If the UMR poll is on the money and National polls 29% or thereabouts on election night, and assuming Hutt South is a Labour gain, then they will have to lose 5 electorate seats for Chris Bishop to be returned as a list MP. Similarly Nicola Willis will only be heading back to parliament as a List MP if they lose 7 electorate seats. The wipeout of the (relatively) youngish, more liberal grouping in the pastry could be massive.
Surplus to requirements as National return to their core values lead by true believers Jude n Gez.
Luxon and the hollow men have their work cut out from Saturday with the first prayers of unity Sunday.
Jude can lead that one, she’s well practiced from the campaign.
Well, doesn't matter how much the public deserves to know, Labour will keep refusing to inform them. It wants a blank cheque, and the polls suggest it will get it!
But Tim is right to explore the likely thrust of negotiations with the Greens. Especially as public & media are unlikely to be informed as those happen, which will irritate all immensely! Open govt is something Labour likes to talk about, but hates to do.
No different from National and ACT in 2008, or Labour and the Alliance in 1999.
And – as James Shaw has explained, and Watkin hasn't grasped – it is about the relationship, not the checklist. The first MMP government tried to nail down everything in the negotiations, and it fell apart, and every government since then has learned from that.
In 2017, if Ardern had been asked" "Will you rule out closing the borders and telling people to stay home?" she would have dismissed the stupid question, and ruled it out or said it wasn't on the table or a bottom line or any of those cliches that commentators love. But … events.
In the next 3 years, unexpected things will happen, so positions will change. Budget Responsibility Rules? A clear promise by Labour and the Greens. But then everyone – even Goldsmith – wanted them torn up. So they were.
Dennis Frank MMP relies on those with the most support to set the majority of policy and the support party gets a few of its policies depending on its level of support.
Or the degree of leverage it has over the bigger party – if Labour is reliant upon The Greens for becoming the Government for a second term, The Greens could have an enhanced opportunity to require policy implementation or something resembling it.
When Collins took over from Muller, she said she was done with Nationals dirty tricks. Well that didn't last long did it. How can she ever be trusted again.
If you live in Auckland Central and haven’t seen your candidates in debate, that’s a choice you’ve made. The candidates have engaged in numerous debates. Neither White nor Swarbrick can recall exactly how many, but it’s a lot. They’ve grown accustomed to each other’s answers and thoughts. There’s not much more to learn.
The two grapple over the wealth tax and housing when they meet at the Ponsonby community centre in late September…. White is measured and enunciates clearly. She’s been an employment lawyer for 27 years and knows how to deliver a case. Swarbrick has an arsenal of passion. It’s a polite and policy-focused version of the wars playing out online between the area’s Labour and Green supporters.
New Zealand has largely avoided the splintering of progressive parties seen in recent years across the English-speaking world. In the United States, business-friendly Democrats have ceded ground to an openly socialist and increasingly vocal wing of the party. British Labour is still grappling with the legacy of former leader Jeremy Corbyn. In Canada, the New Democrats face the question of whether to focus on social justice or the traditional union base.
That fragmentation hasn’t happened in New Zealand partly due to the dominant popularity of Jacinda Ardern, as well as MMP. Labour’s hard-left activists are, in many cases, likely to be in the Green Party. One of the only places that debate has played out in New Zealand this election is in Auckland Central. The politicians and thinkers White and Swarbrick reference in conversations are revealing of the progressive schism.
Swarbrick calls on US Democrat Bernie Sanders to defend her party’s wealth tax; he’s at that party’s left-most fringe. Labour’s Michael Joseph Savage is her example of taxes put to good use.
White looks to US Democrat Elizabeth Warren, a progressive character whose politics are closer to the centre but well to the left of presidential candidate Joe Biden. She also reads a lot of Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize-winning economist critical of globalism and growing inequality.
This dichotomy between pragmatic centrism and genuine progressive politics is a faultline running through western civilisation. Both/and logic applies!
It would be nice to see a bit of pragmatic centrism, frankly. With our massive and growing inequality, and no suggestion of policies to address it, the self-styled centrists aren't much better than the far-right – they just boil the frog a bit slower.
You're right that they're largely an unthinking group – mainstreamers mostly. A cut above sheeple though? To the extent that they're smart enough to not become captive to left/right tribalism, that's so.
Consensus politics works via the muddle through the middle. Inequality is structural and functional. It's a product of capitalism. It will be there as long as democracy empowers capitalism!
Those who see it as a social problem to be resolved by a design solution (like me) are less than 1% of voters. Even the Greens remain clueless about how to get the right result – which is not to demean their alternative solution, in principle, merely to note that it is an attempt to reinvent socialism by stealth. You can't win with that attitude. Corbyn & Sanders proved it.
of or relating to centrists or to their political views; middle-of-the-road.
Generally speaking, pragmatism refers to doing what is physically possible while centrism is about balancing what is physically possible with the delusional.
At best, pragmatic centrism would be an oxymoron because that's what centrism is.
They vote according to whichever mainstream party seems suitable at the time. Nonaligned with either left or right, they have constituted the tertiary division of the system that had previously been binary. They are mainly visible to political scientists & commentators as swing-voters (a small subgroup).
Since the 1980s, they have been measured as around a third of the electorate in all western countries (by election results) – however a large proportion of them don't vote due to lack of faith in democracy.
If, for some reason, you haven't noticed the phenomenon, it could be due to lack of examples in your family & circle of friends. I've always had a majority of them in mine. The few in my circle who are so conservative that they still take the Nat/Lab option seriously are outliers…
I cannot stand swingers. Their willy-waving ways of voting show such lack of commitment and loyalty, it disgusts me. If you want to be a freedom-loving hedonistic libertine, politically speaking, under the pretence of being for pragmatic centrism, then just go full frontal and vote for one of the fringe parties or ACT. Bloody hypocrites, with their both/and logic; they want to have both their pie and feast on it.
They are indeed mostly opportunists. I always saw their flip/flop between the establishment parties as braindead, but as I got older I realised it was just mercenary. So I use pragmatism to signal the sensible choice of following the money (when in Rome…) and you can inform yourself of how they think about that via conversation – if you really want to know!
Fwiw, I think a different psychology is in play currently. They got reassured by Grant re adherence to neoliberal bau, which stopped the drift back to National, but it seems clear that there was a significant centrist shift to Labour due to the PM's pandemic leadership prior.
Yes, we have centrist, swinging, voters but centrism is a lie. A balancing act between reality and the delusional but the delusional can't be balanced.
Can't agree with you because nonaligned is a durable stance, whether for persons or groups. It works when binary compression is insufficient to enforce loyalty.
Yeah, they should bury it next to CGT and CC. These are just annoying issues that nobody wants to talk about and that are a major inconvenience for politicians who love nothing more than political expediency.
Well millsy is very anxious that we don't 'snatch defeat from the jaws of victory'. Another cliche' 'It ain't over till the fat lady sings" which refers to opera I think. And this is a clash with high and low emotions par excellence, worthy of some comic opera. (Comic if one was a god or some triffilionaire sitting on high watching.)
Yes, millsy has made it abundantly clear that they are anxious. Although it is understandable, it won’t change a thing. People have a tendency if not habit to avoid stuff that’s perceived (too) hard. That kind of attitude doesn’t change a thing either. Funny that 😉
This is a crucial moment in time, and a crucial decision that we attempt to reason our way towards. Part of that reasoning is knowing that some people don't ever use it and throw gold-painted dice to guide them every morning. (Winston Churchill didn't say that.)
If not now, then when? Excuses, excuses, there are always excuses. Manjana, nek minnit, yeah-nah. It is the duty of our elected politicians to tackle the hard stuff as well; nobody else can and will. This is how the system works. Election time is the perfect time to put the hard stuff on the table as it sets the scene for the next term.
'Term' has a number of meanings. We are already in a term, the election just heralds the next part of it; there is a fork in the road and we want to follow the left way which is essential for getting pretty close to our desired destination.
"If not now, then when?" – YES, now is the time to campaign for and on progressive taxation policies. Labour have their watered down "don't scare the horses" one (better than nothing), and with Ardern ruling out the CGT recommendations of the Tax Working Group, the Green party have taken the opportunity to develop and run with their (much) more progressive/redistributive wealth tax.
National and ACT are promising (unrealistic) tax cuts – nothing new there.
The administration of the tax system 48. The [Tax Working] Group considers there is a need for greater public access to data and information about the tax system. Inland Revenue should review whether the information and data it currently collects offers the most useful insights or whether other datasets would better respond to the needs and interests of the public and future policy development. It is particularly important to have better data about the distribution of wealth in New Zealand. https://taxworkinggroup.govt.nz/resources/future-tax-final-report-vol-i-html.html
Maybe Labour should put forward an alternative tax policy that will genuinely alleviate poverty rather than the pathetic 39% above $180k policy (which raises one-sixteenth of the WT).
Tax policy alone will never alleviate poverty. To do that we need to re-balance the entire economy.
Minimum incomes
Maximum incomes
Development of the economy (Manufacturing, extraction, processing, education and R&D)
Limiting trade to nations who have the same/similar laws as us so that the pricing system will work
Banning offshore ownership
These are the basic necessities but there is more that needs to be looked at. Taxes could help if they're done properly and discourage excessive ownership.
They can't. The reason is identity politics. When a political party identifies with losers, they marginalise themselves intentionally. The leftist Greens don't see that as a problem. I agree with you – in principle – however. They seem to be gambling that alienating centrists will win them lower-class votes…
Those whom the system is designed to marginalise. Those whom they designed the wealth tax to benefit. I'm using it in the class sense. Because in mass psychology that's the mental category they get put in.
Btw, I do realise that you &/or others may feel it is demeaning to use it as a technical term, but not to do so is to evade reality. I believe the best way to do politics is to engage with how people actually think & feel. To me, that's an ethical pre-requisite! Whenever I'm clearly using a non-pc stance, it's because of a higher priority that informs my decision-making…
You are right, I don't like you referring to me and others of my class as losers. 'Loser' is almost wholly a pejorative in politics. Worse, you're not even trying to be sarcastic but appear to think it's an appropriate term to use. There are two problems here. One is that calling the under class losers renders class analysis less visible. Two, it detracts from the point you are trying to make.
Just because you feel like/think poor people are losers, doesn't make it a useful or meaningful term.
Dennis you have found out how people think and feel. As I understand it you are referring to the mentality of the hard-line capitalist-economic class who divide citizens into winners or losers as they regard the distribution of the nation's resources as a competitive thing.
If that is so you need to make it clear that you are not using the word "loser' as a slur. And because this present economy judges people by their wealth, those with a low income receive many slurs. Perhaps using the word excluded or missing-out would state the meaning better. But it needs to be talked about – it is true that in the winners/losers division it is increasingly more unequal since 1984's free market-neolib.
I believe the best way to do politics is to engage with how people actually think & feel. To me, that's an ethical pre-requisite!
I think this is so presumptuous it borders on arrogance. You don’t know what people actually think & feel. I think it is demeaning to presume to know that they think & feel in these demeaning ways. It says more about you than about the imaginary people you claim to engage with; a classical example of projection. Please remember that here on this site you are actually engaging with only a small group of commenters plus reaching a much larger group of silent readers.
I think it is un-ethical not to say what you mean and mean what you say and to hide behind the presumed thoughts & feelings of some virtual audience. Speak for yourself, own your own thoughts & feelings, and build your arguments on those using your own words. Anything else is dishonest and dishonesty is intrinsically off-putting and rubs people the wrong way.
Whenever I'm clearly using a non-pc stance, it's because of a higher priority that informs my decision-making…
The fact that you prioritise your commenting style here to inform your “decision-making” over honest engagement and debate with others here is deeply disturbing 🙁
I believe the best way to do politics is to engage with how people actually think & feel.
OK. It’s only ethical to note that you come across like a pompous git of the highest order here, Dennis. Can't possibly imagine how the Green party resisted your enduring influence, how they spurned the precious gems you offered.
Fortunately younger citizens are brighter and your dim moon is setting below yon horizon. Enjoy a happy and quiet retirement. We will all feel better for it.
Agree with millsy. They've made their point now shut up! There's plenty of time to argue the toss after the election is over. If they're not careful they could stop Labour voters who are considering a party vote for the Greens to help them back into parliament. I'm one of them.
Making my mind up after the last poll results tomorrow.
Ardern is countering National's they'll take your money taxinda propaganda including getting the Greens numbers wrong.The truth is after Covid I trust this govt to deliver for the good of NZders. There are more than one way to skin a cat. Wealth tax is just one way of bringing inequality. Rightly or wrongly a large number of NZders have made money from the property market. They are the voters of the centre and likely are fairly self interested. One of the reasons Labour’s polling went up after Covid is that it effected everyone. Those centre voters could see a competent plan that kept them safe.
If the wealth tax was a vote winner, Greens TOP would have surging polls numbers. But there is still some uncertainly Greens will make it back in. I hope they do.
The Greens also have a much more comprehensive income tax policy with higher rates at the upper end. That is an area that could be negotiated about. And having the greens there will support the lefter leaning Labour.
There is also a wealth deal that could be done around estate and stamp duty taxes going on and capping the 100% asset tax that applies now to the small portion of elders who end up in full care. The 100% care tax falls pretty unevenly.
The odious stuff.co is certainly out to get Billy. Funny that, the tall poppy syndrome is alive and well in New Zealand, in an attempt to take down this wonderful man. How dare they explain a "Tour of Duty" to a military man. I think Billy would know his work history better than stuff.co!
[Good morning. You still have a Moderation note to respond to here: https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-02-10-2020/#comment-1755893. Today is your last chance and after that, I will move you from Pre-Moderation to the Blacklist for a month for making unsupported assertions and wasting moderator time – Incognito]
[Since you have not given a satisfactory response to moderation, we might see you again in one month – Incognito]
I think Stunned that there might have been a nuance in maui's comment which was meant to be ironic, but you missed it.
I think /sarc at end might be best in these cases as some here think that ironic isn’t something to trip your thinking up, but a metal bar that you either trip over or that stuns you!
Maui, the policies of the Public Party are so muddled and vague
Their Covid stuff is so demonstrably untrue.
"Initial predictions of death have not materialised around the world, and COVID-19’s case fatality rate is not unlike that of seasonal influenza."
The worst year of influenza in the US in recent years produced a little over 80,000 deaths
The US under current administration has been initially dismissive and laissez faire of the dangers of Covid .The current death rate from Covid is far in excess of 80,000, it's now about 215,000, most unlike that of seasonal influenza
It's those countries who recognised the risk Covid posed and acted early who have very low death rates, and incidentally have suffered less economic decline
Advance and Public Party are a ragbag of incoherent, poorly researched policies, full of aspirational bluster but no hard facts.Jamie Lee Ross and Billy TK are cynical carpet baggers predating on the disenfranchised poor
I guess the rats are one by one deserting the sinking ship SS Judith Collins. She's toast post election, that is increasingly clear. Mark Mitchell would probably be a good leader for the Nats, certainly better than the divisive falsity of Collins.
Peter chch, Mark Mitchell is the very bottom of their barrel. A mercenary no less.
They need to go back to the drawing board for at least 10 years, as they all worship wealth for some, and believe in trickle down theories, and small state. Wow that has really worked in the USA and the UK!! sarc.
I don't agree with their wealth tax or even their cannabis policy (haven’t decided on that yet, it’s one for the polling booth), but at least they represent a departure from the current system. A left government needs these people as balance to the right wing of the Labour Party. You know the types, they advocate beating capitalists at their own game rather than changing the game.
Our basic older systems are working to control Covid 19 but we aren't doing it right because we aren't utilising the most advanced technology trackers. This item from Radionz has a number of quotes from different people with different viewpoints and has to be read in full to get the gist of who is suggesting what.
New Zealand needs to start having a conversation about more modern responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, such as mobile phone tracking, a specialist in disasters says. (I'm not sure which specialist is being referred to here.)
University of Canterbury law professor John Hopkins told Morning Report New Zealand needs to think about whether it would use technology as a tool in fighting the virus like other countries have.
He said Taiwan has used some similar measures to New Zealand "…but the main difference is their heavy use of IT and some pretty invasive use of mobile phone tracking and other similar mechanisms to control individuals and to pinpoint who's at risk of having the virus".
He said although the methods New Zealand uses are effective, "they're old fashioned".
My feeling about wanting to force us all to have devices is that this adoption (for efficiency and speed of contact particularly of the precariat) is the hardest, biggest marketing ploy ever seen in the world. The corps(e) want them embedded in our society, pecking away at our lives like vicious magpies. We must be encouraged forced to give up our old, cheap, practical and user-friendly systems and become totally reliant on tech devices to do everything, and be watched through them by authorities of some sort, not necessarily gummint, throughout our daily lives. Tech is great, all bow down.
About the Brit Chancellor – "You entitled horse-faced prick" is I am sure very apt to those in the UK who can glue two thoughts together.
But in today's world where ordinary citizens have retreated so far from reality that they believe anything that a politician tells them is true and moral in a tone of confidence, firmness while looking them steadily in the eye, then they are just like my very nice hairdresser. Who thinks if parents do the right things in helping their children, they will find their way to a good job and a future. Yes, partly true, but there are other children who won't. Well they should stay off drugs. But there are so many other factors? No, you are worrying too much.
It's all a bit hard to cope with and maybe we should let the politicians and authorities get on with it – after all we pay them enough don't we!
Sky rocketing house prices are not sustainable for the local economy, according to Real Estate Institute of New Zealand chief executive Bindi Norwell….
"There's approximately $10 billion that people would traditionally spend on overseas travel and now they're thinking 'what can I do with this extra additional cash that I've got' and so property has been a popular choice and it's because people are thinking it's a good long-term investment.
Perhaps the government should issue some more bonds and mop up some of this excess money. Crazy isn't it, with so many having more credits than they know how to spend, and some hardly having enough to live and their way blocked from getting decent employment by the government running down local enterprise in favour of importing cheap goods in its place.
Perhaps government could raise bonds to help struggling local business keep going and defend themselves against mechanical shredders of enterprise – the landlords and others. That way we will keep a semblance of an enterprise- oriented country through production rather than just being service lackeys to the rich.
I could see some of the local publicly listed companies borrowing off the market rather than the banks. A composite bond that covers a number of listed companies borrowings might be a good idea. Be interesting to see to if local mortgage borrowing starts to bypass the banks by way of composite borrowiing – but not junk bonds.
Perhaps the government should issue some more bonds and mop up some of this excess money. Crazy isn't it, with so many having more credits than they know how to spend, and some hardly having enough to live and their way blocked from getting decent employment by the government running down local enterprise in favour of importing cheap goods in its place.
That's what you get when you base society upon bludging. The successful bludgers get richer and thus deprive others of the necessities of life.
To even start to divert equity out of housing and into more productive assets like businesses, there needs to be both an active sharemarket (ours is moribund), and a massive VIF sector (ours is tiny).
Maybe they need to stretch their legs and just have a huge tax cut for those investing in businesses, so that even future house rises get slightly less appealing.
Not happening under either alternative government option.
Yes it's a worry. I wonder if the situation is a bit like that in England when the Irish Famine was starting (for the second time).
Like this? Damn, that is an unpleasant little scene over there in Ireland. Yes, but I think reports are a bit exaggerated, it will be only tough for a few short weeks and then supplies will be available. Oh no, they are committed in entirety to… What's to be done then? Oh they will just have to batten down, and they can struggle through. The Irish are a hardy lot you know. etc.
In other words, no ideas from the employed leaders, no effort, no impetus, and no responsibility, no-one to call them to order with expectations of fruitful and intelligent action.
Try giving the country a short burst of 5% inflation, bring up the OCR or whatever then it costs more to borrow for houses and at the same time offer the bonds at a slightly teeny bit higher. We haven't had a level playing field for a while so tilt it differently.
Sharemarkets don't actually encourage investment in productive businesses. Once the IPO is done none of the money exchanged on the sharemarket goes to the business of which the shares of which the shares give ownership.
Buying and selling of shares is nothing but pure speculation.
Business and society would be better off if the business just took out a loan.
The difference between owning a business and expanding through private loan, or listing your growing business on the sharemarket, is best summed up by Fiddy Cent:
We can't afford the sudden shock of losing all the financial structure we have. We need to utilise what we have. Going for completely different theories is for med-long term not a short term thing.
There are clever, agile minds around who get organised into criminality. The latest is stealing from glasshouses. (This might be a feature of wanting staff from overseas – less local connections to utilise the info of saleable stock and procedures from local staff?)
Jan 21, 2005 — Lee Simpson forged Janet Frame's signature to improve the value of her books and hid rare and valuable collections in a Christchurch riverbed as he waited for a buyer. He stole from libraries up and down the country for 10 years, making at least $150,000.
Friend on the Sunshine coast tells us his friend in France says 9000 cases overnight and many people were put in hospitals last night and they are overwhelmed.
The second wave is turning into a tsunami.
We are so blessed here, having the luxury of choosing and voting for continued success.
National MP's social media prowess from an MP in a marginal seat according to JC, that David Bennett chap.
Dirty politicking the seniors about how they'll get 7100 tax p.a under a Lab/Green banner.
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Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
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If the UMR poll is on the money and National polls 29% or thereabouts on election night, and assuming Hutt South is a Labour gain, then they will have to lose 5 electorate seats for Chris Bishop to be returned as a list MP. Similarly Nicola Willis will only be heading back to parliament as a List MP if they lose 7 electorate seats. The wipeout of the (relatively) youngish, more liberal grouping in the pastry could be massive.
What are Goldsmith’s chances – as National have chosen to gift Epsom to the ACT Party again?
He'll be the first one in off the list, so he is 99% certain to be there.
The overhang scenario is fun to imagine, but it won't happen. If the party vote is that bad, National will be losing electorates too.
Surplus to requirements as National return to their core values lead by true believers Jude n Gez.
Luxon and the hollow men have their work cut out from Saturday with the first prayers of unity Sunday.
Jude can lead that one, she’s well practiced from the campaign.
… grouping in the pastry …
I read that and got a sudden mental image of road-kill skunk pie.
And I read, "groping" and my mental picture was even worse!
Really shouldn’t post in a hurry while waiting for the bus to work.
Why? Did it break down and stop working or something? 😛
Tim Watkin considers the policy options for "potential coalition negotiations between Labour and the Greens, which could begin next week".
Well, doesn't matter how much the public deserves to know, Labour will keep refusing to inform them. It wants a blank cheque, and the polls suggest it will get it!
But Tim is right to explore the likely thrust of negotiations with the Greens. Especially as public & media are unlikely to be informed as those happen, which will irritate all immensely! Open govt is something Labour likes to talk about, but hates to do.
No different from National and ACT in 2008, or Labour and the Alliance in 1999.
And – as James Shaw has explained, and Watkin hasn't grasped – it is about the relationship, not the checklist. The first MMP government tried to nail down everything in the negotiations, and it fell apart, and every government since then has learned from that.
In 2017, if Ardern had been asked" "Will you rule out closing the borders and telling people to stay home?" she would have dismissed the stupid question, and ruled it out or said it wasn't on the table or a bottom line or any of those cliches that commentators love. But … events.
In the next 3 years, unexpected things will happen, so positions will change. Budget Responsibility Rules? A clear promise by Labour and the Greens. But then everyone – even Goldsmith – wanted them torn up. So they were.
Dennis Frank MMP relies on those with the most support to set the majority of policy and the support party gets a few of its policies depending on its level of support.
Or the degree of leverage it has over the bigger party – if Labour is reliant upon The Greens for becoming the Government for a second term, The Greens could have an enhanced opportunity to require policy implementation or something resembling it.
Collins has gone even lower showing her true character which will be a massive turn off for voters.
Desperation .
She was left with no choice, she tried being nice and it was as natural as a horse walking backwards.
When Collins took over from Muller, she said she was done with Nationals dirty tricks. Well that didn't last long did it. How can she ever be trusted again.
The Spinoff political editor examines how "the progressive schism" is playing out in a local microcosm: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/13-10-2020/the-battle-for-central-auckland-is-splitting-the-left/
This dichotomy between pragmatic centrism and genuine progressive politics is a faultline running through western civilisation. Both/and logic applies!
It would be nice to see a bit of pragmatic centrism, frankly. With our massive and growing inequality, and no suggestion of policies to address it, the self-styled centrists aren't much better than the far-right – they just boil the frog a bit slower.
You're right that they're largely an unthinking group – mainstreamers mostly. A cut above sheeple though? To the extent that they're smart enough to not become captive to left/right tribalism, that's so.
Consensus politics works via the muddle through the middle. Inequality is structural and functional. It's a product of capitalism. It will be there as long as democracy empowers capitalism!
Those who see it as a social problem to be resolved by a design solution (like me) are less than 1% of voters. Even the Greens remain clueless about how to get the right result – which is not to demean their alternative solution, in principle, merely to note that it is an attempt to reinvent socialism by stealth. You can't win with that attitude. Corbyn & Sanders proved it.
The article finally manages to mention green issues near the end…….certainly pushing White over Swarbrick.
Is there even such a thing?
Pragmatic:
Centrist:
Generally speaking, pragmatism refers to doing what is physically possible while centrism is about balancing what is physically possible with the delusional.
At best, pragmatic centrism would be an oxymoron because that's what centrism is.
They vote according to whichever mainstream party seems suitable at the time. Nonaligned with either left or right, they have constituted the tertiary division of the system that had previously been binary. They are mainly visible to political scientists & commentators as swing-voters (a small subgroup).
Since the 1980s, they have been measured as around a third of the electorate in all western countries (by election results) – however a large proportion of them don't vote due to lack of faith in democracy.
If, for some reason, you haven't noticed the phenomenon, it could be due to lack of examples in your family & circle of friends. I've always had a majority of them in mine. The few in my circle who are so conservative that they still take the Nat/Lab option seriously are outliers…
I cannot stand swingers. Their willy-waving ways of voting show such lack of commitment and loyalty, it disgusts me. If you want to be a freedom-loving hedonistic libertine, politically speaking, under the pretence of being for pragmatic centrism, then just go full frontal and vote for one of the fringe parties or ACT. Bloody hypocrites, with their both/and logic; they want to have both their pie and feast on it.
They are indeed mostly opportunists. I always saw their flip/flop between the establishment parties as braindead, but as I got older I realised it was just mercenary. So I use pragmatism to signal the sensible choice of following the money (when in Rome…) and you can inform yourself of how they think about that via conversation – if you really want to know!
Fwiw, I think a different psychology is in play currently. They got reassured by Grant re adherence to neoliberal bau, which stopped the drift back to National, but it seems clear that there was a significant centrist shift to Labour due to the PM's pandemic leadership prior.
Yes, we have centrist, swinging, voters but centrism is a lie. A balancing act between reality and the delusional but the delusional can't be balanced.
Can't agree with you because nonaligned is a durable stance, whether for persons or groups. It works when binary compression is insufficient to enforce loyalty.
I consider loyalty to be rather stupid but I also consider believing the delusional to also be rather stupid.
Some people are behaving as if the election has already taken place.
The Greens really need to shut up about the wealth tax. Too much is at stake at the moment.
Yeah, they should bury it next to CGT and CC. These are just annoying issues that nobody wants to talk about and that are a major inconvenience for politicians who love nothing more than political expediency.
Well millsy is very anxious that we don't 'snatch defeat from the jaws of victory'. Another cliche' 'It ain't over till the fat lady sings" which refers to opera I think. And this is a clash with high and low emotions par excellence, worthy of some comic opera. (Comic if one was a god or some triffilionaire sitting on high watching.)
Yes, millsy has made it abundantly clear that they are anxious. Although it is understandable, it won’t change a thing. People have a tendency if not habit to avoid stuff that’s perceived (too) hard. That kind of attitude doesn’t change a thing either. Funny that 😉
This is a crucial moment in time, and a crucial decision that we attempt to reason our way towards. Part of that reasoning is knowing that some people don't ever use it and throw gold-painted dice to guide them every morning. (Winston Churchill didn't say that.)
If not now, then when? Excuses, excuses, there are always excuses. Manjana, nek minnit, yeah-nah. It is the duty of our elected politicians to tackle the hard stuff as well; nobody else can and will. This is how the system works. Election time is the perfect time to put the hard stuff on the table as it sets the scene for the next term.
'Term' has a number of meanings. We are already in a term, the election just heralds the next part of it; there is a fork in the road and we want to follow the left way which is essential for getting pretty close to our desired destination.
"If not now, then when?" – YES, now is the time to campaign for and on progressive taxation policies. Labour have their watered down "don't scare the horses" one (better than nothing), and with Ardern ruling out the CGT recommendations of the Tax Working Group, the Green party have taken the opportunity to develop and run with their (much) more progressive/redistributive wealth tax.
National and ACT are promising (unrealistic) tax cuts – nothing new there.
Too transformative for you Millsy?
Maybe Labour should put forward an alternative tax policy that will genuinely alleviate poverty rather than the pathetic 39% above $180k policy (which raises one-sixteenth of the WT).
Tax policy alone will never alleviate poverty. To do that we need to re-balance the entire economy.
These are the basic necessities but there is more that needs to be looked at. Taxes could help if they're done properly and discourage excessive ownership.
shut up about the wealth tax
They can't. The reason is identity politics. When a political party identifies with losers, they marginalise themselves intentionally. The leftist Greens don't see that as a problem. I agree with you – in principle – however. They seem to be gambling that alienating centrists will win them lower-class votes…
sorry, who are the losers that the GP is identifying with?
Those whom the system is designed to marginalise. Those whom they designed the wealth tax to benefit. I'm using it in the class sense. Because in mass psychology that's the mental category they get put in.
Btw, I do realise that you &/or others may feel it is demeaning to use it as a technical term, but not to do so is to evade reality. I believe the best way to do politics is to engage with how people actually think & feel. To me, that's an ethical pre-requisite! Whenever I'm clearly using a non-pc stance, it's because of a higher priority that informs my decision-making…
You are right, I don't like you referring to me and others of my class as losers. 'Loser' is almost wholly a pejorative in politics. Worse, you're not even trying to be sarcastic but appear to think it's an appropriate term to use. There are two problems here. One is that calling the under class losers renders class analysis less visible. Two, it detracts from the point you are trying to make.
Just because you feel like/think poor people are losers, doesn't make it a useful or meaningful term.
Dennis you have found out how people think and feel. As I understand it you are referring to the mentality of the hard-line capitalist-economic class who divide citizens into winners or losers as they regard the distribution of the nation's resources as a competitive thing.
If that is so you need to make it clear that you are not using the word "loser' as a slur. And because this present economy judges people by their wealth, those with a low income receive many slurs. Perhaps using the word excluded or missing-out would state the meaning better. But it needs to be talked about – it is true that in the winners/losers division it is increasingly more unequal since 1984's free market-neolib.
I think this is so presumptuous it borders on arrogance. You don’t know what people actually think & feel. I think it is demeaning to presume to know that they think & feel in these demeaning ways. It says more about you than about the imaginary people you claim to engage with; a classical example of projection. Please remember that here on this site you are actually engaging with only a small group of commenters plus reaching a much larger group of silent readers.
I think it is un-ethical not to say what you mean and mean what you say and to hide behind the presumed thoughts & feelings of some virtual audience. Speak for yourself, own your own thoughts & feelings, and build your arguments on those using your own words. Anything else is dishonest and dishonesty is intrinsically off-putting and rubs people the wrong way.
The fact that you prioritise your commenting style here to inform your “decision-making” over honest engagement and debate with others here is deeply disturbing 🙁
OK. It’s only ethical to note that you come across like a pompous git of the highest order here, Dennis. Can't possibly imagine how the Green party resisted your enduring influence, how they spurned the precious gems you offered.
Fortunately younger citizens are brighter and your dim moon is setting below yon horizon. Enjoy a happy and quiet retirement. We will all feel better for it.
Agree with millsy. They've made their point now shut up! There's plenty of time to argue the toss after the election is over. If they're not careful they could stop Labour voters who are considering a party vote for the Greens to help them back into parliament. I'm one of them.
Making my mind up after the last poll results tomorrow.
Agree Anne, re make their point now shut up.
Ardern is countering National's they'll take your money taxinda propaganda including getting the Greens numbers wrong.The truth is after Covid I trust this govt to deliver for the good of NZders. There are more than one way to skin a cat. Wealth tax is just one way of bringing inequality. Rightly or wrongly a large number of NZders have made money from the property market. They are the voters of the centre and likely are fairly self interested. One of the reasons Labour’s polling went up after Covid is that it effected everyone. Those centre voters could see a competent plan that kept them safe.
If the wealth tax was a vote winner, Greens TOP would have surging polls numbers. But there is still some uncertainly Greens will make it back in. I hope they do.
Maybe we'll see a 'kiwibuild levy' on house sales. Surjonkyponyboy was pretty clear on levies not being taxes, I seem to recall.
The Greens also have a much more comprehensive income tax policy with higher rates at the upper end. That is an area that could be negotiated about. And having the greens there will support the lefter leaning Labour.
There is also a wealth deal that could be done around estate and stamp duty taxes going on and capping the 100% asset tax that applies now to the small portion of elders who end up in full care. The 100% care tax falls pretty unevenly.
The odious stuff.co is certainly out to get Billy. Funny that, the tall poppy syndrome is alive and well in New Zealand, in an attempt to take down this wonderful man. How dare they explain a "Tour of Duty" to a military man. I think Billy would know his work history better than stuff.co!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/stuff-circuit/300131103/false-profit-full-and-unedited-video-with-advance-nz-coleader-billy-te-kahika
[Good morning. You still have a Moderation note to respond to here: https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-02-10-2020/#comment-1755893. Today is your last chance and after that, I will move you from Pre-Moderation to the Blacklist for a month for making unsupported assertions and wasting moderator time – Incognito]
[Since you have not given a satisfactory response to moderation, we might see you again in one month – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 8:53 AM.
I have a theory you think it's a conspiracy 😆
I suppose his nutty antisemitism is also the sign of a 'wonderful man' ?
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2020/10/a-darker-truth-anti-semitism-billy-tk-jr-conspiracy/?cid=app-iPhone
I think Stunned that there might have been a nuance in maui's comment which was meant to be ironic, but you missed it.
I think /sarc at end might be best in these cases as some here think that ironic isn’t something to trip your thinking up, but a metal bar that you either trip over or that stuns you!
Maui, the policies of the Public Party are so muddled and vague
Their Covid stuff is so demonstrably untrue.
"Initial predictions of death have not materialised around the world, and COVID-19’s case fatality rate is not unlike that of seasonal influenza."
Bungled the quote marks sorry
The big quotemarks are redundant..my words
I think Billy knows the stuff he makes up. He mightn’t be entirely sure what stuff he makes up though.
See my last Moderation note to you @ 8:53 AM.
I guess the rats are one by one deserting the sinking ship SS Judith Collins. She's toast post election, that is increasingly clear. Mark Mitchell would probably be a good leader for the Nats, certainly better than the divisive falsity of Collins.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2020-gerry-brownlee-says-weight-is-his-responsibility-judith-collins-says-obese-people-must-own-personal-choices/EWPIXPGKXMUW5BBWAPPEGIZMNI/
Peter chch, Mark Mitchell is the very bottom of their barrel. A mercenary no less.
They need to go back to the drawing board for at least 10 years, as they all worship wealth for some, and believe in trickle down theories, and small state. Wow that has really worked in the USA and the UK!! sarc.
Total agreement here Patricia. Mitchell is about the last person anyone needs in the role.
Absolutely with you both Patricia and RedBaron.
I didn't know anything about his history but looking at what is available via google he appears to have a reasonably good history for an MP
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/4810730/In-the-line-of-duty
Luxon
What sort of question is Luxie the answer to?
Do you love your soft skin?
it really gets in
Aww, nice photo.
I don't agree with their wealth tax or even their cannabis policy (haven’t decided on that yet, it’s one for the polling booth), but at least they represent a departure from the current system. A left government needs these people as balance to the right wing of the Labour Party. You know the types, they advocate beating capitalists at their own game rather than changing the game.
Tis a nice photo. And that's from a two ticks labour voter
Our basic older systems are working to control Covid 19 but we aren't doing it right because we aren't utilising the most advanced technology trackers. This item from Radionz has a number of quotes from different people with different viewpoints and has to be read in full to get the gist of who is suggesting what.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/428301/nz-s-covid-19-methods-are-effective-but-old-fashioned-disaster-expert 11:11 am today
New Zealand needs to start having a conversation about more modern responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, such as mobile phone tracking, a specialist in disasters says. (I'm not sure which specialist is being referred to here.)
University of Canterbury law professor John Hopkins told Morning Report New Zealand needs to think about whether it would use technology as a tool in fighting the virus like other countries have.
He said Taiwan has used some similar measures to New Zealand "…but the main difference is their heavy use of IT and some pretty invasive use of mobile phone tracking and other similar mechanisms to control individuals and to pinpoint who's at risk of having the virus".
He said although the methods New Zealand uses are effective, "they're old fashioned".
My feeling about wanting to force us all to have devices is that this adoption (for efficiency and speed of contact particularly of the precariat) is the hardest, biggest marketing ploy ever seen in the world. The corps(e) want them embedded in our society, pecking away at our lives like vicious magpies. We must be
encouragedforced to give up our old, cheap, practical and user-friendly systems and become totally reliant on tech devices to do everything, and be watched through them by authorities of some sort, not necessarily gummint, throughout our daily lives. Tech is great, all bow down.If old fashioned works I'm fine with that. Anyone pushing the high tech can have a lot of other motives unrelated to disease.
One man's view of Covid in the UK could lead to some thinking, "We don't know how lucky we are."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYmn76Y50Us
Indeed!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYvMeT2GC14
except for a cameo of Richard Prebble of doubtful memory!
Does Tom write his own Jonathan Pie stuff?
About the Brit Chancellor – "You entitled horse-faced prick" is I am sure very apt to those in the UK who can glue two thoughts together.
But in today's world where ordinary citizens have retreated so far from reality that they believe anything that a politician tells them is true and moral in a tone of confidence, firmness while looking them steadily in the eye, then they are just like my very nice hairdresser. Who thinks if parents do the right things in helping their children, they will find their way to a good job and a future. Yes, partly true, but there are other children who won't. Well they should stay off drugs. But there are so many other factors? No, you are worrying too much.
It's all a bit hard to cope with and maybe we should let the politicians and authorities get on with it – after all we pay them enough don't we!
Jaw dropping. Who'd have thunk it.
Sky rocketing house prices are not sustainable for the local economy, according to Real Estate Institute of New Zealand chief executive Bindi Norwell….
"There's approximately $10 billion that people would traditionally spend on overseas travel and now they're thinking 'what can I do with this extra additional cash that I've got' and so property has been a popular choice and it's because people are thinking it's a good long-term investment.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/428297/surging-house-prices-can-t-last-forever-reinz
Perhaps the government should issue some more bonds and mop up some of this excess money. Crazy isn't it, with so many having more credits than they know how to spend, and some hardly having enough to live and their way blocked from getting decent employment by the government running down local enterprise in favour of importing cheap goods in its place.
Perhaps government could raise bonds to help struggling local business keep going and defend themselves against mechanical shredders of enterprise – the landlords and others. That way we will keep a semblance of an enterprise- oriented country through production rather than just being service lackeys to the rich.
I could see some of the local publicly listed companies borrowing off the market rather than the banks. A composite bond that covers a number of listed companies borrowings might be a good idea. Be interesting to see to if local mortgage borrowing starts to bypass the banks by way of composite borrowiing – but not junk bonds.
That's what you get when you base society upon bludging. The successful bludgers get richer and thus deprive others of the necessities of life.
No one is taking up bonds at this interest rate.
To even start to divert equity out of housing and into more productive assets like businesses, there needs to be both an active sharemarket (ours is moribund), and a massive VIF sector (ours is tiny).
Maybe they need to stretch their legs and just have a huge tax cut for those investing in businesses, so that even future house rises get slightly less appealing.
Not happening under either alternative government option.
Yes it's a worry. I wonder if the situation is a bit like that in England when the Irish Famine was starting (for the second time).
Like this? Damn, that is an unpleasant little scene over there in Ireland. Yes, but I think reports are a bit exaggerated, it will be only tough for a few short weeks and then supplies will be available. Oh no, they are committed in entirety to… What's to be done then? Oh they will just have to batten down, and they can struggle through. The Irish are a hardy lot you know. etc.
In other words, no ideas from the employed leaders, no effort, no impetus, and no responsibility, no-one to call them to order with expectations of fruitful and intelligent action.
Try giving the country a short burst of 5% inflation, bring up the OCR or whatever then it costs more to borrow for houses and at the same time offer the bonds at a slightly teeny bit higher. We haven't had a level playing field for a while so tilt it differently.
Sharemarkets don't actually encourage investment in productive businesses. Once the IPO is done none of the money exchanged on the sharemarket goes to the business of which the shares of which the shares give ownership.
Buying and selling of shares is nothing but pure speculation.
Business and society would be better off if the business just took out a loan.
The difference between owning a business and expanding through private loan, or listing your growing business on the sharemarket, is best summed up by Fiddy Cent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG46_SvgtRI
We can't afford the sudden shock of losing all the financial structure we have. We need to utilise what we have. Going for completely different theories is for med-long term not a short term thing.
Doesn't have to be a private loan. In fact, a government loan on 0% interest would be best.
You're still trying to hold on to the failed economics of the past and the completely wrong idea that we need savings to make loans.
There are clever, agile minds around who get organised into criminality. The latest is stealing from glasshouses. (This might be a feature of wanting staff from overseas – less local connections to utilise the info of saleable stock and procedures from local staff?)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/428292/exotic-plants-stolen-from-wellington-botanic-garden
A dozen plants were taken from the Begonia House overnight on Monday.
They are a mix of rare and common, and range from small ones to over a metre tall.
Police said they been told about the incident and were assessing the information.
Manager David Sole said the plants were worth thousands of dollars and and there was no signs of a break-in.
He said he thought the theft was linked to a similar one at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens last month, with glasshouses around the country having also been targeted recently.
I remember a library book stealing system.
Book thief who pillaged libraries gets 5 1/2 years – NZ Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz › nz › news › article
Jan 21, 2005 — Lee Simpson forged Janet Frame's signature to improve the value of her books and hid rare and valuable collections in a Christchurch riverbed as he waited for a buyer. He stole from libraries up and down the country for 10 years, making at least $150,000.
'PM in waiting' wrestles with supporter over a MAGA sign.
Car crash politics.
I think she is turning it to the camera for the best view.
Oh dear. Half the National Party caucus in trouble here.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2020/10/finland-moves-to-ban-unsolicited-dick-pics.html
Friend on the Sunshine coast tells us his friend in France says 9000 cases overnight and many people were put in hospitals last night and they are overwhelmed.
The second wave is turning into a tsunami.
We are so blessed here, having the luxury of choosing and voting for continued success.
National MP's social media prowess from an MP in a marginal seat according to JC, that David Bennett chap.
Dirty politicking the seniors about how they'll get 7100 tax p.a under a Lab/Green banner.
Strange , the atmosphere here 3 days before an election. No passion, all details.
What matters: only climate change.
Did you see Robertson's ad on utube where he tried to persuade former John Key supporters he was following in his steps.
There is this small matter … of reality.
We have enough growed-to-adulthood Welfare State fellows to address this crisis with keen sharp teeth. It would involve destroying this l-a-b-o-u-r.