Last time the Colmar Brunton – Reid Research sampling period significantly overlapped (late August) = CB had Labour 4 points higher & the Nats 2 points lower than RR
It’s generally accepted though that the swing to Labour that won that election was its late pitch to students and their families with interest free student loans. Will Labour be able to do something similar this time round?
swordfish
That’s good to know; CB certainly seem to be a lot more frequent during the election. Would I be right in supposing that the Roy Morgan is likely on Friday too (sampling 26/8 – 10/9)?
It began with an interview on RNZ (which was revealing, exposing their support for the TPP with a housing carve out and their preference of maintaining a surplus over spending more on addressing child poverty). Ardern also said neoliberalism has failed, yet largely ruled out overturning its underpinning of the economy.
While I’m willing to make concessions as there is no perfect party, it’s become clear from our discussions I’m not willing to lower the bar as far as you.
As for Labour’s headlining promises, they’re a little misleading. For example, take the headline free education, it equates to only 1 year free in their first term. And as I’ve often pointed out, a number of others also fall short.
And how is this for contradictory? Jacinda said “Any expectation that we just simply allow that the market to dictate our outcomes for people is where I would want to make sure that we were more interventionist.” Yet, entering into the TPP with only a housing carve out will curtail the Governments ability to intervene in the wider market.
Are you now going to make excuses and accept this form of double speak?
“The term ‘neoliberal’ is often said to be excessively vague, but its value in this context was in fact to give specificity to Espiner’s line of questioning. Most obviously: would Ardern consider revisiting the Reserve Bank Act, the Public Finance Act or any of the other legislative instruments that have allowed the last four governments to put neoliberal reforms into practice?
The answer – need I say it – was no. And in the process of the fairly gentle interrogation that followed, the much-vaunted boldness of the Ardern project evaporated. She thinks that climate change is the ‘nuclear-free’ issue of our time, but wouldn’t commit to divesting from coal or even ceasing to issue new licenses for deep-sea oil exploration. She wants to end child poverty, but wouldn’t resile from her predecessor’s foolish commitment to contain spending to 30% of GDP and keep guaranteeing operating surpluses – one of the main causes of the staggering, crippling rise of our household debt – nor does she think that the government needs to seek more revenue through taxation. ”
and…..
” For there really was a window. An opportunity. Instead of playing her part in the political assassination of Metiria Turei, Ardern could have used her new position and her extraordinary popularity to stand by her side. Together, she and Turei could have broken the siege that has prevented beneficiaries – which is to say, a significant portion of the working class – from leading a dignified life and participating in society. Such a decision would have carried its own risks, naturally. But then this is what defines political courage, and it’s nothing if not courage that we desperately need. ”
I too am struggling with having to limbo low to vote Labour.
For example, take the headline free education, it equates to only 1 year free in their first term.
And builds up over time as they can afford it while maintaining the same failed economic system…
Yet, entering into the TPP with only a housing carve out will curtail the Governments ability to intervene in the wider market.
Yep. We actually need to drop out of FTAs so that we can start to take back our sovereignty rather than signing up to more of them.
Labour doesn’t want to scare business by actually promising to do what needs to be done. But, of course, they actually think that the failed ideology of the 19th century works.
If this ‘Reid’ poll was ‘doctored’ by Joyce, (I have assessed) there is no way to confirm accuracy .
We contacted some of these polling companies last year after we looked into the methods used by requesting details from them.
Results of several polling companies was disturbing.
We found, it is all based on trust that they are accurate nothing else.
They confirmed there is no ability for them to conduct any rechecks of voters stated choices on any with these ‘polls’ they told us.
The same applies to the general election, the electoral commission sent us an email confirming “there no no way we can confirm voters choice was recorded accurately.
Overseas now many countries are using a ‘Voter Verified Audit Paper Trail’ (VVPAT) voting systems (even with the manual paper voting system we still use) as they use electronic counting of paper votes after we surrender our paper vote at the polling centre, and we have confirmed that is where false recording of votes can take place.
Here in NZ they only do a sample manual rechecking of a fraction of all votes taken during our General Election System, so there are many flaws left inside our voting system today.
So we asked the NZ Electoral Commission to switch to VVPAT and they refused so we are left to take their word for any poll conducted, so we must be wary of this lack of verification from any poll conducted now.
James Shaw today on TV one said their ‘internal’ polling showed the election will be very tight and every vote will count for them, so they will re-double their door knocking if able.
Bill English says some farmers may have to pay 50K for water if Labour win.
According to a chap on Natrad, if he did, that farmer would be using the same amount of water as 38,000 people. Or to put it another way, 50 such farmers would use more water than the entire city of Auckland.
Apparently, some dairy farmers on the dry plains of Canterbury use over three million litres of water per annum.
In total, agriculture uses 80% of all fresh water consumed in New Zealand. TIME TO PAY UP FARMER BROWN.
I thought the figure on Nat Radio this morning was an extra $70,000 for a farm (or was it $350,000?)- and he was concerned that the reduction in income would reduce the amount of purchasing in the local community. Imagine the positive effect of increasing the minimum wage!
If you want to see why not to do it, have a look at the last 50 60 years of fallow farming subsidies in the US.
Probably the longest blackmail experience that I have ever read about and one that has been distorting their agricultural practices without changing them in the intended manner significantly.
The only link I have was the history book I was reading about it in
On that recent Polluted Paradise Al Jazeera documentary they showed one typical dairy farmer in Canterbury who they calculate uses 12% of the total water Wellington does each year. Jaw dropping.
If a cow drinks 30 litres a day (about avg) and you have a herd of 350 cows, that is 10,500 litres a day just on drinking. Per annum that is 3.8 million litres. That at a 2 cent per litre levy would cost a farmer $76,000 per year extra.
So? What is your point? Apart from merely spinning a meaningless pile of cowshit.
For just myself and my partner I personally spend more than $1200 per year on getting drinking water and dealing with waste water. It is a resource that we use and for which we pay for.
The business that I work for pays for their water and sewerage for nearly 200 employees at a similar rate. Their bill would be heading up towards half a million dollars annually.
My point is that farmers should do the same. They should pay for the use of the common property of NZ.
If your business model and processes aren’t sustainable without a ‘free’ resource that you don’t care for properly and that others wind up having to pay for, then you should shut down the business. We aren’t prepared to give you that charity anymore bearing in mind the state you have been leaving the waterways and aquifers in.
If nothing else, putting price on your ‘free’ resource should cause you to start treating it like any other business input. Figuring out ways to use it more efficiently and without causing problems to those downstream.
Updated: And I missed the 3 orders of magnitude of cost that blackops lied about…..
I thought the proposed figure for water charges was to be per cubic metre which would be 2 cents per 1000 litres, not per litre, so about 7,600 dollars not 76,000 dollars.
It’s even more stupid – at $1 for 50,000 litres, you’d be looking at $76 per year for 3.8 mil litres of water. The fact is that farming is using so much water that such a nominal charge still adds up to plenty of money for improving water quality.
Per annum that is 3.8 million litres. That at a 2 cent per litre levy would cost a farmer $76,000 per year extra.
Yeah, that would be ridiculous, right?
Howver, Labour is talking 1 to 2 cents per thousand litres, not per litre. It would be nice if the media made it a bit clearer that we’re talking about $76 per year, not $76,000. You’ve been reading too much National bullshit.
It is intended that the tax will only be on people who are taking for irrigation so the average farmer who isn’t doing this is going to be just fine. It is the people farming in a way that is unsuited to the local environment and therefore creating a burden on that environment that will finally have to pay a small amount for something that they have polluted in the name of profit for far too long.
Water will be the new oil. We must do all we can to protect our clean water and take the maximum benefit as a country not as individuals for it’s use.
Another canard from the same right-wing stable as “This country used to have great race relations until the left started encouraging Maori to complain” and “Employment relations would be great if the unions weren’t instigating trouble.”
Well, that was over quickly. I feel like I won the lottery on Friday only to piss it all against a wall by Monday to be back where I started.
A forth term for National will break a lot of people. If you don’t own a mortgage-free house or farm or earn more than $60000 a year, then expect your living standards to slide, as National lowers wages and social spending.
A fourth term for National won’t be so bad, even Jacinda said NZ is doing pretty good, but theres still plenty of twists and turns still to come in this election I fel
Always nice to find a dumbarse troll who can’t quote properly and can’t link to the source of their quote. The key word that you missed out as you lied by omission was economically.
And I’d argue even that – I think that she is being charitable.
Because it looks to me like it is currently being sustained artificially on levels of nett inwards migration and inwards debt to pay for excessive property prices rather than on anything of sustainable use. Essentially my business trained sensors are detecting a ponzi scheme perpetuated by National to produce good figures without any particular substance.
And yet as she also points out we have a rapidly growing homeless problem, an epidemic of suicides, pollution, a massive sustained under investment in critical infrastructure and housing, inequality, and a large number of other issues that will cause the economy to tank in the medium term.
None of which National has shown ANY real inclination to change. Instead we just get the spewing of lies from Nick Smith or Steven Joyce, ineffectually supported by their mate Bill.
If you want to comment here, then I suggest you do better. We aren’t a place for stupid astroturfing parrots.
People do place a lot of stock of how well the country Is going economically and, not withstanding your business acumen, theres a lot of people who believe NZ is doing well
Is it enough for a fourth term though? I don’t know, this election has been very topsy-turvy so far
A lot of people taken in by Nationals propaganda. Even in right wing terms such as per capita GDP, balance of trade and productivity New Zealand is going downhill. Propped up only by the reserve banks excessive interest rates , immigration and natural disasters.
I would just like to know whether there is a difference in undecided between their last few polls and I find it odd that they are refusing to provide that information.
I like Tauraga the people are nice and friendly you can grow vegetables all year round its nice and warm being close to the sea and located were it’s.
Tauranga is a jewel in our beautiful country.
But I remember seeing sand on the road in the Mount and flooding was just about to happen the residents of Tauranga did not get flooded out this time.
But with OUR ocean warming up and the fact that heat is energy in the near future there will be major flooding and damage to the residents property’s.
This scenario is a when and not a if so WE must plan for the worst weather that could hit Tauranga and if WE don’t plan for climate change the residents of Tauranga will be in the shit.
Now I no most Tauranga residents adore
Winston Peters but I say that because cause Winston doesn’t have a plan to mitigate climate change that you people of Tauranga will be up a creek with out a paddle when the next BIG storm or BIG hurricane strikes as a lot of Tauranga is just above sea level and the sea has a huge and powerful force.
I did Not speak against Winston until he showed that he would side with national and if national and Winston get into parliament there will be no planning for climate change and no plans to protect you the residents of Tauranga or your properties.
I am not letting you no this out of malice for Winston as this is not the way I work I’m letting you people no out of concern for your future and your safety. So I plead for your safety don’t vote Winston in or national because national is hiding the climate report they don’t care for your safety. So vote for the anyone but the two party’s that are ignoring climate change it is your future and your grandchildren future your voting for.
Yes I did – sorry if I wasn’t clear – I meant I think they will still vote National – they are quite a conservative ‘head-in-the-sand’ society like a lot of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region
Thinking of business and why we have to keep on doing things to nurse our businesses along as they are always doing it hard, can’t find workers etc. Then we can’t afford to pay ordinary workers much while the people at the top live on the fat of the land for just doing a job that requires extra skills.
How about this for wage progression -Bottom under $40,000, few extra skills $60,000 (50% more), advanced experience $80,000, top managers $110,000 and Chief executive $150,000. But someone I know who I think is in human resources is getting $140,000 and is probably smart but just at keeping up with the others. So we are going backwards in NZ with he middle class going up or some getting lost and going down, the middle class is under pressure in western countries. The lower class is increasingly the precariat. Social mobility is now hard-won, not encouraged. Mainly to keep inflation low. To satisfy those with money to invest?
Hardly, how does low inflation, low interest help old age pensioners who were counting on interest to provide extras to the benefit?
If we are going to go backwards let’s try to put money into the regions’ pockets that stays there. Go back to where we encouraged small domestic industries which then branched out into export of excellent products. Let’s build a basecourse of solid small initiative ‘pop ups’ all over the country shouting look at us New Zealanders come and visit your own, and try us out. Nurture regional areas of excellence in what they do best. Ricardo economics within a domestic framework not over-extended as under free market machinations hand in hand with nasty neolib.
In an economic model, agents have a comparative advantage over others in producing a particular good if they can produce that good at a lower relative opportunity cost or autarky price, i.e. at a lower relative marginal cost prior to trade.[2] One does not compare the monetary costs of production or even the resource costs (labor needed per unit of output) of production.
Instead, one must compare the opportunity costs of producing goods across countries.[3] The closely related law or principle of comparative advantage holds that under free trade, an agent will produce more of and consume less of a good for which they have a comparative advantage.[4]
David Ricardo developed the classical theory of comparative advantage in 1817 to explain why countries engage in international trade even when one country’s workers are more efficient at producing every single good than workers in other countries.
He demonstrated that if two countries capable of producing two commodities engage in the free market, then each country will increase its overall consumption by exporting the good for which it has a comparative advantage while importing the other good, provided that there exist differences in labor productivity between both countries.[5][6] Widely regarded as one of the most powerful[7] yet counter-intuitive[8] insights in economics, Ricardo’s theory implies that comparative advantage rather than absolute advantage is responsible for much of international trade.
David Ricardo – Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/david-ricardo.asp
David Ricardo was a classical economist known for his Iron Law of Wages, labor theory of value, theory of comparative advantage and theory of rents. David Ricardo and several other economists also simultaneously and independently discovered the law of diminishing marginal returns.
“Hardly, how does low inflation, low interest help old age pensioners who were counting on interest to provide extras to the benefit?”
And yet we still see the relentless promotion of Kiwisaver… Not to mention the eternal damnation of pension-age ‘Boomers’ whose little bits of money add to the income of shops and services.
Unless successive governments can protect the investments made by the citizens – what’s the use of saving for your retirement, eh? You’ll end up like Don Brash’s pa after he’d sold the farm and the inflation rate took off. A comfortable nest egg turned into less than an average year’s pay.
National has presided over the death of kids’ learning in New Zealand being important.
Real learning, proper learning, according to who and what the children are themselves , and capable of, have given way to checklists, targets and percentages.
What the kids could be and the type people we need in the world are incidental to charts and graphs.
When the teacher force is completely dumbed down to play the dumb game, and those who should be the leaders in the profession are singing from the Tolley/Parata/Kaye song sheet, we are totally stuffed. We are well on the way to that already.
Education in that sense is not an issue in the election yet that to me that is the real issue of the times. Are we to give Kaye the hammer and nails again to drive into the coffin they have fashioned? Also are we to give henchman Seymour a nail gun again?
Clearly committed to regional rail & restoring the regions.
September 13, 2017
gisborneherald.co.nz
On the hustings in Gisborne with Winston Peters
by Wynsley Wrigley Published: September 13, 2017 10:33AM
ON THE ATTACK: New Zealand First leader Winston Peters claims Gisborne does not have the ear of Wellington and “the old parties”. In Gisborne yesterday, Mr Peters said New Zealand First would provide financial support to regional airports, including Gisborne’s, and support reinstatement of the Gisborne to Napier rail line.
NEW Zealand First supports reinstatement of the Gisborne to Napier rail line and state funding of regional airports such as Gisborne’s, said party leader Winston Peters when he was in Gisborne yesterday.
He told the Herald that Land Transport funding of Railways of National Importance, such as the Gisborne line, had long been party policy, but was disappointed that many Gisborne people would not know that.
“We will provide much-needed funding for regional airports owned by local authorities to help pay for infrastructure improvements and to meet safety and amenity standards,” he said.
“Unlike big airports they don’t have large revenues to help pay for the things they need. Every OECD country subsidises regional airports and air services, except New Zealand.
“Even the USA, home of the market, knows and does that. These countries know airports are crucial for communications, business development, air ambulances, and tourism, and must be supported by central government.”
Mr Peters said the sky around Gisborne was “darkening” because of the “old parties”.
“Politicians come here and say what they want to do for you. I’ve seen years of them doing stuff all for you. I see Gisborne and what it’s become.
“It still has the same people, resources and assets. It has everything, but it does not have the ear of Wellington.”
Mr Peters said nothing could be more compelling in his argument than closure of Gisborne’s rail line.
New Zealand First supported it from beginning
“No one put their hand up to defend it other than one party: New Zealand First. Not now, not last month, not last year, but when it happened and since then.
“You give us a chance in this campaign, we are going to open it.”
He said no treasury analysis was required. No transport infrastructure was efficient everywhere. There could be both inefficient and efficient sectors, which together made a successful operation.
If inefficient areas were wound back, efficient areas were affected because overall numbers diminished.
He said regional airports were part of the national grid.
“If the United States and other OECD countries understand that, why not New Zealand?”
Mr Peters said other regional airports to benefit from the policy included Kaitaia, Kerikeri, Whangarei, Kaitaia, Chatham Islands, Hokitika, Masterton, Taupo, Timaru, Westport, Whakatane and Whanganui.
“Eleven airports are being told to put up or shut up. This is astonishing. Who do they think goes through Auckland Airport? A lot of them are going to places like Gisborne, they all add up.”
Public pronouncements
At a public meeting at the Cosmopolitan Club Mr Peters said:
• New Zealand First would ensure continuity of forestry supply for local processors, and keep forestry sustainable.
• The New Zealand Forestry Service would be reinstated. “This plan is so good the Labour Party swiped it a few days ago.”
• New Zealand First is committed to a massive campaign to seal rural roads, improve road quality and double-lane bridges where sensible. “We want Gisborne to have a fully co-ordinated transportation strategy with road, rail and coastal shipping.”
• New Zealand First would return the GST paid by international tourists in this region for tourism infrastructure and roads, and to stimulate job training and opportunities.
• Any water rights for exports in this region would pay serious royalties, which would return to Gisborne.
• New Zealand First will help exporters, farmers and others by fixing the Reserve Bank Act.
• Devaluation of the dollar would help export-orientated provinces like Gisborne.
I no I’m of topic but I have to say this.
The only way we are going to get the state to heal is not a commission’s investigation. We need someone to champion the issue of the harm done to those people in state care and use people power and start the court process and sue the state for the injustices that happened to those people
It could be. I think it has been done in other countries. This bunch don’t see treating all people with care and hopefully with respect as part of their core duties.
The job of pollies is wheeling and dealing for their class, which they have established over the last 30 years since the idea of equality was set aside as an impediment to business.
I have spoken to some of the wealthy and there mind set is totally different to mine.
They don’t want to shear there lollies they don’t care about our poor and vulnerable people they don’t agree with my thoughts which are that these people are OURS they are part of our SOCIETY we are all kiwis we are all humans .
So we have the responsibility to care for these people and we have the responsibility to make sure that the government that gets elected will care for these peoples future even if they are brown white or yellow they are our people to care for.
Now these people that don’t care about there neighbors or the environment well 99 % of these people will vote and in my view they are about 20 % of the population and the elderly will be about 20 % and 99 % of these people will vote. Now the elderly care about our poor but they don’t like change as they will be worried that change means hardship for them. So these two groups of our people will vote national and NZ first if only 60 % of the total population vote . Then these two groups of people are going to decide our whole country fate which will be shit. So every one that has left leaning principals
please do your duty to yourself the poor vulnerable and your children and go and vote for any party except national and NZ first This is our country and we must vote to clean up nationals MESS.
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Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
What is language? We generally assume that it a facility unique to humans, allowing us to share what’s in and on our minds. We can tell of our plans, our past exploits, our knowledge. It also allows us to lie. And yet there are vast numbers of people we can’t ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
The faces said it all. The smiles of the European leaders crowded round Boris after the Brexit deal was struck. The deal his opponents – no, pretty much everyone – said was impossible.So what’s in it? The detail is still opaque, but subject to gremlins in the fine print, ...
Iran attracts an onslaught of negative media in New Zealand and Western media. But is it fair or deserved? David Robie has spent several weeks travelling in the country on sabbatical and finds the media negativity far from the reality of the “most friendly” country he has ever visited ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Leigh Sullivan discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan. They talk about Alan Jones accusing Prime Minister Scott Morrison of failing the immediate needs of drought-striken farmers, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anita Parbhakar-Fox, Senior Research Fellow in Geometallurgy/Applied Geochemistry, The University of Queensland Last month, scientists uncovered a mineral called Edscottite. Minerals are solid, naturally occurring substances that are not living, such as quartz or haematite. This new mineral was discovered after an ...
The Auckland-based collective talk origins, ambitions and making the rave accessible to everybody.Friendly Potential is an outfit that defies easy summary. They’re among the country’s most ambitious and prolific club promoters. In their almost five-years of operation, they’ve been responsible for the local debuts of electronic music icons including Detroit ...
Analysis: Two polls show support for Labour sliding, the government is accused of breaking another promise and the Greens's refusal to back a bill forces Labour to rely on National to get it through. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Lindsey, University of Technology Sydney One spring morning in 1850, over 8,000 Sydneysiders marched through town to protest the resumption of transportation – the act of sending British criminals to Australia. It was the largest protest in Australia thus far, an ...
Two shareholders of failed insurance firm company CBL are leading a class action against the firm's former directors seeking compensation for financial losses. ...
Sam Brooks recaps the third episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and wonders why some of these queens don’t know how to sew.This episode asks, and sort of answers the main question that millions of people across the world: why would you come on Drag Race and not know how to sew?!There ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John M Clarke, Team Leader, Regional Projections, CSIRO Last month we lost Dr Penny Whetton – one of the world’s most respected climate scientists and a brilliant mentor to the next generation of researchers. Penny will also be remembered as a passionate ...
Ten moose were upended into the Dusky Sounds in 1910. Now, their descendants are getting their day in the sun.The climate crisis is affecting wildlife all over the country: rockhopper penguin populations are in drastic decline, tuatara eggs aren’t hatching females, and the ice walls keeping predators away from kea ...
Security footage of NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell being thrown out of a Tauranga bar looks unlikely to ever be aired - despite his leader Winston Peters promising a screening. ...
Amnesty International is concerned that Justice Minister Andrew Little's Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill could have the potential to undermine human rights in New Zealand. The Bill would give the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to ...
Expect the old campaigner Winston Peters to be at his belligerent best as he gears up for another election. He’s kept his party alive for 27 years and he shows no sign of quitting. The omens may be bleak—polls this week showed his party below the 5% threshold– but Peters ...
The National Party has agreed to take down any videos breaching the current rules around the use of parliamentary TV footage, as all parties try to reach consensus. ...
Recently the Health Promotion Agency released a report into hazardous drinking in New Zealand. The report shows that Māori who drink alcohol and live in deprived circumstances are less likely to have a harmful relationship with alcohol if they ...
Turkey-US joint-statement on military ops within Syria’s territory.The Turkish Embassy in New Zealand issued Evening Report this unabridged United States of America-Republic of Turkey joint-statement detailing what both sides agreed to regarding Turkey’s military operations within the so-called security zone within Syrian territory near Turkey’s southern border. It is ...
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash didn’t mention what winners will receive, when he proudly called for entries for a new public award “to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector”. Nor did he mention the cost to taxpayers of this initiative. Point of Order’s checks with the website where more details have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona R Martin, Senior Lecturer in Convergent and Online Media, University of Sydney One of the basic tenets of the ABC Act is independence from government. Yet once again, in contravention to that principle, the federal government is trying to push through ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Lily Holloway.modernity to globalisationwhen I get there as still life and landscape and also portraitureseeking the cacti in small pots who dot the globeslices of pie offer up the vision after the sermonexpressing emotions without coherent narrative supportbecause no artist responded to this callemploying ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi to rule out any taxpayer-funded purchase or bailout for Mediaworks’s channel Three. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “For the last few months Mediaworks ...
The Police Commissioner's announcement that squadcars of officers with automatic rifles will patrol New Zealand's streets is dangerous and unnecessary, according to the criminal justice community organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The ...
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Open Mike 13/09/2017 
I find this unbelievable:
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Colmar Brunton Poll due tomorrow
Last time the Colmar Brunton – Reid Research sampling period significantly overlapped (late August) = CB had Labour 4 points higher & the Nats 2 points lower than RR
Michael Appleton looks to polls during last close NZ election – 2005.
It’s generally accepted though that the swing to Labour that won that election was its late pitch to students and their families with interest free student loans. Will Labour be able to do something similar this time round?
swordfish
That’s good to know; CB certainly seem to be a lot more frequent during the election. Would I be right in supposing that the Roy Morgan is likely on Friday too (sampling 26/8 – 10/9)?
Another glorious rant from the god of swivel-eyed loons.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ahem-alex-jones-now-says-donald-trump-is-being-covertly-drugged_us_59b7d93de4b031cc65cca681?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
And in news we all already knew deep down but never really cared about, Ted Cruz’s twitter account gets honest.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-porn-like_us_59b76b91e4b031cc65cc1be4?section=us_politics
What’s the chance of a thread on one or all of the following?
A. Rachel Stewart’s article ‘Dont feel sorry for farmers.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11921404
B. Al Jazeera’s documentary ‘ Polluted Paradise.’
C. Bryan Bruce’s documentary ‘Who owns New Zealand?’
https://www.threenow.co.nz/shows/who-owns-new-zealand-now/S1344-012
Bryan Bruce’s documentary (‘Who owns New Zealand now?’) was great and is a must see.
I think there’s a post about the doco later the morning.
Very good.
Oooooou, I like all three
The effects of Irma, as seen from space.
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/11/16290234/hurricane-irma-2017-power-outages-florida-miami-naples-keys-space
The kind of fucked-up development that makes coastal region damage so expensive.
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/metropolis/2017/09/irma_made_marco_island_a_symbol.html
Twas a bad day for Labour yesterday.
It began with an interview on RNZ (which was revealing, exposing their support for the TPP with a housing carve out and their preference of maintaining a surplus over spending more on addressing child poverty). Ardern also said neoliberalism has failed, yet largely ruled out overturning its underpinning of the economy.
The day ended with a drop in the polls.
I beg your pardon they never promised you a rose garden, along with the sunshine there’s got to be a little rain sometimes…
😀
I never expected a “rose garden”, Marty.
While I’m willing to make concessions as there is no perfect party, it’s become clear from our discussions I’m not willing to lower the bar as far as you.
As for Labour’s headlining promises, they’re a little misleading. For example, take the headline free education, it equates to only 1 year free in their first term. And as I’ve often pointed out, a number of others also fall short.
And how is this for contradictory? Jacinda said “Any expectation that we just simply allow that the market to dictate our outcomes for people is where I would want to make sure that we were more interventionist.” Yet, entering into the TPP with only a housing carve out will curtail the Governments ability to intervene in the wider market.
Are you now going to make excuses and accept this form of double speak?
If you’re alone and life is making you lonely you can always go downtown…
;-D
sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe…
Giovanni Tiso has hit nail squarely on head….https://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2017/09/the-neoliberalism-question-notes-on.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BatBeanBeam-AWeblogOnMemoryAndTechnology+(Bat,+Bean,+Beam+-+A+Weblog+on+Memory+and+Technology)
“The term ‘neoliberal’ is often said to be excessively vague, but its value in this context was in fact to give specificity to Espiner’s line of questioning. Most obviously: would Ardern consider revisiting the Reserve Bank Act, the Public Finance Act or any of the other legislative instruments that have allowed the last four governments to put neoliberal reforms into practice?
The answer – need I say it – was no. And in the process of the fairly gentle interrogation that followed, the much-vaunted boldness of the Ardern project evaporated. She thinks that climate change is the ‘nuclear-free’ issue of our time, but wouldn’t commit to divesting from coal or even ceasing to issue new licenses for deep-sea oil exploration. She wants to end child poverty, but wouldn’t resile from her predecessor’s foolish commitment to contain spending to 30% of GDP and keep guaranteeing operating surpluses – one of the main causes of the staggering, crippling rise of our household debt – nor does she think that the government needs to seek more revenue through taxation. ”
and…..
” For there really was a window. An opportunity. Instead of playing her part in the political assassination of Metiria Turei, Ardern could have used her new position and her extraordinary popularity to stand by her side. Together, she and Turei could have broken the siege that has prevented beneficiaries – which is to say, a significant portion of the working class – from leading a dignified life and participating in society. Such a decision would have carried its own risks, naturally. But then this is what defines political courage, and it’s nothing if not courage that we desperately need. ”
I too am struggling with having to limbo low to vote Labour.
Looking like Two Ticks Green for me….
And builds up over time as they can afford it while maintaining the same failed economic system…
Yep. We actually need to drop out of FTAs so that we can start to take back our sovereignty rather than signing up to more of them.
Labour doesn’t want to scare business by actually promising to do what needs to be done. But, of course, they actually think that the failed ideology of the 19th century works.
Horse manure is supposed to be good for roses too isn’t it?
Doesn’t get rid of the pricks though ☺
marty mars
Vote now while your brain is at its sharpest!
If this ‘Reid’ poll was ‘doctored’ by Joyce, (I have assessed) there is no way to confirm accuracy .
We contacted some of these polling companies last year after we looked into the methods used by requesting details from them.
Results of several polling companies was disturbing.
We found, it is all based on trust that they are accurate nothing else.
They confirmed there is no ability for them to conduct any rechecks of voters stated choices on any with these ‘polls’ they told us.
The same applies to the general election, the electoral commission sent us an email confirming “there no no way we can confirm voters choice was recorded accurately.
Overseas now many countries are using a ‘Voter Verified Audit Paper Trail’ (VVPAT) voting systems (even with the manual paper voting system we still use) as they use electronic counting of paper votes after we surrender our paper vote at the polling centre, and we have confirmed that is where false recording of votes can take place.
Here in NZ they only do a sample manual rechecking of a fraction of all votes taken during our General Election System, so there are many flaws left inside our voting system today.
https://www.verifiedvoting.org/resources/vvpr-legislation/
So we asked the NZ Electoral Commission to switch to VVPAT and they refused so we are left to take their word for any poll conducted, so we must be wary of this lack of verification from any poll conducted now.
James Shaw today on TV one said their ‘internal’ polling showed the election will be very tight and every vote will count for them, so they will re-double their door knocking if able.
If this ‘Reid’ poll was ‘doctored’ by Joyce…
No! Joyce is a mere puppet of the Lizard People! The poll was in fact doctored by the Illuminati.
The Illuminatui?
I thought it was the Blocklayers that did that.
If it is a National win = ‘we wind up with more poisoned water to drink and swim in’ and ‘truck gridlocked roads’ we will die on.
If National win, more people die cold and poor on the streets.
LOL Ed
Bill English says some farmers may have to pay 50K for water if Labour win.
According to a chap on Natrad, if he did, that farmer would be using the same amount of water as 38,000 people. Or to put it another way, 50 such farmers would use more water than the entire city of Auckland.
Apparently, some dairy farmers on the dry plains of Canterbury use over three million litres of water per annum.
In total, agriculture uses 80% of all fresh water consumed in New Zealand. TIME TO PAY UP FARMER BROWN.
I thought the figure on Nat Radio this morning was an extra $70,000 for a farm (or was it $350,000?)- and he was concerned that the reduction in income would reduce the amount of purchasing in the local community. Imagine the positive effect of increasing the minimum wage!
The answer is to stop farming and get a credit in cash for the water you could have used.
Smart, being paid for not using, or farming even. A useful subsidy. Didn’t they do this in Britain at one time?
If you want to see why not to do it, have a look at the last
5060 years of fallow farming subsidies in the US.Probably the longest blackmail experience that I have ever read about and one that has been distorting their agricultural practices without changing them in the intended manner significantly.
The only link I have was the history book I was reading about it in
It might be a practical way of easing the b…s out of using more than rationed water, and overstocking! Or shorten their pipes surgically.
Ed in a morning report on RNZ an expert said in ‘real terms’ now all these farms that use water ‘irrigation’ use 80% of our total water in NZ.
I am betting we will not hear this staggering fact on any other MSM today and anytime till after election time.
On that recent Polluted Paradise Al Jazeera documentary they showed one typical dairy farmer in Canterbury who they calculate uses 12% of the total water Wellington does each year. Jaw dropping.
My dairy farming neighbour reckons 200 litres a day the cows can drink.
Plus watering crops, plus hose out of shed, plus rinsing milking gear….
If a cow drinks 30 litres a day (about avg) and you have a herd of 350 cows, that is 10,500 litres a day just on drinking. Per annum that is 3.8 million litres. That at a 2 cent per litre levy would cost a farmer $76,000 per year extra.
This is excluding all other water.
So? What is your point? Apart from merely spinning a meaningless pile of cowshit.
For just myself and my partner I personally spend more than $1200 per year on getting drinking water and dealing with waste water. It is a resource that we use and for which we pay for.
The business that I work for pays for their water and sewerage for nearly 200 employees at a similar rate. Their bill would be heading up towards half a million dollars annually.
My point is that farmers should do the same. They should pay for the use of the common property of NZ.
If your business model and processes aren’t sustainable without a ‘free’ resource that you don’t care for properly and that others wind up having to pay for, then you should shut down the business. We aren’t prepared to give you that charity anymore bearing in mind the state you have been leaving the waterways and aquifers in.
If nothing else, putting price on your ‘free’ resource should cause you to start treating it like any other business input. Figuring out ways to use it more efficiently and without causing problems to those downstream.
Updated: And I missed the 3 orders of magnitude of cost that blackops lied about…..
Brilliant comment lprent
I suggest we each keep a copy of it and remind ourselves of the basis of the argument regularly.
I thought the proposed figure for water charges was to be per cubic metre which would be 2 cents per 1000 litres, not per litre, so about 7,600 dollars not 76,000 dollars.
It’s even more stupid – at $1 for 50,000 litres, you’d be looking at $76 per year for 3.8 mil litres of water. The fact is that farming is using so much water that such a nominal charge still adds up to plenty of money for improving water quality.
Per annum that is 3.8 million litres. That at a 2 cent per litre levy would cost a farmer $76,000 per year extra.
Yeah, that would be ridiculous, right?
Howver, Labour is talking 1 to 2 cents per thousand litres, not per litre. It would be nice if the media made it a bit clearer that we’re talking about $76 per year, not $76,000. You’ve been reading too much National bullshit.
http://www.labour.org.nz/fact_check_water_royalty
Thanks Psycho M – my glasses got misted when the spraying arm went past.
C’mon blackcap, that’s not cricket.
It is intended that the tax will only be on people who are taking for irrigation so the average farmer who isn’t doing this is going to be just fine. It is the people farming in a way that is unsuited to the local environment and therefore creating a burden on that environment that will finally have to pay a small amount for something that they have polluted in the name of profit for far too long.
Water will be the new oil. We must do all we can to protect our clean water and take the maximum benefit as a country not as individuals for it’s use.
English often laments the urban rural divide. Yet who exactly is creating and promoting the divide? English is and it is a cynical ploy.
Another canard from the same right-wing stable as “This country used to have great race relations until the left started encouraging Maori to complain” and “Employment relations would be great if the unions weren’t instigating trouble.”
Well, that was over quickly. I feel like I won the lottery on Friday only to piss it all against a wall by Monday to be back where I started.
A forth term for National will break a lot of people. If you don’t own a mortgage-free house or farm or earn more than $60000 a year, then expect your living standards to slide, as National lowers wages and social spending.
Yep whoever makes body bags is in for a killing.
A fourth term for National won’t be so bad, even Jacinda said NZ is doing pretty good, but theres still plenty of twists and turns still to come in this election I fel
Always nice to find a dumbarse troll who can’t quote properly and can’t link to the source of their quote. The key word that you missed out as you lied by omission was economically.
And I’d argue even that – I think that she is being charitable.
Because it looks to me like it is currently being sustained artificially on levels of nett inwards migration and inwards debt to pay for excessive property prices rather than on anything of sustainable use. Essentially my business trained sensors are detecting a ponzi scheme perpetuated by National to produce good figures without any particular substance.
And yet as she also points out we have a rapidly growing homeless problem, an epidemic of suicides, pollution, a massive sustained under investment in critical infrastructure and housing, inequality, and a large number of other issues that will cause the economy to tank in the medium term.
None of which National has shown ANY real inclination to change. Instead we just get the spewing of lies from Nick Smith or Steven Joyce, ineffectually supported by their mate Bill.
If you want to comment here, then I suggest you do better. We aren’t a place for stupid astroturfing parrots.
Hear Hear!! Iprent you said what I was thinking.
Ok then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_the_economy,_stupid
“The key word that you missed out as you lied by omission was economically. ”
NZ is doing well economically:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_New_Zealand
NZ is improving the pay gap:
http://www.globalwomen.org.nz/news-and-events/blog/2017-women-in-work-index-places-nz-pay-gap-at-6/
People do place a lot of stock of how well the country Is going economically and, not withstanding your business acumen, theres a lot of people who believe NZ is doing well
Is it enough for a fourth term though? I don’t know, this election has been very topsy-turvy so far
A lot of people taken in by Nationals propaganda. Even in right wing terms such as per capita GDP, balance of trade and productivity New Zealand is going downhill. Propped up only by the reserve banks excessive interest rates , immigration and natural disasters.
Numerous people have asked Newshub to provide the figures for undecided voters from their poll last night. They are ignoring all requests. Why?
Boonman @boonman 30m30 minutes ago
“Still waiting for @patrickgowernz OR @NewshubNZ OR @NewshubPolitics to tell us the number of undecided voters from the poll last night”
Newshub RR have always been the least methodologically transparent of Pollsters
In stark contrast to Colmar Brunton
Nevertheless this obsession with Undecided voters = clutching at straws
(Like weka’s
)
I would just like to know whether there is a difference in undecided between their last few polls and I find it odd that they are refusing to provide that information.
By my reckoning New Zealand’s most militant “union” by a good margin would be Federated Farmers. Any chance of them having their wings clipped …
I like Tauraga the people are nice and friendly you can grow vegetables all year round its nice and warm being close to the sea and located were it’s.
Tauranga is a jewel in our beautiful country.
But I remember seeing sand on the road in the Mount and flooding was just about to happen the residents of Tauranga did not get flooded out this time.
But with OUR ocean warming up and the fact that heat is energy in the near future there will be major flooding and damage to the residents property’s.
This scenario is a when and not a if so WE must plan for the worst weather that could hit Tauranga and if WE don’t plan for climate change the residents of Tauranga will be in the shit.
Now I no most Tauranga residents adore
Winston Peters but I say that because cause Winston doesn’t have a plan to mitigate climate change that you people of Tauranga will be up a creek with out a paddle when the next BIG storm or BIG hurricane strikes as a lot of Tauranga is just above sea level and the sea has a huge and powerful force.
I did Not speak against Winston until he showed that he would side with national and if national and Winston get into parliament there will be no planning for climate change and no plans to protect you the residents of Tauranga or your properties.
I am not letting you no this out of malice for Winston as this is not the way I work I’m letting you people no out of concern for your future and your safety. So I plead for your safety don’t vote Winston in or national because national is hiding the climate report they don’t care for your safety. So vote for the anyone but the two party’s that are ignoring climate change it is your future and your grandchildren future your voting for.
Tauranga may be a jewel, Eco maori, but it still votes National 🙁
Did you not read right through JanM?
Yes I did – sorry if I wasn’t clear – I meant I think they will still vote National – they are quite a conservative ‘head-in-the-sand’ society like a lot of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region
Thinking of business and why we have to keep on doing things to nurse our businesses along as they are always doing it hard, can’t find workers etc. Then we can’t afford to pay ordinary workers much while the people at the top live on the fat of the land for just doing a job that requires extra skills.
How about this for wage progression -Bottom under $40,000, few extra skills $60,000 (50% more), advanced experience $80,000, top managers $110,000 and Chief executive $150,000. But someone I know who I think is in human resources is getting $140,000 and is probably smart but just at keeping up with the others. So we are going backwards in NZ with he middle class going up or some getting lost and going down, the middle class is under pressure in western countries. The lower class is increasingly the precariat. Social mobility is now hard-won, not encouraged. Mainly to keep inflation low. To satisfy those with money to invest?
Hardly, how does low inflation, low interest help old age pensioners who were counting on interest to provide extras to the benefit?
If we are going to go backwards let’s try to put money into the regions’ pockets that stays there. Go back to where we encouraged small domestic industries which then branched out into export of excellent products. Let’s build a basecourse of solid small initiative ‘pop ups’ all over the country shouting look at us New Zealanders come and visit your own, and try us out. Nurture regional areas of excellence in what they do best. Ricardo economics within a domestic framework not over-extended as under free market machinations hand in hand with nasty neolib.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage
The theory of comparative advantage is an economic theory about the work gains from trade for individuals, firms, or nations that arise from differences in their factor endowments or technological progress.[1]
In an economic model, agents have a comparative advantage over others in producing a particular good if they can produce that good at a lower relative opportunity cost or autarky price, i.e. at a lower relative marginal cost prior to trade.[2] One does not compare the monetary costs of production or even the resource costs (labor needed per unit of output) of production.
Instead, one must compare the opportunity costs of producing goods across countries.[3] The closely related law or principle of comparative advantage holds that under free trade, an agent will produce more of and consume less of a good for which they have a comparative advantage.[4]
David Ricardo developed the classical theory of comparative advantage in 1817 to explain why countries engage in international trade even when one country’s workers are more efficient at producing every single good than workers in other countries.
He demonstrated that if two countries capable of producing two commodities engage in the free market, then each country will increase its overall consumption by exporting the good for which it has a comparative advantage while importing the other good, provided that there exist differences in labor productivity between both countries.[5][6] Widely regarded as one of the most powerful[7] yet counter-intuitive[8] insights in economics, Ricardo’s theory implies that comparative advantage rather than absolute advantage is responsible for much of international trade.
David Ricardo – Investopedia
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/david-ricardo.asp
David Ricardo was a classical economist known for his Iron Law of Wages, labor theory of value, theory of comparative advantage and theory of rents. David Ricardo and several other economists also simultaneously and independently discovered the law of diminishing marginal returns.
“Hardly, how does low inflation, low interest help old age pensioners who were counting on interest to provide extras to the benefit?”
And yet we still see the relentless promotion of Kiwisaver… Not to mention the eternal damnation of pension-age ‘Boomers’ whose little bits of money add to the income of shops and services.
Unless successive governments can protect the investments made by the citizens – what’s the use of saving for your retirement, eh? You’ll end up like Don Brash’s pa after he’d sold the farm and the inflation rate took off. A comfortable nest egg turned into less than an average year’s pay.
Doesn’t pay to be prudent or thrifty.
National has presided over the death of kids’ learning in New Zealand being important.
Real learning, proper learning, according to who and what the children are themselves , and capable of, have given way to checklists, targets and percentages.
What the kids could be and the type people we need in the world are incidental to charts and graphs.
When the teacher force is completely dumbed down to play the dumb game, and those who should be the leaders in the profession are singing from the Tolley/Parata/Kaye song sheet, we are totally stuffed. We are well on the way to that already.
Education in that sense is not an issue in the election yet that to me that is the real issue of the times. Are we to give Kaye the hammer and nails again to drive into the coffin they have fashioned? Also are we to give henchman Seymour a nail gun again?
As a retired ece teacher, I spend time as a volunteer in my grandson’s new entrant classroom. It breaks my heart (and that of the experienced teacher)
Press cover of Winston in Gisborne yesterday.
http://gisborneherald.co.nz/localnews/2990284-135/on-the-hustings-in-gisborne-with
Clearly committed to regional rail & restoring the regions.
September 13, 2017
gisborneherald.co.nz
On the hustings in Gisborne with Winston Peters
by Wynsley Wrigley Published: September 13, 2017 10:33AM
ON THE ATTACK: New Zealand First leader Winston Peters claims Gisborne does not have the ear of Wellington and “the old parties”. In Gisborne yesterday, Mr Peters said New Zealand First would provide financial support to regional airports, including Gisborne’s, and support reinstatement of the Gisborne to Napier rail line.
NEW Zealand First supports reinstatement of the Gisborne to Napier rail line and state funding of regional airports such as Gisborne’s, said party leader Winston Peters when he was in Gisborne yesterday.
He told the Herald that Land Transport funding of Railways of National Importance, such as the Gisborne line, had long been party policy, but was disappointed that many Gisborne people would not know that.
“We will provide much-needed funding for regional airports owned by local authorities to help pay for infrastructure improvements and to meet safety and amenity standards,” he said.
“Unlike big airports they don’t have large revenues to help pay for the things they need. Every OECD country subsidises regional airports and air services, except New Zealand.
“Even the USA, home of the market, knows and does that. These countries know airports are crucial for communications, business development, air ambulances, and tourism, and must be supported by central government.”
Mr Peters said the sky around Gisborne was “darkening” because of the “old parties”.
“Politicians come here and say what they want to do for you. I’ve seen years of them doing stuff all for you. I see Gisborne and what it’s become.
“It still has the same people, resources and assets. It has everything, but it does not have the ear of Wellington.”
Mr Peters said nothing could be more compelling in his argument than closure of Gisborne’s rail line.
New Zealand First supported it from beginning
“No one put their hand up to defend it other than one party: New Zealand First. Not now, not last month, not last year, but when it happened and since then.
“You give us a chance in this campaign, we are going to open it.”
He said no treasury analysis was required. No transport infrastructure was efficient everywhere. There could be both inefficient and efficient sectors, which together made a successful operation.
If inefficient areas were wound back, efficient areas were affected because overall numbers diminished.
He said regional airports were part of the national grid.
“If the United States and other OECD countries understand that, why not New Zealand?”
Mr Peters said other regional airports to benefit from the policy included Kaitaia, Kerikeri, Whangarei, Kaitaia, Chatham Islands, Hokitika, Masterton, Taupo, Timaru, Westport, Whakatane and Whanganui.
“Eleven airports are being told to put up or shut up. This is astonishing. Who do they think goes through Auckland Airport? A lot of them are going to places like Gisborne, they all add up.”
Public pronouncements
At a public meeting at the Cosmopolitan Club Mr Peters said:
• New Zealand First would ensure continuity of forestry supply for local processors, and keep forestry sustainable.
• The New Zealand Forestry Service would be reinstated. “This plan is so good the Labour Party swiped it a few days ago.”
• New Zealand First is committed to a massive campaign to seal rural roads, improve road quality and double-lane bridges where sensible. “We want Gisborne to have a fully co-ordinated transportation strategy with road, rail and coastal shipping.”
• New Zealand First would return the GST paid by international tourists in this region for tourism infrastructure and roads, and to stimulate job training and opportunities.
• Any water rights for exports in this region would pay serious royalties, which would return to Gisborne.
• New Zealand First will help exporters, farmers and others by fixing the Reserve Bank Act.
• Devaluation of the dollar would help export-orientated provinces like Gisborne.
I no I’m of topic but I have to say this.
The only way we are going to get the state to heal is not a commission’s investigation. We need someone to champion the issue of the harm done to those people in state care and use people power and start the court process and sue the state for the injustices that happened to those people
It could be. I think it has been done in other countries. This bunch don’t see treating all people with care and hopefully with respect as part of their core duties.
The job of pollies is wheeling and dealing for their class, which they have established over the last 30 years since the idea of equality was set aside as an impediment to business.
I have spoken to some of the wealthy and there mind set is totally different to mine.
They don’t want to shear there lollies they don’t care about our poor and vulnerable people they don’t agree with my thoughts which are that these people are OURS they are part of our SOCIETY we are all kiwis we are all humans .
So we have the responsibility to care for these people and we have the responsibility to make sure that the government that gets elected will care for these peoples future even if they are brown white or yellow they are our people to care for.
Now these people that don’t care about there neighbors or the environment well 99 % of these people will vote and in my view they are about 20 % of the population and the elderly will be about 20 % and 99 % of these people will vote. Now the elderly care about our poor but they don’t like change as they will be worried that change means hardship for them. So these two groups of our people will vote national and NZ first if only 60 % of the total population vote . Then these two groups of people are going to decide our whole country fate which will be shit. So every one that has left leaning principals
please do your duty to yourself the poor vulnerable and your children and go and vote for any party except national and NZ first This is our country and we must vote to clean up nationals MESS.