the bailout of money for SFC so they could keep afloat. Now ACC is going to be used as the slush fund. in Hawkes Bay.
Absolutely there is major environmental damage.
It’s the same with every other major dam that’s every been built in New Zealand over the last 120 years.
Dams are a really costly thing to do from every angle.
AD
You are so right a dam is worth doing.
But the size of this one, the plans for its use, indicate a need to step back and set up another committee. Gummint is always using that ploy to slow down things that without doubt need to go ahead, and should do the same here where there are great big doubts about various airy statements and assumptions. Also Maori are I think seriously concerned from their kaitiaki role and their not just talking nonsense if some pakeha wants to use that disdaining argument.
And finally there is the cavalier way that the increased pollution that our waterways now are suffering is being ignored. This pollution brings a whole new aspect to this dam of today compared to those of the past.
If we look at power generation dams, I doubt that there will ever be any more dams on the Mata-Au (the Clutha). The proposed dams at Beaumont and Luggate are not going to happen because people with different values than yours said no. If we look at existing dams, I don’t have too much of a problem with Roxburgh, it was well before my time so I have no personal sense of the damage done, and it’s one of the underpinnings of us being relatively ff-free in terms of electricity. But the Clyde dam was in my time and if it was choice between flooding above Clyde and Muldoon’s Think Big projects I just don’t think that dam would have been built now.
We have other ways of powering our lives, including using less power. The choice between a dam at Beaumont and Luggate (or another dam on the Waitaki) so that people can consume more, and us actually living within our limits is still a real choice. We’re not forced to rely on dams other than by the choices that our government makes.
Likewise with water. There are plenty of good ways of farming that don’t rely on big storage dams. And managing the harvesting of water for humans to drink and use (including using less). That we think big storage dams are for the public good come from ideology and the desire for things to be easy, not from necessity.
“And in most cases they are worth doing.”
In the US some of the dams literally destroy ecosystems. The salmon are an integral part of the life cycles outside of the river bed. So many salmon spawn up river that the bears fish and leave the carcasses on shore and these then fertilise the forests. When you take the salmon out of the picture (by dams) you affect whole cycles and systems, including ones we are not yet aware of. Hard to make that argument in NZ admittedly, because the catchments of the rivers like the Mata-au and the Waitaki are pretty much screwed by farming anyway, but nevertheless there are still good reasons for us to rethink our values and be honest about them. Asserting something is worth doing doesn’t make it do.
If ecological values about existing environments were the only values to consider, I would agree with you. A few of New Zealand’s lost dam proposals should stay lost.
The step one gets to by simply looking at a river system and considering it a resource to be used (I recall Heidegger railing against this in The Question Concerning technology just after the War), is the step that admits there are more than current ecological values to consider.
It’s good to admit that we evaluate fat modernist projects like dams differently now to when most of them were put in. But we are exceedingly lucky that we didn’t back then.
New Zealand owes its 85% renewable electricity generation level to conceiving the earth as resource to be used.
New Zealand also owes its exceptional preparedness for water scarcity and flood mitigation within global warming to conceiving the earth as resource to be used.
New Zealand also owes its large-scale manufacturing base in forestry, steel, aluminium, horticulture, viticulture, extensive agriculture and others, to that modernist era from Seddon to Muldoon requiring huge electricity and irrigation use from dams, that conceived the earth as resource to be used.
The RMA hasn’t entirely put paid to such coarse thinking, but has enabled more than the environment to be factored in to a decision.
Using less electricity or water can delay the need for major water storage, but won’t avoid it: you can see that for example in Watercare’s Asset Management Plan. You can have the argument about the optimum size of water storage if you like. As for Salmon, those McKenzie Country Salmon farms generating sustainable protein out of dam spillways are a great investment in our future.
I’ll put a proper post up once the deal is all signed and ready for construction.
That makes sense Ad from your world view, but I have to say that there is a problem with the idea that ecological perspecives sit alongside say economic ones and thus are at the risk of not seeing the bigger picture. The paradigm I am coming from is not that they sit side by side, but that everything (literally) is based in the natural world, and if you don’t use that as your starting point you end up with Climate Change (or peak oil, peak soil, peak phosphorus, and even eventually peak metals etc).
I’m generally a pragmatist, so I don’t have too much trouble working with what we’ve got and am not even against another dam being built in NZ but only if it can be done in from the sustainable paradigm.
And I will just repeat, all the things you are saying are important enough to damage the environment for are not without options. So again, let’s be honest. We want to build more dams because we want a certain kind of lifestyle that meets our wants as well as our needs. But that’s not an imperative.
Agree totally CV-Labour should NOT follow Gnats policy of dipping into ACC and Cullen fund. I explained this financial fiddle in a post 5 weeks ago in relation to Nationals selling off of Kiwibank to these funds as follows:
“The way the Kiwibank sale works is like this (using simple numbers):
Now:
Cullen Fund/ACC assets now: $20,000m
Kiwibank Value owned by government now:$1,000m
Government forces Cullen Fund/ACC to buy 45% of Kiwibank
Cullen Fund/ACC sells shares worth $450m in order to buy $450m of Kiwibank
Result:
Cullen Fund/ACC assets $20,000m
Kiwibank owned by government $550m
Money available for tax cuts $450m
The effect is that National is reducing state-owned capital assets in order to finance a short-term tax cut bribe. Of course they are denying that the Cullen Fund/ACC are being forced to buy Kiwibank, but that is yet another big lie for the BLiP list.”
Thank you CV and Greyw. Its all about debits and credits.
The counterpoint is that Labour should adopt Land Tax as a policy. 1% LT with NO exemptions would give then $6.7billion to play with while sticking it to the top 5%.
Such a proposal has to be thought out so that those on fixed incomes and low incomes are not disadvantaged.
A retired couple living in a pensioners flat that they own worth $360K in Auckland, with $1800/month disposable income (mostly from NZ super) would have to use two months worth of income to pay a 1% land tax.
I don’t see any problem if it’s ACC and Super Fund investing in New Zealand business on their merit. They are investment funds and have very good record of picking investments that give a good return and appear to be pretty active in the market.
Investments (really expenditure) with political or “Regional Development” imperatives are totally inappropriate for ACC or Super Fund, for the reason CV identified at 1.2.1.1 That’s a really slippery slope leading to a stinking corrupt and bankrupt hole.
A better idea would be a unit in MBIE to work with businesses and investors to facilitate funding. ACC and SF would be two of their pool of investors. A parallel initiative would be to strengthen rules around ACC and SF to keep political interference right out of it.
Labour needs to be leading the anti corruption angle on this sort of issue and showing where and how it can come unstuck, and seeking solutions to get the good outcomes, ie enhanced NZ investment in NZ, while keeping the nepotistic corruption right out of it.
As ACC and the Super Fund already can and do invest in New Zealand businesses based on their merit, it would suggest Labour’s proposal will go further than that (leaning more towards a handout).
Every time world leaders have one of these international talkfests they look more clownish and ridiculous.
“…global carbon dioxide emissions from energy activities will rise from 36 billion metric tons in 2012, the baseline year used for the 2016 outlook, to 43 billion metric tons in 2040.
That’s a 34 percent increase in energy-related CO2, compared to a 48 percent increase in overall energy consumption from 2010 to 2040”
These talks seem to be more about showing that Something is Being Done™ rather than actually doing doing anything. If the politicians had actually wanted to do something about all this they would have started in 1992 with the signing of the Kyoto Protocol. Instead they’ve kicked the can down the road and allowed and encouraged unsustainable development.
There’s something infinitely nauseating in Judith Collins being a NZ representative on the World Anti Corruption Summit, which is presided by no other than David Cameron himself…The whole damned thing is a farce.
Cunliffe got stuck into her and the irony of her being NZ’s anti-corruption representative on Morning Report this morning mentioning Oravida several times.
“My child’s teacher approached her in the cloak bay and said “sorry I’m going to have to take that off you because your parents haven’t paid the payments”. What right does a teacher have to say that, why not contact me about it first?” he said.
That is absolutely atrocious behaviour by the school.
That said, the guy should have gone to pricespy and had a look. Could have got a decent laptop for half the price.
yes Clinton is certainly working for the wealthy establishment…but she is soiled goods
… and “Sanders supporters argue that the risk of a Clinton scandal blowing up is why their candidate is a better choice, as well as polls that show the Vermont senator beating the billionaire Trump, while new polls show Clinton would either be tied with Trump or trailing come November.”
‘FBI: No deadline or ‘special set of rules’ in Clinton email investigation’
‘FBI: No deadline or ‘special set of rules’ in Clinton email investigation’
The risk is not just that a scandal may blow up and derail her, a potential scandal hanging over her head will strengthen the establishment’s hold on her, so that even if she is happy to step into Bernie’s slipstream rhetorically, she will not be able to afford to act on it in any meaningful way.
“Tonight’s Rumble talks Bernie’s and Trump’s big primary wins, Trumps appointing of Rudy Giuliani as his Muslim Czar, and his selecting of two insiders to tweak his tax plan. Thom discusses how establishment Democrats are already trying to hijack the convention with International Business Times’ David Sirota and in tonight’s Daily Take Thom details how Donald Trump could become the next Ronald Reagan.”
“The question of social justice: As America’s two major parties move toward anointing their presidential nominees, there is a growing sense of disaffection and even insurrection among voters. And this has set the business-as-usual political and financial elites into a panic. It is all their own fault.
CrossTalking with Richard Wolff, Les Leopold, and Inderjeet Parmar.”
Cunliffe getting closer to claiming a Nat scalp. Louise Upson might well become too much of an embarrassment to the Nats at the rate Cunkiffe is skewing her.
Cunliffe has made her look incompetent is her handling of the Onetai Farm purchase by the dodgy Argentian polluters.
I’d love to know which law/trust advisors the Argentians used to move their case across Louise upson’d desk. Was it one if the firms that net with Minister McClay in Shortland Street?
Yep, being a Minister of the Government carries responsibility and foresight, not just throwing weight and money around.Glad Cunliffe is holding them to account.Hopefully we won’t get the usual ” drama triangle” scenario when they cry victim and try to get everyone to feel sorry for them.
“New Zealand has slipped down the ranks of the least corrupt countries, and earlier this year watchdog Transparency International accused the Government of “astonishing” complacency.”
New Zealand is considering setting up a public register of company ownership that would create an accessible and central database of companies with bribery and corruption convictions.
Considering doing something that should be mandatory.
“New Zealand also supports the development of common principles governing the payment of compensation to countries affected by corruption, to ensure that such payments are made safely, fairly and in a transparent manner.”
That sounds like another way for public monies to be given to private businesses.
Collins told RNZ that she wanted honest money invested in New Zealand, and the public central register would contain company beneficial ownership information.
Good old Winston, right now, he’s in the UK telling the people to be wary of big foreign bank money being used in the “Remain in the EU” campaign, and telling the Brits they can come on over and trade with us – think he’s more interested in actual “trade” than our Govt with their TPPA strait-jacket!
I doubt foreign banks are quite the threat to working Britons as one of their own is.
The billionaire donor bankrolling the Brexit campaign Peter Hargreaves has said the EU is too dominated by France and Germany , and believes Singapore is the best business model for Britain outside the European Union.
The businessman also said a steep fall in sterling could be good for the country, and that some workers’ rights – such as part-time employment, flexitime and extended maternity leave – have gone too far.
Jewish-American Professor of History, Lawrence Davidson, on the misuse of “anti-Semitism” in the absurd smear campaign / McCarthyite witch-hunt currently taking place in the UK. While I don’t entirely agree with his treatment of the Ken Livingstone smear (he misinterprets what Livingstone actually said), it’s still a good overall outline.
Incidentally, if you can find a copy, have a read of the multi-authored The Politics of Anti-Semitism. It’s a little dated (2003) but still enlightening.
Corbyn seems like he’s getting lost in inconsequential and unwinnable battles like reshuffles, regional elections, and the one you describe above.
He needs a long range comms theme. Hate to say it, but that’s how Blair got his first nationwide electoral win. (Not defending Blair’s Middle East policies BTW).
Corbyn’s comms strategy has certainly, at times, appeared amateurish and more than a little inept.
But then, Corbyn, McDonnell and Labour’s Campaign Group Left faction really didn’t expect a Corbyn victory at the start of the Leadership campaign. There hadn’t been a great deal of planning. Whereas, in stark contrast, the other 3 highly ambitious contenders had been planning and organising for years, surrounding themselves with all the right people, nurturing media contacts and so on.
And we also, of course, need to factor in the unrelenting hostility from the MSM (and wider Establishment) – which began the moment the first YouGov Poll of the Labour Selectorate came out, suggesting Corbyn’s was the front-runner. Although, to be fair, there have been arguments that Corbyn has played a part in exacerbating the toxic relationship by rejecting useful advice on media management.
Not much he could do about this latest “anti-Semitism” smear campaign, though (uncritically regurgitated, as it has been, by MSM journos in the UK).
A new Pew Research Center Poll finds liberal Democrats turning away from Israel.
While Republicans of all persuasions – together with conservative and moderate Democrats – continue to favour Israel by large margins … for the first time, liberal Democrats sympathise more with the Palestinians (40%) than with the Israelis (33%).
Back in 2001, the liberal Democrat split was 48%/18% in favour of Israel and last year 39%/21%. That’s a huge turn-around. Support for Israel down 6 points but, more importantly, sympathy for the Palestinians up 19 points over the last year (suggesting a significant swing from previous Undecideds).
Apologists for Israel’s Occupation should be a little concerned because Democrats are becoming more and more liberal over time (27% of Dems considered themselves liberal in 2000 / 41% in 2015).
African Americans, Latinos and younger Democrats in general – all demographics making up a larger and larger proportion of the Democratic constituency as time goes on – are more sympathetic than Americans as a whole to the Palestinian cause.
Now this I like, a lot. Young Children in Alabama took a poll (in the picture – it says pill – teehee) to see what their hopes and fears for the future were. Be surprised!
Me too. But I’m not really surprised. Young people have a terribly bad rap, a narrative that Those Who Rule Us like to reinforce.
Had a lovely chat in the supermarket yesterday with a shelf packer, who was well past retirement age.
After explaining to me the nefarious goings on in product pricing, he commented that he was appalled at how young workers were being exploited. How employers expected young workers to begin the job fully trained, and then gave them shit when they messed up. He said how when he began work, things were different. He makes an effort to take young workers ‘under his wing.’
Now there’s a quaint old saying..maybe we should revive it?
…Herald newspaper showed the CEOs from New Zealand’s largest listed companies had an average pay increase of 12 percent in 2015 compared with 3.2 percent for employees.
The average CEO increase was $180,000 while the biggest total salary was Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings. He earned $4.49 million.
The average pay increase for employees was $988, with the average salary $57,000.
As Israel finds itself more and more diplomatically isolated, its legion of apologists is becoming even more extreme and intolerant. The following horror story is currently being played out in Britain, but something similar to this happened in 2002, when the New Zealand equivalents of Jonathan Sacerdoti, Jonathan Arkush and Baroness Deech bullied Gavin Ellis, the then editor of the Herald into firing his cartoonist Malcolm Evans after Evans had the temerity to criticise the Holy State….
Labour antisemitism witch-hunt turns on leading anti-racism campaigner
by Jamie Stern-Weiner, Monday, May 9th, 2016
Last week, prominent Momentum activist Jackie Walker was suspended from the Labour Party for alleged antisemitism. (Momentum is a grassroots movement affiliated with the Labour Party, which currently supports the elected leadership of the socialist and veteran Palestine solidarity campaigner Jeremy Corbyn.)
There are five points to make about this.
1.) The antisemitism allegations against Walker are devoid of factual basis. The evidence against Walker consists of two Facebook comments. In the first, Walker dismissed claims that Labour has ‘a major problem with anti-semitism’….
Nugent is surely a repulsive misogynist & gun fetishist.
But I do have a soft spot for Phil Judd; despite his health problems & stalking conviction. He’s always come across as a visual artist who is a talented songwriter but just can’t stand the live performance part of it. Calling him “an old rocker” is way too simplistic. The Play it Strange album from 2014 is pretty great, and this track (which actually has a video) has a wonderful self awareness:
I see that WhaleOil stopped being measured in February, but couldn’t find any comment why. Presumably it has either had technical problems or is now regarded as a commercial PR site . . .
The Standard appears to be steadily rising in the rankings, and No Right Turn has a surprisingly low ranking – could that result from not having comments?
10. There is still a chance to construct a new world order that will avoid a world war. This new world order must of necessity include the United States—but can only do so on the same terms as everyone else: subject to international law and international agreements; refraining from all unilateral action; in full respect of the sovereignty of other nations.
To sum it all up: play-time is over. Children, put away your toys. Now is the time for the adults to make decisions. Russia is ready for this; is the world?
I would wonder how the Western ‘elites’ took that but I already know. They shut it down so that no one would hear about it and still believes that the war that they’re pushing for will leave them better off.
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
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Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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What are your thoughts on Labour’s proposal to dip into ACC and the Super Fund to help fund new start ups and expand current businesses?
Labour should present their business proposals to the respective boards, live before a studio audience, with the winning bids given roses and the losers evacuated by trapdoor.
Idiotic.
why idiotic?
Because Labour will open the door wide open to National dipping into those funds for other reasons – supporting Tiwai point for instance. Building new economic infrastructure in Northland (motorways). Bailing out Queen St dairy farmer mates who acted speculatively.
Because that’s supporting new businesses and helping existing businesses, right?
Labour is fucking stupid.
“Because Labour will open the door wide open to National dipping into those funds for other reasons”
too late ….Ruataniwha
Exactly. And Labour want to do it too. Our political landscape is bereft of new ideas.
was wondering if the irony was evident
Massive water storage will be necessary for the whole of NZ’s east coast.
then why couldn’t you convince the private investors of that fact?….it is a classic demonstration of neolib philosophy…socailised cost/risk for private profit.
That’s what the public sector is for.
Major infrastructure we all rely on is a public good.
You’ll thank them later.
what public good is there in Ruataniwha pray tell?
Trickledown.
/extremesarcasm
Water security, both resident and farmer.
Fully metered and priced, as it should be.
“Fully metered and priced, as it should be.”
Ahh Ad showing your true colours at last.
You should really be in the national party mate – it’s your natural home.
those private farms, some of which may be foreign owned for all we know….rrrrrright, thats definitely a public good
Large foreign corporates like Veolia will require such metering and pricing to be undertaken before they will look at purchasing public water assets from NZ government organisations.
In other words, it will be a precondition to privatising NZ’s water assets.
That’s what all the trucking companies say when rail gets torn up and motorways built.
So is the environment a public good
the dam will be an environmental disaster
http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/saving-our-environment/freshwater/wild-rivers/ruataniwha-dam-opposed-forest-bird
I see waikeremoana gets a mention, while it was man made waikerimoana is onle about 2000 years old and it certainly didn’t destroy that environment.
That’s meant to be “wasn’t man made”
Huh???
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-LamPion-t1-body-d9.html
It appears to have been formed by a massive slip.
It wasn’t man made! And yes Waikaremoana is a beautiful place .
But I’m sure the planners of the Ruataniwha Dam have no such intentions wrt emulating the beauty of Waikaremoana! And it is as much the environmental down stream effects of the dam that are just as disastrous as the flooding of the podocarp forest.
More humans every day say that living in some idilic little utopian backwater is a fantasy, so I think the government should not only allow things like the dam the should set the rules around the immediate lake surrounds and what the water will be used for.
Like restrict dairy and favour fruit and crop s . if we maximise what we can produce off our good land we could put more of the marginal land into trees.
Socailised cost/risk for private profit is the concern with Labour’s proposal, Pat.
The majority of new start-ups fail.
Moreover, is this a traditional investment whereby ACC and the Super Fund will have shareholder rights and receive dividends? Or is it more of a handout with merely hope of creating new employment and tax revenue?
Additionally, will a company’s ethics and things such as paying a living wage be an expectation of recipients? Will production be allowed to later shift offshore?
But Ad the environmental result is likely to be poisonous to the land and perhaps to the people over time from Ruataniwha. It is being built with the idea being stated that it will pay for itself, eventually. But over long term.
If it ever does get paid off, by that time there will be toxicity result and loss of production and health. The repairs needed to keep it strong will not be done and then….
It is too big and expensive for the needs and purses of the locality, and the planners are full of hubris and greed like the ones around Christchurch. Just get it built they thought, and then the water is available for individual benefit. I bet that they were being greatly helped by Alan Hubbard, hence the bailout of money for SFC so they could keep afloat. Now ACC is going to be used as the slush fund. in Hawkes Bay.
Absolutely there is major environmental damage.
It’s the same with every other major dam that’s every been built in New Zealand over the last 120 years.
Dams are a really costly thing to do from every angle.
And in most cases they are worth doing.
AD
You are so right a dam is worth doing.
But the size of this one, the plans for its use, indicate a need to step back and set up another committee. Gummint is always using that ploy to slow down things that without doubt need to go ahead, and should do the same here where there are great big doubts about various airy statements and assumptions. Also Maori are I think seriously concerned from their kaitiaki role and their not just talking nonsense if some pakeha wants to use that disdaining argument.
And finally there is the cavalier way that the increased pollution that our waterways now are suffering is being ignored. This pollution brings a whole new aspect to this dam of today compared to those of the past.
I think we need a whole post on the Ruataniwha dam.
Once it’s underway I’ll put one up.
“And in most cases they are worth doing.”
That depends on your values.
If we look at power generation dams, I doubt that there will ever be any more dams on the Mata-Au (the Clutha). The proposed dams at Beaumont and Luggate are not going to happen because people with different values than yours said no. If we look at existing dams, I don’t have too much of a problem with Roxburgh, it was well before my time so I have no personal sense of the damage done, and it’s one of the underpinnings of us being relatively ff-free in terms of electricity. But the Clyde dam was in my time and if it was choice between flooding above Clyde and Muldoon’s Think Big projects I just don’t think that dam would have been built now.
We have other ways of powering our lives, including using less power. The choice between a dam at Beaumont and Luggate (or another dam on the Waitaki) so that people can consume more, and us actually living within our limits is still a real choice. We’re not forced to rely on dams other than by the choices that our government makes.
Likewise with water. There are plenty of good ways of farming that don’t rely on big storage dams. And managing the harvesting of water for humans to drink and use (including using less). That we think big storage dams are for the public good come from ideology and the desire for things to be easy, not from necessity.
“And in most cases they are worth doing.”
In the US some of the dams literally destroy ecosystems. The salmon are an integral part of the life cycles outside of the river bed. So many salmon spawn up river that the bears fish and leave the carcasses on shore and these then fertilise the forests. When you take the salmon out of the picture (by dams) you affect whole cycles and systems, including ones we are not yet aware of. Hard to make that argument in NZ admittedly, because the catchments of the rivers like the Mata-au and the Waitaki are pretty much screwed by farming anyway, but nevertheless there are still good reasons for us to rethink our values and be honest about them. Asserting something is worth doing doesn’t make it do.
If ecological values about existing environments were the only values to consider, I would agree with you. A few of New Zealand’s lost dam proposals should stay lost.
The step one gets to by simply looking at a river system and considering it a resource to be used (I recall Heidegger railing against this in The Question Concerning technology just after the War), is the step that admits there are more than current ecological values to consider.
It’s good to admit that we evaluate fat modernist projects like dams differently now to when most of them were put in. But we are exceedingly lucky that we didn’t back then.
New Zealand owes its 85% renewable electricity generation level to conceiving the earth as resource to be used.
New Zealand also owes its exceptional preparedness for water scarcity and flood mitigation within global warming to conceiving the earth as resource to be used.
New Zealand also owes its large-scale manufacturing base in forestry, steel, aluminium, horticulture, viticulture, extensive agriculture and others, to that modernist era from Seddon to Muldoon requiring huge electricity and irrigation use from dams, that conceived the earth as resource to be used.
The RMA hasn’t entirely put paid to such coarse thinking, but has enabled more than the environment to be factored in to a decision.
Using less electricity or water can delay the need for major water storage, but won’t avoid it: you can see that for example in Watercare’s Asset Management Plan. You can have the argument about the optimum size of water storage if you like. As for Salmon, those McKenzie Country Salmon farms generating sustainable protein out of dam spillways are a great investment in our future.
I’ll put a proper post up once the deal is all signed and ready for construction.
That makes sense Ad from your world view, but I have to say that there is a problem with the idea that ecological perspecives sit alongside say economic ones and thus are at the risk of not seeing the bigger picture. The paradigm I am coming from is not that they sit side by side, but that everything (literally) is based in the natural world, and if you don’t use that as your starting point you end up with Climate Change (or peak oil, peak soil, peak phosphorus, and even eventually peak metals etc).
I’m generally a pragmatist, so I don’t have too much trouble working with what we’ve got and am not even against another dam being built in NZ but only if it can be done in from the sustainable paradigm.
And I will just repeat, all the things you are saying are important enough to damage the environment for are not without options. So again, let’s be honest. We want to build more dams because we want a certain kind of lifestyle that meets our wants as well as our needs. But that’s not an imperative.
Agree totally CV-Labour should NOT follow Gnats policy of dipping into ACC and Cullen fund. I explained this financial fiddle in a post 5 weeks ago in relation to Nationals selling off of Kiwibank to these funds as follows:
“The way the Kiwibank sale works is like this (using simple numbers):
Now:
Cullen Fund/ACC assets now: $20,000m
Kiwibank Value owned by government now:$1,000m
Government forces Cullen Fund/ACC to buy 45% of Kiwibank
Cullen Fund/ACC sells shares worth $450m in order to buy $450m of Kiwibank
Result:
Cullen Fund/ACC assets $20,000m
Kiwibank owned by government $550m
Money available for tax cuts $450m
The effect is that National is reducing state-owned capital assets in order to finance a short-term tax cut bribe. Of course they are denying that the Cullen Fund/ACC are being forced to buy Kiwibank, but that is yet another big lie for the BLiP list.”
Can you please link to where Labour have said this?
Thanks Bearded Git
It’s a help to know what the politico/financial magicians tricks are and how it is actually carried out.
Yes you are right Bearded Git this is an accounting fiddle aimed at screwing over future generations of NZers and it must not be supported.
Anything that returns interest is aimed at screwing over future generations.
Less so these days as most of it is just mathematical equations interacting with mathematical equations.
The result of which is then used to shift public assets into private ownership and the people into serfs of the rich.
Thank you CV and Greyw. Its all about debits and credits.
The counterpoint is that Labour should adopt Land Tax as a policy. 1% LT with NO exemptions would give then $6.7billion to play with while sticking it to the top 5%.
Such a proposal has to be thought out so that those on fixed incomes and low incomes are not disadvantaged.
A retired couple living in a pensioners flat that they own worth $360K in Auckland, with $1800/month disposable income (mostly from NZ super) would have to use two months worth of income to pay a 1% land tax.
“What are your thoughts on Labour’s proposal to dip into ACC and the Super Fund to help fund new start ups and expand current businesses?”
Does anyone have a link? I can’t find anything on this on google.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/kapiti-news/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503789&objectid=11637963
I don’t see any problem if it’s ACC and Super Fund investing in New Zealand business on their merit. They are investment funds and have very good record of picking investments that give a good return and appear to be pretty active in the market.
Investments (really expenditure) with political or “Regional Development” imperatives are totally inappropriate for ACC or Super Fund, for the reason CV identified at 1.2.1.1 That’s a really slippery slope leading to a stinking corrupt and bankrupt hole.
A better idea would be a unit in MBIE to work with businesses and investors to facilitate funding. ACC and SF would be two of their pool of investors. A parallel initiative would be to strengthen rules around ACC and SF to keep political interference right out of it.
Labour needs to be leading the anti corruption angle on this sort of issue and showing where and how it can come unstuck, and seeking solutions to get the good outcomes, ie enhanced NZ investment in NZ, while keeping the nepotistic corruption right out of it.
They should let the Boards make independent decisions, as they are statutorily set up to do.
I don’t want my reliance on the ACC fund or the NZSuper Fund depending on political fancy.
@ Graeme
As ACC and the Super Fund already can and do invest in New Zealand businesses based on their merit, it would suggest Labour’s proposal will go further than that (leaning more towards a handout).
Real Monetary Reform
We really do have to lose the idea that investment should return more money to the investor. It’s that type of delusion that’s destroying our world.
So much for the much lauded Paris accords.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Agreement
Every time world leaders have one of these international talkfests they look more clownish and ridiculous.
It would be funny, if it wasn’t so tragic.
+100
These talks seem to be more about showing that Something is Being Done™ rather than actually doing doing anything. If the politicians had actually wanted to do something about all this they would have started in 1992 with the signing of the Kyoto Protocol. Instead they’ve kicked the can down the road and allowed and encouraged unsustainable development.
The Herald highlights wage inequality.
Pity it spends most of its time pimping for this extreme neo-liberal government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11638385
It’s like they are rubbing it in our faces, laughing at us – not even pretending to care any more.
Clean Green New Zealand.
Yeah, right.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/303751/ecan-criticised-for-lack-of-action-over-waterways
Yep – such a farce meanwhile the rivers suffer awfully.
There’s something infinitely nauseating in Judith Collins being a NZ representative on the World Anti Corruption Summit, which is presided by no other than David Cameron himself…The whole damned thing is a farce.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/303752/nz's-corruption-fight-'the-world-has-changed‘
Keiser on RT announced the ‘ anti corruption summit’ organised by Cameron but couldn’t stop laughing at the irony.
Yes i agree its a cruel joke
Cunliffe got stuck into her and the irony of her being NZ’s anti-corruption representative on Morning Report this morning mentioning Oravida several times.
Hardly ironic, this is a deliberate subversion of the stated aims.
We’re going to need a whole new prison just for Gnats, once we get a clean government.
It’s a slap in the face to the public, world wide.
“Free Trade, with xtra tax dodging by Kleptocrats and their cronies”.
I’m always suspicious of anonymous writings, but here’s a link anyway
http://www.thedailysheeple.com/dem-congressman-its-far-easier-than-you-think-to-manipulate-a-nation-of-naive-self-absorbed-sheep_052016
Taupo Girl has laptop deemed essential for school taken due to father’s inability to pay.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/79900291/school-laptop-dispute-shocks
That is absolutely atrocious behaviour by the school.
That said, the guy should have gone to pricespy and had a look. Could have got a decent laptop for half the price.
As our working conditions get worse and we race to the bottom like the US, this is something for Kiwis to look forward too…
US poultry workers wear diapers on job over lack of bathroom breaks – report
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/12/poultry-workers-wear-diapers-work-bathroom-breaks
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/12/london-sinkhole-partially-swallows-car
Read the comments comedy gold
You’re right, most hilarious thing I’ve read in ages.
Interestingly if Wall street can’t get the republicans in, they are pushing Hilary Clinton.
Top 2 hedge fund managers bankroll Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanuel, after making $1.7 billion each in 2015
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/12/top_2_hedge_fund_managers_bankroll_hillary_clinton_and_rahm_emanuel_after_making_1_7_billion_each_in_2015/
yes Clinton is certainly working for the wealthy establishment…but she is soiled goods
… and “Sanders supporters argue that the risk of a Clinton scandal blowing up is why their candidate is a better choice, as well as polls that show the Vermont senator beating the billionaire Trump, while new polls show Clinton would either be tied with Trump or trailing come November.”
‘FBI: No deadline or ‘special set of rules’ in Clinton email investigation’
https://www.rt.com/usa/342848-fbi-no-deadline-clinton/
‘FBI: No deadline or ‘special set of rules’ in Clinton email investigation’
The risk is not just that a scandal may blow up and derail her, a potential scandal hanging over her head will strengthen the establishment’s hold on her, so that even if she is happy to step into Bernie’s slipstream rhetorically, she will not be able to afford to act on it in any meaningful way.
That is one very perceptive thought Olwyn.
Thanks Red 🙂
Very rare to find a comment by Olwyn that isn’t highly perceptive.
In the same class as Puddleglum.
(and one or two others – you know who you are)
Swordfish!! I am utterly flattered – especially to be compared to Puddleglum – thank you 😀
Why on earth would you think you can get elected in the US without them?
Super pacs have permanently tilted the field.
And what about the people who have won with out them?
Are you defending anti-democratic practices now Ad?
Nope. The Supreme Court decision after Obama got elected the first time enabling Super Pacs is exceedingly undemocratic. But it’s the law.
“But it’s the law.”
So was owning slaves.
Still deeply anti-democratic.
Indeed it’s corrosive – and also really hard to revisit and reverse under this SC.
If people thought that we would not have any democracy or freedoms. Too hard, is the language of people who lack vision, and/or have lost hope.
Here some people who have not .
http://www.democracyspring.org/
http://www.wolf-pac.com/
Wolf pac is my pick to over turn this ridiculous anti-democratic court decision.
…and letter from America:
‘Bernie wins West Virginia, his 19th state’
https://www.rt.com/shows/big-picture/342721-big-primary-wins-us/
“Tonight’s Rumble talks Bernie’s and Trump’s big primary wins, Trumps appointing of Rudy Giuliani as his Muslim Czar, and his selecting of two insiders to tweak his tax plan. Thom discusses how establishment Democrats are already trying to hijack the convention with International Business Times’ David Sirota and in tonight’s Daily Take Thom details how Donald Trump could become the next Ronald Reagan.”
‘Social justice?’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/342583-us-elections-insurrection-voters/
“The question of social justice: As America’s two major parties move toward anointing their presidential nominees, there is a growing sense of disaffection and even insurrection among voters. And this has set the business-as-usual political and financial elites into a panic. It is all their own fault.
CrossTalking with Richard Wolff, Les Leopold, and Inderjeet Parmar.”
Cunliffe getting closer to claiming a Nat scalp. Louise Upson might well become too much of an embarrassment to the Nats at the rate Cunkiffe is skewing her.
Cunliffe has made her look incompetent is her handling of the Onetai Farm purchase by the dodgy Argentian polluters.
I’d love to know which law/trust advisors the Argentians used to move their case across Louise upson’d desk. Was it one if the firms that net with Minister McClay in Shortland Street?
http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/79915397/David-Cunliffe-alleges-second-toxic-incident-as-Terence-Stapleton-QC-begins-OIO-review
Yep, being a Minister of the Government carries responsibility and foresight, not just throwing weight and money around.Glad Cunliffe is holding them to account.Hopefully we won’t get the usual ” drama triangle” scenario when they cry victim and try to get everyone to feel sorry for them.
Cunliffe has been very impressive on RNZ …he is Labour’s trump card imo
(no comparisons with the Donald intended)
“New Zealand has slipped down the ranks of the least corrupt countries, and earlier this year watchdog Transparency International accused the Government of “astonishing” complacency.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/79941804/nz-to-consider-setting-up-company-ownership-register–judith-collins
Considering doing something that should be mandatory.
That sounds like another way for public monies to be given to private businesses.
So she’s about to ban the use of bank credit?
Yeah, didn’t think so.
Good old Winston, right now, he’s in the UK telling the people to be wary of big foreign bank money being used in the “Remain in the EU” campaign, and telling the Brits they can come on over and trade with us – think he’s more interested in actual “trade” than our Govt with their TPPA strait-jacket!
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/05/12/remain-campaign-contaminating-brexit-referendum-foreign-money-says-former-new-zealand-deputy-prime-minister/
I doubt foreign banks are quite the threat to working Britons as one of their own is.
The billionaire donor bankrolling the Brexit campaign Peter Hargreaves has said the EU is too dominated by France and Germany , and believes Singapore is the best business model for Britain outside the European Union.
The businessman also said a steep fall in sterling could be good for the country, and that some workers’ rights – such as part-time employment, flexitime and extended maternity leave – have gone too far.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/12/billionaire-brexit-supporter-says-uk-should-emulate-singapore
The irony of it > Judith Collins re anti-corruption – RNZ News today .
“She said she wanted money that was productive and honest invested in New Zealand.”
Was she advertising that 2nd hand car deal ship like a few months ago? Great look for NZ! sarc.
Jewish-American Professor of History, Lawrence Davidson, on the misuse of “anti-Semitism” in the absurd smear campaign / McCarthyite witch-hunt currently taking place in the UK. While I don’t entirely agree with his treatment of the Ken Livingstone smear (he misinterprets what Livingstone actually said), it’s still a good overall outline.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/05/12/82580/
But … For a more detailed, careful, methodical, and absolutely bang-on rebuttal of the central claims on which this witchhunt is based (the kind of investigation leading UK MSM journos should have done – if they weren’t so hopelessly compliant and compromised)- see Jamie Stern-Weiner here … https://jamiesternweiner.wordpress.com/2016/04/29/ken-livingstone-gobshite-yes-antisemite-no/
and here … https://jamiesternweiner.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/labour-antisemitism-witch-hunt-turns-on-leading-anti-racist-campaigners/
and here … https://jamiesternweiner.wordpress.com/2016/04/28/fact-checking-newsnight-on-labours-antisemitism-problem/
And for a bit of background on the early phase of the campaign (from Stern-Weiner) – here … https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/jamie-stern-weiner/new-accusations-of-anti-semitism-thrown-at-left-are-flimsy
and here … https://opendemocracy.net/uk/jamie-stern-weiner/jeremy-corbyn-hasn-t-got-antisemitism-problem-his-opponents-do
Analysis of the affair from Norman Finkelstein here … https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/jamie-stern-weiner-norman-finkelstein/american-jewish-scholar-behind-labour-s-antisemitism-scandal
and here … https://jamiesternweiner.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/norman-finkelstein-on-david-camerons-dodgy-friends/
Incidentally, if you can find a copy, have a read of the multi-authored The Politics of Anti-Semitism. It’s a little dated (2003) but still enlightening.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Politics_of_Anti-Semitism
Corbyn seems like he’s getting lost in inconsequential and unwinnable battles like reshuffles, regional elections, and the one you describe above.
He needs a long range comms theme. Hate to say it, but that’s how Blair got his first nationwide electoral win. (Not defending Blair’s Middle East policies BTW).
Corbyn’s comms strategy has certainly, at times, appeared amateurish and more than a little inept.
But then, Corbyn, McDonnell and Labour’s Campaign Group Left faction really didn’t expect a Corbyn victory at the start of the Leadership campaign. There hadn’t been a great deal of planning. Whereas, in stark contrast, the other 3 highly ambitious contenders had been planning and organising for years, surrounding themselves with all the right people, nurturing media contacts and so on.
And we also, of course, need to factor in the unrelenting hostility from the MSM (and wider Establishment) – which began the moment the first YouGov Poll of the Labour Selectorate came out, suggesting Corbyn’s was the front-runner. Although, to be fair, there have been arguments that Corbyn has played a part in exacerbating the toxic relationship by rejecting useful advice on media management.
Not much he could do about this latest “anti-Semitism” smear campaign, though (uncritically regurgitated, as it has been, by MSM journos in the UK).
A new Pew Research Center Poll finds liberal Democrats turning away from Israel.
While Republicans of all persuasions – together with conservative and moderate Democrats – continue to favour Israel by large margins … for the first time, liberal Democrats sympathise more with the Palestinians (40%) than with the Israelis (33%).
Back in 2001, the liberal Democrat split was 48%/18% in favour of Israel and last year 39%/21%. That’s a huge turn-around. Support for Israel down 6 points but, more importantly, sympathy for the Palestinians up 19 points over the last year (suggesting a significant swing from previous Undecideds).
Apologists for Israel’s Occupation should be a little concerned because Democrats are becoming more and more liberal over time (27% of Dems considered themselves liberal in 2000 / 41% in 2015).
African Americans, Latinos and younger Democrats in general – all demographics making up a larger and larger proportion of the Democratic constituency as time goes on – are more sympathetic than Americans as a whole to the Palestinian cause.
http://www.vox.com/2016/5/9/11607990/liberal-democrats-israel-pew
Now this I like, a lot. Young Children in Alabama took a poll (in the picture – it says pill – teehee) to see what their hopes and fears for the future were. Be surprised!
http://imgur.com/Cfm3xLO
“Now this I like, a lot.”
Me too. But I’m not really surprised. Young people have a terribly bad rap, a narrative that Those Who Rule Us like to reinforce.
Had a lovely chat in the supermarket yesterday with a shelf packer, who was well past retirement age.
After explaining to me the nefarious goings on in product pricing, he commented that he was appalled at how young workers were being exploited. How employers expected young workers to begin the job fully trained, and then gave them shit when they messed up. He said how when he began work, things were different. He makes an effort to take young workers ‘under his wing.’
Now there’s a quaint old saying..maybe we should revive it?
Matt Nippert had a piece in the NZ Herald online about NZ trusts apparently facilitating corruption in Ecuador & it seems to have been pulled, curious to know why. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11637813
Hmm, curious…here’s the google cache
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:t7a6M4bVPJcJ:m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm%3Fc_id%3D3%26objectid%3D11637813+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz
alternative link too
http://archive.li/rz7T7
Thanks Joe90, I can get to read it now.
why indeed….and who?
Winston’s speech to the house of lords,brings some innovative thinking to the brexit argument.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1605/S00251/speech-by-winston-peters-at-the-house-of-lords.htm
Wow, he’s really reaching back into the past. The Commonwealth is dead and has been for decades. It would be simply Bad Form to resurrect it now.
And, no, I don’t think that the European Union going anywhere except down.
CEOs’ pay highlights NZ wealth imbalance – CTU
…Herald newspaper showed the CEOs from New Zealand’s largest listed companies had an average pay increase of 12 percent in 2015 compared with 3.2 percent for employees.
The average CEO increase was $180,000 while the biggest total salary was Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings. He earned $4.49 million.
The average pay increase for employees was $988, with the average salary $57,000.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/303777/ceos-earn-'40-times-average-person‘
As Israel finds itself more and more diplomatically isolated, its legion of apologists is becoming even more extreme and intolerant. The following horror story is currently being played out in Britain, but something similar to this happened in 2002, when the New Zealand equivalents of Jonathan Sacerdoti, Jonathan Arkush and Baroness Deech bullied Gavin Ellis, the then editor of the Herald into firing his cartoonist Malcolm Evans after Evans had the temerity to criticise the Holy State….
Labour antisemitism witch-hunt turns on leading anti-racism campaigner
by Jamie Stern-Weiner, Monday, May 9th, 2016
Last week, prominent Momentum activist Jackie Walker was suspended from the Labour Party for alleged antisemitism. (Momentum is a grassroots movement affiliated with the Labour Party, which currently supports the elected leadership of the socialist and veteran Palestine solidarity campaigner Jeremy Corbyn.)
There are five points to make about this.
1.) The antisemitism allegations against Walker are devoid of factual basis. The evidence against Walker consists of two Facebook comments. In the first, Walker dismissed claims that Labour has ‘a major problem with anti-semitism’….
Read more….
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2016/05/09/labour-antisemitism-witch-hunt-turns-on-leading-anti-racism-campaigner/
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-04062013/#comment-643332
Israel needs to stop enforcing Gaza as an open air version of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Is either Ozzy Osbourne or Phil Judd the most pathetic old rocker in the world?
Not even close….
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/11/the_nras_unhinged_spokesman_ted_nugents_at_it_again_posting_a_video_of_bernie_sanders_shooting_hillary_clinton/
Nugent is surely a repulsive misogynist & gun fetishist.
But I do have a soft spot for Phil Judd; despite his health problems & stalking conviction. He’s always come across as a visual artist who is a talented songwriter but just can’t stand the live performance part of it. Calling him “an old rocker” is way too simplistic. The Play it Strange album from 2014 is pretty great, and this track (which actually has a video) has a wonderful self awareness:
Is a long time since I looked at the Blog Rankings :
https://openparachute.wordpress.com/2016/04/01/march-16-nz-blogs-sitemeter-ranking/
I see that WhaleOil stopped being measured in February, but couldn’t find any comment why. Presumably it has either had technical problems or is now regarded as a commercial PR site . . .
The Standard appears to be steadily rising in the rankings, and No Right Turn has a surprisingly low ranking – could that result from not having comments?
The Lurking…
Putin to Western Elites: Playtime is Over
I would wonder how the Western ‘elites’ took that but I already know. They shut it down so that no one would hear about it and still believes that the war that they’re pushing for will leave them better off.