Seems it was a top dog and traveling light isn’t something top dogs do.
When the hotel my brother managed in Oman hosted US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates they would have needed a Globemaster or two to carry the well over100 personal, vehicles and communication systems that arrived with him.
Apparently, according to my brother, US military personal enjoying their R&R at the hotel were moved on to other hotels too because of security concerns.
“The government should let our farmers sell milk to Russia too.”
Paul the government are not stopping farmers from selling milk to Russia.
Russia banned New Zealand milk products after the botulism scare.
The ban has been lifted on AMF and butter and Fonterra is now selling butter and possibly AMF to Russia.
I imagine that the usual suspects will be along shortly, claiming that we mustn’t trade with Iran because they have the death penalty and use it a lot.
After all commenters like you, saveNZ and Colonial Viper have all said we shouldn’t trade with Saudi Arabia because they enforce the death penalty.
Iran of course carries out far more executions each year than Saudi Arabia and at a higher rate per capita.
Do you really want to trade with these people Paul? Surely you will be consistent? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_by_country#Numbers_executed_in_2014
Excellent opinion piece by Jacinda Ardern on Stuff website, telling Mark Weldon exactly what we all think of his vision for TV3, the urgent need for quality public broadcasting etc.
Very nice work Jacinda, direct and to the point.
Funny how money-man Key failed to pay any attention to these points. Cabinet Club could see a drop in donations from rich Chinese if he isn’t careful….
“Rival flag design is bad feng shui
“The alternative to the New Zealand flag is “bad feng shui” and could bring bad luck, instability and even a stock market crash, a New Zealand feng shui consultant says.
…………..
“Auckland-based feng shui master Francis Lui said the new flag had a “yin” design, which wasn’t good, and black on top was a bad omen.
“Black represents mourning, loss and implied loss, and it also resembles evil and sadness,” Mr Lui, 45, said.
“In feng shui, black also represents water and water makes stock markets go down.”
………………………
“Even the blue is a lighter blue to the current flag, a mark that the country could get weaker.”
……………………………..
“What we have here is a yin flag with a fluttering silver fern that marks instability and no growth.”
“Roll up, roll up to the amazing Todd McClay’s Flying Circus!”
TPP Action Dunedin welcomed Trade Minister Todd McClay and MFAT officials with a Monty Python theme on the eve of their Dunedin TPP Roadshow.
“The roadshow is a circus” said spokesperson Liana Kelly. “The government is not interested in hearing what New Zealanders think about the TPP. If they were, they would not be holding a roadshow after the deadline for submissions to the TPP Select Committee.”
Rather than attending Minister Todd McClay’s Flying Circus Dunedin business people would do better to come to St David lecture theatre this evening at 7:30pm to hear Professor Tim Hazledine give the facts about the TPPA.” Ms Kelly said. “We deserve more than spin.”
Some cultures do way better on gender than the West.
In February of 1757, the great Cherokee leader Attakullakulla came to South Carolina to negotiate trade agreements with the governor and was shocked to find that no white women were present. “Since the white man as well as the red was born of woman, did not the white man admit women to their council?” Attakullakulla asked the governor. Carolyn Johnston, professor at Eckerd College and author of Cherokee Women in Crisis; Trail of Tears, Civil War, and Allotment, 1838-1907, says in her book that the governor was so taken aback by the question that he took two or three days to come up with this milquetoast response: “The white men do place confidence in their women and share their councils with them when they know their hearts are good.”
Europeans were astonished to see that Cherokee women were the equals of men—politically, economically and theologically. “Women had autonomy and sexual freedom, could obtain divorce easily, rarely experienced rape or domestic violence, worked as producers/farmers, owned their own homes and fields, possessed a cosmology that contains female supernatural figures, and had significant political and economic power,” she writes. “Cherokee women’s close association with nature, as mothers and producers, served as a basis of their power within the tribe, not as a basis of oppression. Their position as ‘the other’ led to gender equivalence, not hierarchy.”
Wouldn’t it be strange if we lived in a world with a history of men taking advantage of and suppressing women. Stranger still, a world where men contort their own faiths for their own social and political advantage.
When Middle East correspondent Carla Power began studying the Koran with a conservative Islamic scholar, she wasn’t expecting to learn that it nowhere advocates the oppression of women – or that Islam has a rich history of forgotten female leaders
Yep. The idea that we have that we are at the pinnacle of women’s rights is ridiculous. And we need to start listening to what women and non-white people have to say because the white men (sorry vto) with the pens and typewriters have been telling porkies.
We can look far closer to home than the Cherokee and Middle East too 😉
“Brown and black and yellow men and women tell porkies too”
yes they do, but you missed the point. It’s the people with the power to write history that I’m talking about. It doesn’t matter if I tell lies. It does matter if someone who tells lies publishes an influential book that gets used as a teaching text in schools (not that I think it’s lies so much as extreme cultural bias that the person is blind to).
“just look at what that lady is trying to say about Islam tolerating women!”
Are you are scholar of the Koran? Care to dispute the actual points the reporter makes?
Haha, what nonsense, ‘womansplaining’ almost. The point is it doesn’t matter if women or brown or yellow people are in power – anyone can be a liar and it’s just sexism and racism under another guise to suggest otherwise
I also like how you back off from calling people liars based on race and sex and just focus on cultural bias, nice back down! Plus thinking I have to be a scholar of Islam to critique it! Those are the last people who would want to criticise it. Are you sure your brain is working?
Oh weka you funny old thing, yet here you were the other day telling me that white men did not have all the power or control all the institutions.
Remember?
In light of your own statements, best you amend the above to include women and people of non-white colour (don’t do it at the end of a hot suntannery summer eh).
It was not white men responsible for the bad (and the good of course. Eh. Yep)
It was white, brown, yellow.
It was male and female
it goes above and below the link. My point was that if white men are responsible for the negatives they are equally responsible for the positives, to which you tacked away and claimed women and non-whites also had power and influence, just to a far limited extent (which I agree with of course – Kate Sheppard and her lot being good example).
Please don’t respond at length though as I am of limited time and brain this eve
Short answer, you didn’t understand what I was saying in the other conversation.
White men have historically had far more power than women. That doesn’t mean they had all the power or that women had none. It means that there was an imbalance, and it meant that men as a class were more privileged by that arrangement than women were. Because of that they got to write history from a white male perspective. This is pretty easy to demonstrate.
No, they had most of the power and wrote most of the books. Why are we even discussing this? Tally up the number of books written on NZ history by decade and the ethnicity and gender of the writers and then come back and tell me who is right about this.
You are right weka, it is a part and part thing. Or a whole and whole thing.
same for bad and good
If white men were mostly responsible for the ills then they are equally mostly responsible for the goodies (not the tele programme, though they almost certainly were…)
In that light maybe some appreciation should be shown to the white man
Sorry weka, one last point and I think this is why I have trouble with your writings sometimes….
You say this “Because of that they got to write history from a white male perspective.”…. now that is a very definitive statement weka. White men wrote the history. That is an “all” statement.
But then you say this “No, they …. wrote most of the books”…. and that is a “part” statement.
If I’d wanted to say ‘all’, I would have. I didn’t. I’m obviously making a generalisation, because we are talking about generalities. We’re not talking about NZ history in the decade of 1890, or 1990. If you think I mean all when I don’t use that word, then I suggest you’re not actually listening to what I say.
So let me rephrase,
“Because of that they got to control how history was written, i.e. from a white male perspective. That doesn’t mean they controlled every little thing, it means that the culture in general was hugely influenced by the white male perspective for a long time”.
This isn’t in dispute vto, for instance it’s pretty easy to prove that what I learnt about Māori hsitory at school in the 70s and 80s had a huge bias toward Pākehā and against Māori. Likewise, much history about women from native cultures was suppressed and/or obscured because many of the white men writing about those cultures simply didn’t see the women or understand them. The histories that did get written by those women were often distorted.
I really wish you would stop taking this personally.
I’ll just take it that most of the good things in society, not all, have arisen from the same place that most of the ills, not all, have arisen. The white man.
Mate, there is absolutely nothing logical about what you are arguing. It’s nonsense. I’m happy to discuss this but not if you are going to ignore what I am saying and just make shit up.
“In Baden-Wuerttemberg in the southwest, a CDU stronghold for more than 50 years before turning to a Green-led coalition with the SPD in 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the Greens came home first with 32.5 per cent.”
“An exit poll by ARD television showed the AfD winning 12.5% of the vote in Baden-Württemberg, 11% in Rhineland-Palatinate and 23% in Saxony-Anhalt, a relatively poor eastern region.”
…. as for Sachen Anhalt (Saxony Anhalt) still being a ‘poor’ eastern region, this is chicken coming home to roost for Mrs. Angela Merkel and her Christian Democratic Party of Germany. What the CDU did to east Germany after the wall came down was nothing short of criminal and certainly not christian. But she did as instructed and mentored by Helmut Kohl, leader of the CDU and Chancellor of Germany who left his party and Germany over to Angela, peaceful in the knowledge that she will not allow any growth in East Germany that would impede Western German business interests.
Germany has only itself to blame for what is happening in East Germany.
The report alleged failings of the TPP in three key areas: democratic participation, transparency and public accountability. Co-author of the report Hossein Ayazi, a graduate research assistant for the Haas Institute’s Global Justice Program, alleged in an email that the TPP would harm the livelihoods of millions of individuals internationally.
“(The TPP is) the latest iteration of a global trend of political power being modeled almost entirely after the market-based economy (and) of national governments selling out the interests of the people they serve in order to instead serve the interest of corporations,” Ayazi said in an email.
So much for the TPPA being a good deal.
Well, great for the corporations whom our govts serve.
This article in NBR followed the notice that TPP negotiators had reached an agreement last year.
Twelve Pacific Rim nations have reached a deal on the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership in the American city of Atlanta, ending more than five years of negotiations to create the largest trade and investment pact since the Uruguay Round of the GATT trade agreement 20 years ago.
However, New Zealand has barely prised open the door for dairy exports to the highly-protected markets of the US, Canada, and Japan, with tariffs on some products proving too hard to overturn.
If 10% of dairy farmers go under that will mean absolute carnage…
Key is likely being conservative too – in other words 10% would at the low end of the spectrum. Combined with Bill English’s rhetoric over recent days, we can take it this shit is really going to hit the flat-out fan.
No it won’t, it will simply be a reallocation of resources to a more productive use, Or allowing farms to continue without such high capital cost burden
And that perspective would also refer to the concomitant suicide rates amongst farmers and farm workers as simply the voluntary self-decommissioning of unproductive and obsolete economic units.
Well it will reddelusion… 10% is a very large number. It will take carnage and massive upheaval to get to the point f reallocation. I agree it will get to that point of reallocation, but at very significant cost to people’s lives (remember them?) and the nations resources and business infrastructure and operations.
No problem looking after mental well being of farmers or helping with transition to new employment etc, I just don’t think the solution is bailing out the farm if it’s not sustainable and it can be used more efficiently for other purposes or at a sustainable cost of capital position To do otherwise is a very dangerous precedent unless there is Financial system wide risk here to the whole economy of which there is not, ie SCF during GFC
Well, apart from the banks that lent to anybody who owned a cow.
But even if the banks were ok, one of the main cash injections into the regions has taken a massive hit.
“Transition to new employment” is a nice buzzphrase, but if say 10% of people with similar backgrounds and experience are all looking to transition at once, their chances of successful transions reduce markedly.
It’s not even the size of the “reallocation”, it’s the speed. That’s what’ll have flow-on effects beyond the farming sector. Milk farming at this level was always unsustainable in every sense of the word, but when bubbles pop (as this one seems to have) then a lot of people’s livelihoods get taken out as collateral damage. Much better to slow the deflation, but of course many ways of slowing the pop are lost to us because of various “free trade” deals. Can’t have government intervention, no sirree.
Much better to just watch the fallout in the regions and do what we can for the banks /sarc
I think we talking two different things. I agree with you about the transition away and all of that, my point was a particular one, namely that a 10% default and failure rate is very high. It is very high for any sector, but given the scale of this sector relative to the entire economy that very high 10% then doubles down to have an effect far greater than even that very high 10%. Hence why I think there is carnage around the next corner…
wish there wasn’t
it will affect us and our business
quite dramatically
in process of mitigation now…. not easy
and don’t think we are going to avoid…
I don’t think banks will want carnage as value of farms overall will fall pushing other farms into balance sheet insolvency as liabilities exceed value of asset thus undermining quality and value of loans or assets on banks balance sheets. An norderly recalibration is in the banks and Fonterras best interests here. I agree gov oversite to ensure this happens is appropriate as is social assistance but bailing out long term unsustainable farms is not the way to go.
It is a curious one, this prediction of 10% failure, which is why it has piqued some interest….
It is a very unusual thing for politicians to do, especially the two like PM and Deputy dog. That is no small thing for them to come out and say. It is this which is the thing – this making of such statements.
As for the banks not wanting carnage, sure, but remember that the debt is owned by much larger aussie banks (and them by even larger fish). I don’t think the fact of carnage in widdle nz will worry them one iota. Heck, I’m sure some of the owners alone are worth more than all the dairy debt combined.
At least the price of milk at the dairy is dropping …. ? ?
Nine to Noon about 20 mins ago. They were talking about the looming financial crisis around farming and whether the govt should take some action. I came in near the end, was listening to the meta conversation more than the content. Hooton yet again getting to say “the left are CRazy” and Ryan letting him get away with it (she just gives up because he’s intractable, which means they either need a new presenter or a new right wing commentator).
Hooten starts with a unfound conclusion, he then works backward justifying his stance with appeals to myth, and adhom and any debating technique that would lose ordinarily, and funally should be be floored too obviously by reality he will defiantantly shug off and be back next week as he has won. Where does the anger come from support Trump, but from nuttters like Hooten in the US, who seize the benefits of the social collective and turn around to pull up the ladder, draw the bridge up, place flags they do not deserve to way on the parapets, and call us to arms though we sit seething outside want him to metaphorically linch him. If only we moved on, his castle is in a dark irrelevant forest of tired old fakery. Past generationsn would call him a boring drama prince.
Hooten said repeatedly today that Labour wanted a “bailout for Dairy Farmers.” That was a flat lie. But it is what he does. Choose meme for the show and just repeats it ad nauseum. All the rest is fluff just as long as gets his repetitions in.
Key does not understand the global economy, incentivizing milk production would inevitably drawn in new or raised existing milk overseas production. Add to the cultural habit of Chineses to have their ine baby in the year of the dragon…
Now Key says its good for NZ that Trump and Clinton are against TPPA. Free trade lifts all boats, thats why Labour are for them, Greens seem against them but nly beause they undermine environments, if they did not it’ll be think global act local.
So why is Key, and his mouth piece Hooten, so disingenious, so arrogant, so willing ti attack the messenger, same reason all third term gvts are, out of ideas, wanting to move on, and just having fun at the nations expense.
ANKARA, March 13 (Reuters) – A car bomb killed 27 people in the heart of the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday and wounded 75 more, the governor’s office said, less than a month after a similar attack killed 29 people just blocks away.
I commented on this yesterday
Big flat nothing zero…. 🙁
But hey people this is something about which people should be sitting up and taking notice!
Far more important than Trump, Key’s buffoonery, Dairy prices, and even dare I say The Middle East and ISIL.
This is a wow! moment in human history, and we did it. Dr Jeff Masters at Wunderblog tells the story
Gordon Campbell (via Scoop) writes about how the EEC has trashed the proposed ISDS and instead put forward ” a new, judicially balanced and transparent system for resolving trade disputes.”….”The redrafted Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) creates a permanent tribunal, with members appointed by the two sides, as well as an appeal process to reverse potential legal errors. There is also tougher language enshrining the right of governments to regulate.”
The German Magistrates disagree, Ianmac. While the ICS is some improvement in the ISDS, the court still sits outside of the justice systems of states. There is criticism of the appointment process as well in this statement released.
blockquote><The German Magistrates Association rejects the proposal of the European Commission to establish an investment court within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The DRB sees neither a legal basis nor a need for such a court.
The German Magistrates Association sees no need for the establishment of a special court for investors. The Member States are all constitutional states, which provide and guarantee access to justice in all areas where the state has jurisdiction to all law-seeking parties. It is for the Member States to ensure access to justice for all and to ensure feasible access for foreign investors, by providing the courts with the relevant resources. Hence, the establishment of an ICS is the wrong way to guarantee legal certainty.
In addition, the German Magistrates Association calls on the German and European legislators to significantly curb recourse to arbitration within the framework of the protection of international investors. link
Investors should have to work within the judiciary systems of the states in which they are investing. If they don’t trust the judicial system, then they should not invest in that country. The ISDS has been used as a bullyboy system and the ICS, while having some better features, is still unnecessary.
Just a bit of a brag. Made it to the top 15 blogs on Open Parachute blog in the Month of February. Considering No right turn is number 37 that should tell you something! Not bad in a field of some 300 Kiwi blogs! And not bad for a Tulip talking 9/11 and John Key 😆
General James Clapper, head of the NSA has just landed in Wellington on his way to a Five Eyes meeting in Australia – Canberra I presume. Thought he’d pop in and say hello to John Key. Coincidence that it comes only days after a GCSB/SIS review is released?
Someone correct me if I have the wrong person, but was Clapper the senior US security fellow who attended a top secret international meeting where SIS Minister, Chris Finlayson was also present? You know… the one that took place shortly before the Kim Dotcom mansion raid?
The review of spy laws was to look into some of the seemingly dubious and questionable things that were done, which also included some aspects of the PM’s involvement, but …….. voila! ………. John Key gets Sir Michael Cullen on the job and the recommendations are now aimed to make spying easier and (?) broader.
Talk about disaster opportunism. John Key pulls it off well.
Btw, I hope that the National Government-knighted Sir Michael, who is far from living on the poverty line and indeed should be enjoying the pre-1999 post-Parliamentary perks, has generously donated his time to the review out of his genuine sense of public service and the kindness of his good heart.
“I don’t see why we should cancel the dinner party just because John Kennedy got himself shot.”—Nancy Reagan, telephone call to friend, Friday 22 November 1963
Twitter rumour that the ODT is going behind a paywall next month. That will be a real shame. The ODT is a reasonable paper by modern standards, and their coverage of local news, including issues that also have national significance like what is happening with the SDHB, needs to be freely available.
Nothing a good paywall blocker browser plug in / ad on won’t fix, or if you’re tech savy just appear as a Google bot ‘just browsing’ for an all access path, even better copy the page/post once your in & display it elsewhere for others that can’t (dont know how) on say pastebin.org or similar & share the link (paywalls don’t work)
That’s true, which is why I suggested for those able to add a simple plugin on their browser should cut & paste it, however I’d copy & paste it to my Google plus (G+) posts publicly as I have built up a large circle of like minded friends from NZ + beyond who share interesting posts as opposed to Facebook where you’ll be reading what people ate for breakfast ect, G+ is a great community for intellectuals.
That’s true, which is why I suggested for those able to add a simple plugin on their browser should cut & paste it, however I’d copy & paste it to my Google plus (G+) posts publicly as I have built up a large circle of like minded friends from NZ + beyond who share interesting posts as opposed to Facebook where you’ll be reading what people ate for breakfast ect, G+ is a great community for intellectuals.
Is it true … that regardless of whether Clinton or Trump becomes President of the United States of America … that neither Hillary nor Donald support the TPPA ???
If that is the case … then I am going with “The Donald” … because he is at least capable of negotiation … without having to check with his Campaign Donors first. LOL.
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
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About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
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Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
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As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
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We may be opening up our trade with Iran.
The government should let our farmers sell milk to Russia too.
+100
Someone yesterday wrote of an American Lear jet also landing just after the Iranian plane then scuttling into a hanger. What to hide?
Most likely this aircraft that didn’t scuttle away.
http://flyinggeek.blogspot.co.nz/2016/03/usaf-gulfstream-aerospace-c37a-g-v.html
Neither did this one.
http://flyinggeek.blogspot.co.nz/2016/03/usaf-c17-at-wellington.html
Was the little plane bringing that FBI bloke? The big one looks like the ones that head out to the Antarctic filled with stuff?
The Gulfstream could be law enforcement or perhaps forward party for a proposed POTUS visit.
I think the Antarctic flight window closes mid February so the Globemaster could be equipment heavy lift in and/or cyclone relief to Fiji.
I would have thought most law enforcement would fly commercial unless it was a top dog
I did wonder if some heavy equipment needed lifting somewhere and if so what?
As far as I know the Fiji cyclone relief has been shipped
Seems it was a top dog and traveling light isn’t something top dogs do.
When the hotel my brother managed in Oman hosted US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates they would have needed a Globemaster or two to carry the well over100 personal, vehicles and communication systems that arrived with him.
Apparently, according to my brother, US military personal enjoying their R&R at the hotel were moved on to other hotels too because of security concerns.
Paul
“The government should let our farmers sell milk to Russia too.”
Paul the government are not stopping farmers from selling milk to Russia.
Russia banned New Zealand milk products after the botulism scare.
The ban has been lifted on AMF and butter and Fonterra is now selling butter and possibly AMF to Russia.
I imagine that the usual suspects will be along shortly, claiming that we mustn’t trade with Iran because they have the death penalty and use it a lot.
After all commenters like you, saveNZ and Colonial Viper have all said we shouldn’t trade with Saudi Arabia because they enforce the death penalty.
Iran of course carries out far more executions each year than Saudi Arabia and at a higher rate per capita.
Do you really want to trade with these people Paul? Surely you will be consistent?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_by_country#Numbers_executed_in_2014
This needs to be addressed.
The country is to broke to be giving away our natural assets.
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/free-nz-water-video-6452266
Shocking, similar to how corporations have access to 3rd world countries I imagine.
Shocking indeed.
It needs addressing before more consents are issued.
Excellent opinion piece by Jacinda Ardern on Stuff website, telling Mark Weldon exactly what we all think of his vision for TV3, the urgent need for quality public broadcasting etc.
Very nice work Jacinda, direct and to the point.
So she is alive then, nice to know.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/77745331/jacinda-v-david-the-reality-show-no-one-wants–survivor-broadcasting
Seymore’s response is pitiful.
New Stuff layout is awful. Cost cutting I suppose. Short sighted. Not worth going there any more.
When they’re trouncing a desperately needed social service? YES!
“…….an informed society is a healthy society”
A montage of Trump inciting his supporters at rallies prior to the Chicago cancellation.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/escalating-aggression-marks-trump-s-rhetoric-642743363967
Trump/In The Flesh mashup
https://youtu.be/zt823n3RsPc
The internationalist in me.
Why has the USA still got an embargo on books to Cuba?
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/end-book-embargo-against-cuba
Chemical weapons in use by ISIS, this is sick.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3489199/Over-600-people-injured-ISIS-chemical-attack-jihadi-group-s-triple-suicide-bomb-attack-foiled-Kurdish-forces-Iraq.html
And why the hell are we standing by whilst Turkey attack the Kurds???
The US doesn’t like successful societies that don’t kowtow to them.
Because they’re a member of NATO.
John Key wrapped in a NZ flag ?
It looks more like a old man shivering in a thin blanket against the coming winter chill.
Loving this….
Funny how money-man Key failed to pay any attention to these points. Cabinet Club could see a drop in donations from rich Chinese if he isn’t careful….
“Rival flag design is bad feng shui
“The alternative to the New Zealand flag is “bad feng shui” and could bring bad luck, instability and even a stock market crash, a New Zealand feng shui consultant says.
…………..
“Auckland-based feng shui master Francis Lui said the new flag had a “yin” design, which wasn’t good, and black on top was a bad omen.
“Black represents mourning, loss and implied loss, and it also resembles evil and sadness,” Mr Lui, 45, said.
“In feng shui, black also represents water and water makes stock markets go down.”
………………………
“Even the blue is a lighter blue to the current flag, a mark that the country could get weaker.”
……………………………..
“What we have here is a yin flag with a fluttering silver fern that marks instability and no growth.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11605003
Who’s the biggest mouth
Kim Jong-un or Donald Trump
With those two just across an ocean from each other what could possibly go wrong!!!!
The TPP Roadshow is a Circus
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1603/S00209/the-tpp-roadshow-is-a-circus.htm
The government is continuing inject more money in irrigation projects despite the dairy downturn. Last week it announced it was putting another $800,000 into the proposed irrigation dam for the Wairarapa – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wairarapa-times-age/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503414&objectid=11604196
Some cultures do way better on gender than the West.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/01/10/power-cherokee-women-3767
Wouldn’t it be strange if we lived in a world with a history of men taking advantage of and suppressing women. Stranger still, a world where men contort their own faiths for their own social and political advantage.
When Middle East correspondent Carla Power began studying the Koran with a conservative Islamic scholar, she wasn’t expecting to learn that it nowhere advocates the oppression of women – or that Islam has a rich history of forgotten female leaders
http://s.telegraph.co.uk/graphics/projects/koran-carla-power/index.html
(I might have just hurt myself with my own tongue)
Yep. The idea that we have that we are at the pinnacle of women’s rights is ridiculous. And we need to start listening to what women and non-white people have to say because the white men (sorry vto) with the pens and typewriters have been telling porkies.
We can look far closer to home than the Cherokee and Middle East too 😉
Brown and black and yellow men and women tell porkies too… just look at what that lady is trying to say about Islam tolerating women!
“Brown and black and yellow men and women tell porkies too”
yes they do, but you missed the point. It’s the people with the power to write history that I’m talking about. It doesn’t matter if I tell lies. It does matter if someone who tells lies publishes an influential book that gets used as a teaching text in schools (not that I think it’s lies so much as extreme cultural bias that the person is blind to).
“just look at what that lady is trying to say about Islam tolerating women!”
Are you are scholar of the Koran? Care to dispute the actual points the reporter makes?
Haha, what nonsense, ‘womansplaining’ almost. The point is it doesn’t matter if women or brown or yellow people are in power – anyone can be a liar and it’s just sexism and racism under another guise to suggest otherwise
I think I’ll leave you to rant to yourself, you seem good at a one sided conversation.
I also like how you back off from calling people liars based on race and sex and just focus on cultural bias, nice back down! Plus thinking I have to be a scholar of Islam to critique it! Those are the last people who would want to criticise it. Are you sure your brain is working?
Oh weka you funny old thing, yet here you were the other day telling me that white men did not have all the power or control all the institutions.
Remember?
In light of your own statements, best you amend the above to include women and people of non-white colour (don’t do it at the end of a hot suntannery summer eh).
It was not white men responsible for the bad (and the good of course. Eh. Yep)
It was white, brown, yellow.
It was male and female
Oh weka you funny old thing, yet here you were the other day telling me that white men did not have all the power or control all the institutions.
Remember?
Vaguely. Put up a link and I’ll respond to your comment.
herewith http://thestandard.org.nz/old-rich-white-man-complains-about-another-group-receiving-privilege/#comment-1138655
it goes above and below the link. My point was that if white men are responsible for the negatives they are equally responsible for the positives, to which you tacked away and claimed women and non-whites also had power and influence, just to a far limited extent (which I agree with of course – Kate Sheppard and her lot being good example).
Please don’t respond at length though as I am of limited time and brain this eve
Short answer, you didn’t understand what I was saying in the other conversation.
White men have historically had far more power than women. That doesn’t mean they had all the power or that women had none. It means that there was an imbalance, and it meant that men as a class were more privileged by that arrangement than women were. Because of that they got to write history from a white male perspective. This is pretty easy to demonstrate.
So they had only part of the power but wrote all the books?
No, they had most of the power and wrote most of the books. Why are we even discussing this? Tally up the number of books written on NZ history by decade and the ethnicity and gender of the writers and then come back and tell me who is right about this.
You are right weka, it is a part and part thing. Or a whole and whole thing.
same for bad and good
If white men were mostly responsible for the ills then they are equally mostly responsible for the goodies (not the tele programme, though they almost certainly were…)
In that light maybe some appreciation should be shown to the white man
yeah, not interested in talking with someone who is basically talking to themselves. Have at it though and enjoy yourself.
Sorry weka, one last point and I think this is why I have trouble with your writings sometimes….
You say this “Because of that they got to write history from a white male perspective.”…. now that is a very definitive statement weka. White men wrote the history. That is an “all” statement.
But then you say this “No, they …. wrote most of the books”…. and that is a “part” statement.
This is the problem. It is your problem.
If I’d wanted to say ‘all’, I would have. I didn’t. I’m obviously making a generalisation, because we are talking about generalities. We’re not talking about NZ history in the decade of 1890, or 1990. If you think I mean all when I don’t use that word, then I suggest you’re not actually listening to what I say.
So let me rephrase,
“Because of that they got to control how history was written, i.e. from a white male perspective. That doesn’t mean they controlled every little thing, it means that the culture in general was hugely influenced by the white male perspective for a long time”.
This isn’t in dispute vto, for instance it’s pretty easy to prove that what I learnt about Māori hsitory at school in the 70s and 80s had a huge bias toward Pākehā and against Māori. Likewise, much history about women from native cultures was suppressed and/or obscured because many of the white men writing about those cultures simply didn’t see the women or understand them. The histories that did get written by those women were often distorted.
I really wish you would stop taking this personally.
ok ok lets leave it for now. . .
I’ll just take it that most of the good things in society, not all, have arisen from the same place that most of the ills, not all, have arisen. The white man.
Don’t let me get in the way of that prejudice vto.
you got a real problem eh
I sure do and now I’m going to stop talking to it.
Or did the part of power they had match the part of the books they wrote?
And did the part of their power match all of the good? Or just all of the bad?
Or some other combination of part and whole? It is another of those maths and logic things weka …
Mate, there is absolutely nothing logical about what you are arguing. It’s nonsense. I’m happy to discuss this but not if you are going to ignore what I am saying and just make shit up.
From Stuff today:
“In Baden-Wuerttemberg in the southwest, a CDU stronghold for more than 50 years before turning to a Green-led coalition with the SPD in 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the Greens came home first with 32.5 per cent.”
This is some result for the Greens.
while that is nice for the Greens in Baden Wuerttemberg (West Germany), the results for the other Party AFD Alternative for Germany is more worrisome.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/13/germany-state-elections-test-merkel-refugees
“An exit poll by ARD television showed the AfD winning 12.5% of the vote in Baden-Württemberg, 11% in Rhineland-Palatinate and 23% in Saxony-Anhalt, a relatively poor eastern region.”
AfD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_for_Germany
…. as for Sachen Anhalt (Saxony Anhalt) still being a ‘poor’ eastern region, this is chicken coming home to roost for Mrs. Angela Merkel and her Christian Democratic Party of Germany. What the CDU did to east Germany after the wall came down was nothing short of criminal and certainly not christian. But she did as instructed and mentored by Helmut Kohl, leader of the CDU and Chancellor of Germany who left his party and Germany over to Angela, peaceful in the knowledge that she will not allow any growth in East Germany that would impede Western German business interests.
Germany has only itself to blame for what is happening in East Germany.
UC Berkeley researchers raise corporate misconduct concerns regarding Trans-Pacific Partnership in report
So much for the TPPA being a good deal.
Well, great for the corporations whom our govts serve.
More misinformation on TPP by PM
“10% of dairy farms could fail – Key”
“Up to 10 percent of dairy farmers could be forced off their land,” Prime Minister John Key says.
“But the government could help farmers by making the business more viable through the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and irrigation”, he said.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/298869/10-percent-of-dairy-farms-could-fail-key
This article in NBR followed the notice that TPP negotiators had reached an agreement last year.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/tpp-deal-gives-limited-win-nz-dairy-us-gives-way-drug-patents-b-179693
The PM needs a colonic irrigation!
I tried to post this above my last comment so that it should read as below:
“The government currently has around $120million of taxpayers’ money sitting in a fund, called Crown Irrigation Investments, which is earmarked for controversial irrigation schemes designed to expand industrial dairy agriculture. The government hopes to increase the amount of taxpayers’ money spent on these schemes to $400million. ”
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/03/14/john-key-should-resign-as-tourism-minister-greenpeace/#sthash.vfq9Pt8d.dpuf
The PM needs a colonic irrigation!
If 10% of dairy farmers go under that will mean absolute carnage…
Key is likely being conservative too – in other words 10% would at the low end of the spectrum. Combined with Bill English’s rhetoric over recent days, we can take it this shit is really going to hit the flat-out fan.
tough times, tough times
No it won’t, it will simply be a reallocation of resources to a more productive use, Or allowing farms to continue without such high capital cost burden
🙄
And that perspective would also refer to the concomitant suicide rates amongst farmers and farm workers as simply the voluntary self-decommissioning of unproductive and obsolete economic units.
Well it will reddelusion… 10% is a very large number. It will take carnage and massive upheaval to get to the point f reallocation. I agree it will get to that point of reallocation, but at very significant cost to people’s lives (remember them?) and the nations resources and business infrastructure and operations.
No problem looking after mental well being of farmers or helping with transition to new employment etc, I just don’t think the solution is bailing out the farm if it’s not sustainable and it can be used more efficiently for other purposes or at a sustainable cost of capital position To do otherwise is a very dangerous precedent unless there is Financial system wide risk here to the whole economy of which there is not, ie SCF during GFC
Well, apart from the banks that lent to anybody who owned a cow.
But even if the banks were ok, one of the main cash injections into the regions has taken a massive hit.
“Transition to new employment” is a nice buzzphrase, but if say 10% of people with similar backgrounds and experience are all looking to transition at once, their chances of successful transions reduce markedly.
It’s not even the size of the “reallocation”, it’s the speed. That’s what’ll have flow-on effects beyond the farming sector. Milk farming at this level was always unsustainable in every sense of the word, but when bubbles pop (as this one seems to have) then a lot of people’s livelihoods get taken out as collateral damage. Much better to slow the deflation, but of course many ways of slowing the pop are lost to us because of various “free trade” deals. Can’t have government intervention, no sirree.
Much better to just watch the fallout in the regions and do what we can for the banks /sarc
I think we talking two different things. I agree with you about the transition away and all of that, my point was a particular one, namely that a 10% default and failure rate is very high. It is very high for any sector, but given the scale of this sector relative to the entire economy that very high 10% then doubles down to have an effect far greater than even that very high 10%. Hence why I think there is carnage around the next corner…
wish there wasn’t
it will affect us and our business
quite dramatically
in process of mitigation now…. not easy
and don’t think we are going to avoid…
I don’t think banks will want carnage as value of farms overall will fall pushing other farms into balance sheet insolvency as liabilities exceed value of asset thus undermining quality and value of loans or assets on banks balance sheets. An norderly recalibration is in the banks and Fonterras best interests here. I agree gov oversite to ensure this happens is appropriate as is social assistance but bailing out long term unsustainable farms is not the way to go.
It is a curious one, this prediction of 10% failure, which is why it has piqued some interest….
It is a very unusual thing for politicians to do, especially the two like PM and Deputy dog. That is no small thing for them to come out and say. It is this which is the thing – this making of such statements.
As for the banks not wanting carnage, sure, but remember that the debt is owned by much larger aussie banks (and them by even larger fish). I don’t think the fact of carnage in widdle nz will worry them one iota. Heck, I’m sure some of the owners alone are worth more than all the dairy debt combined.
At least the price of milk at the dairy is dropping …. ? ?
Anyone know what businesses are doing with Otago Anniversary Day this year?
United against the TPP
The Commies are coming!!!
(Hooton accuses Kathryn Ryan of asking a socialist question).
Where, when?
What was the question?
Nine to Noon about 20 mins ago. They were talking about the looming financial crisis around farming and whether the govt should take some action. I came in near the end, was listening to the meta conversation more than the content. Hooton yet again getting to say “the left are CRazy” and Ryan letting him get away with it (she just gives up because he’s intractable, which means they either need a new presenter or a new right wing commentator).
Hooten starts with a unfound conclusion, he then works backward justifying his stance with appeals to myth, and adhom and any debating technique that would lose ordinarily, and funally should be be floored too obviously by reality he will defiantantly shug off and be back next week as he has won. Where does the anger come from support Trump, but from nuttters like Hooten in the US, who seize the benefits of the social collective and turn around to pull up the ladder, draw the bridge up, place flags they do not deserve to way on the parapets, and call us to arms though we sit seething outside want him to metaphorically linch him. If only we moved on, his castle is in a dark irrelevant forest of tired old fakery. Past generationsn would call him a boring drama prince.
Hooten said repeatedly today that Labour wanted a “bailout for Dairy Farmers.” That was a flat lie. But it is what he does. Choose meme for the show and just repeats it ad nauseum. All the rest is fluff just as long as gets his repetitions in.
Key does not understand the global economy, incentivizing milk production would inevitably drawn in new or raised existing milk overseas production. Add to the cultural habit of Chineses to have their ine baby in the year of the dragon…
Now Key says its good for NZ that Trump and Clinton are against TPPA. Free trade lifts all boats, thats why Labour are for them, Greens seem against them but nly beause they undermine environments, if they did not it’ll be think global act local.
So why is Key, and his mouth piece Hooten, so disingenious, so arrogant, so willing ti attack the messenger, same reason all third term gvts are, out of ideas, wanting to move on, and just having fun at the nations expense.
Is she a FAY BEE YUN?
It is Newstalk ZB without the ads whenever any of the DP crew do a shift.
If Ryan challenged his BS she would be moved on….well played griffin.
What’s wrong with this Stephen Mills guy on the Nine to Noon Monday politics spot. Hasn’t he learnt to say “I think Mathew is right”?
He is an unmannerly lout who hasn’t realised that neither Ryan nor Hootie Blowfish will ever, if left to their own devices, finish a sentence.
car bombs in Ankara.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ankara-turkey-explosion_us_56e59cdce4b065e2e3d6427b
ANKARA, March 13 (Reuters) – A car bomb killed 27 people in the heart of the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday and wounded 75 more, the governor’s office said, less than a month after a similar attack killed 29 people just blocks away.
I commented on this yesterday
Big flat nothing zero…. 🙁
But hey people this is something about which people should be sitting up and taking notice!
Far more important than Trump, Key’s buffoonery, Dairy prices, and even dare I say The Middle East and ISIL.
This is a wow! moment in human history, and we did it.
Dr Jeff Masters at Wunderblog tells the story
Gordon Campbell (via Scoop) writes about how the EEC has trashed the proposed ISDS and instead put forward ” a new, judicially balanced and transparent system for resolving trade disputes.”….”The redrafted Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) creates a permanent tribunal, with members appointed by the two sides, as well as an appeal process to reverse potential legal errors. There is also tougher language enshrining the right of governments to regulate.”
Sounds better to me for TPPA. No doubt Key would change the ISDS for our peace of mind, I hope!
(2nd section) http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2016/03/14/gordon-campbell-on-the-aussie-banks/
The German Magistrates disagree, Ianmac. While the ICS is some improvement in the ISDS, the court still sits outside of the justice systems of states. There is criticism of the appointment process as well in this statement released.
blockquote><The German Magistrates Association rejects the proposal of the European Commission to establish an investment court within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The DRB sees neither a legal basis nor a need for such a court.
The German Magistrates Association sees no need for the establishment of a special court for investors. The Member States are all constitutional states, which provide and guarantee access to justice in all areas where the state has jurisdiction to all law-seeking parties. It is for the Member States to ensure access to justice for all and to ensure feasible access for foreign investors, by providing the courts with the relevant resources. Hence, the establishment of an ICS is the wrong way to guarantee legal certainty.
In addition, the German Magistrates Association calls on the German and European legislators to significantly curb recourse to arbitration within the framework of the protection of international investors.
link
Investors should have to work within the judiciary systems of the states in which they are investing. If they don’t trust the judicial system, then they should not invest in that country. The ISDS has been used as a bullyboy system and the ICS, while having some better features, is still unnecessary.
Further degradation of our sovereignty
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11605462
Just a bit of a brag. Made it to the top 15 blogs on Open Parachute blog in the Month of February. Considering No right turn is number 37 that should tell you something! Not bad in a field of some 300 Kiwi blogs! And not bad for a Tulip talking 9/11 and John Key 😆
congratulations !…always find what you say is interesting
Thank you very much!
keep up the good work rev
people will catch up one day
Here is hoping eh?
Breaking News.
General James Clapper, head of the NSA has just landed in Wellington on his way to a Five Eyes meeting in Australia – Canberra I presume. Thought he’d pop in and say hello to John Key. Coincidence that it comes only days after a GCSB/SIS review is released?
Someone correct me if I have the wrong person, but was Clapper the senior US security fellow who attended a top secret international meeting where SIS Minister, Chris Finlayson was also present? You know… the one that took place shortly before the Kim Dotcom mansion raid?
watch out for drones and funny whistling noises in your telephone and Men in Black hiding behind trees…
…the GCSB is now being taken over by those USA crooks to spy directly on New Zealanders
…thanks Michael Cullen !
Why is that I’m left with a peculiar feeling?
The review of spy laws was to look into some of the seemingly dubious and questionable things that were done, which also included some aspects of the PM’s involvement, but …….. voila! ………. John Key gets Sir Michael Cullen on the job and the recommendations are now aimed to make spying easier and (?) broader.
Talk about disaster opportunism. John Key pulls it off well.
Btw, I hope that the National Government-knighted Sir Michael, who is far from living on the poverty line and indeed should be enjoying the pre-1999 post-Parliamentary perks, has generously donated his time to the review out of his genuine sense of public service and the kindness of his good heart.
Nancy Reagan dead at 94
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ngZFRisurU
“I don’t see why we should cancel the dinner party just because John Kennedy got himself shot.”—Nancy Reagan, telephone call to friend, Friday 22 November 1963
…that really is a helluva quote !…will never forget it…this should be quoted at Nancy Reagan’s funeral…it is almost on a par with “Let them eat cake”
Twitter rumour that the ODT is going behind a paywall next month. That will be a real shame. The ODT is a reasonable paper by modern standards, and their coverage of local news, including issues that also have national significance like what is happening with the SDHB, needs to be freely available.
Nothing a good paywall blocker browser plug in / ad on won’t fix, or if you’re tech savy just appear as a Google bot ‘just browsing’ for an all access path, even better copy the page/post once your in & display it elsewhere for others that can’t (dont know how) on say pastebin.org or similar & share the link (paywalls don’t work)
Ok, I’ll check that out. Doesn’t really resolve the lack of community access though. Most people won’t be able to do what you suggest.
That’s true, which is why I suggested for those able to add a simple plugin on their browser should cut & paste it, however I’d copy & paste it to my Google plus (G+) posts publicly as I have built up a large circle of like minded friends from NZ + beyond who share interesting posts as opposed to Facebook where you’ll be reading what people ate for breakfast ect, G+ is a great community for intellectuals.
That’s true, which is why I suggested for those able to add a simple plugin on their browser should cut & paste it, however I’d copy & paste it to my Google plus (G+) posts publicly as I have built up a large circle of like minded friends from NZ + beyond who share interesting posts as opposed to Facebook where you’ll be reading what people ate for breakfast ect, G+ is a great community for intellectuals.
Israelis torturing non-Jewish children. Australian documentary film. Viewer discretion.
And NZ just signed a film co-production deal with Israel! Yey, come the Israelis making propaganda shite movies here! Maybe we can boycott those!
Is it true … that regardless of whether Clinton or Trump becomes President of the United States of America … that neither Hillary nor Donald support the TPPA ???
If that is the case … then I am going with “The Donald” … because he is at least capable of negotiation … without having to check with his Campaign Donors first. LOL.
+100