So who ever wins on Sunday, they need to come out on Monday at full speed. They have some momentum, Key is clearly taking it more seriously than some of the Labour MP’s by turning down a junket for Tuesday Question time.
Already Fran O in the Herald is posing the ‘Poison chalice’ leadership question.
Good opposition advise from the Sydney Morning Herald.
Tony Abbott is promising again and again that he will lead a “methodical, measured, calm” government. But he’s overlooking something. He’s just finished writing a rip-roaring new guidebook on how to be a successful opposition.It’s the Abbott model of how to destroy a government. And guess what? The Labor Party noticed.
Rule No.1: Don’t give the government a thing. Fight it up hill, down dale, day in day out. Be strident, be angry, be unreasonable. Apply maximum pressure and see what cracks.
Rule No.2: Don’t allow the government to control the narrative. Make a lot of noise. Fill the airwaves with angry dissent and maximum outrage. Generate an impression of disorder. If you control the narrative, you control the psychological battlespace.
Rule No.3: Exploit the deadliest of all contemporary policy issues, the one that was central to the downfall of the last three prime ministers: climate change. This remains a potent issue and will remain so for years.And the Abbott model worked.
Thats why JK is a better politician then most if not all of the current labour line up* because he doesn’t underestimate Cunliffe (assuming its him) so hes going to make sure he doesn’t get an easy ride…
*Interestingly Cunliffe made mention of Labour consistently underestimating Key and paying the price and that he wont
The trouble with Rule No. 1 is that it can quickly make a nation ungovernable, whoever is in power. This is the unedifying situation we’re presently seeing in the USA where the Republicans, dangling from their Tea Party Wing, are resisting everything Obama presents even though Obama himself has shown himself to be pretty Right Wing. As a result those initiatives which would have brought some limited relief to the not-quite worst off in America’s society such as ObamaCare have been diluted out of existance.
The underlying understanding that makes democracy workable is the recognition that ‘the other guy’ has a view and policies some in the population voted for and so presumably want to see pursued – and where that segment of the population is in the majority they have the ‘right’ to see them pursued. The duty of the Opposition is to oppose and point out consequences and alternatives, but ultimately to accept that the Government has earned the right to govern. Being angry and unreasonable is the behaviour of kids in a playground, and God knows there’s already enough of that in Parliament.
I gather that the difference in support for the two American parties was very small so it makes the ‘let the rulers do their stuff” idea rather marginal … mores the pity
Abbott’s strategy would never work for an honest and principled politician, which I hope Cunliffe is. It also needed backing by the media to an extent that I have never seen in Aotearoa. It’s the sort of approach Mallard might take, not realising that looking bad in lycra only played an insignificant part.
Political pundits are predicting a bloodbath if David Cunliffe is elected Labour’s leader tomorrow and fails to quickly unify the caucus.
For “political pundits” read “right-wing journos like me”.
There is considerable room for doubt over whether Cunliffe really embraces socialism…..
He is still not prepared to live among the masses, preferring Herne Bay’s salubrious environs to shifting house to his New Lynn electorate.
Sorry Fran – a pathetic old chestnut. So presumably before he can advocate for the sick and disabled, he will need to be sick and disabled.
If Cunliffe is announced as the victor he will have to exercise self-discipline and reach across the factions to draw MPs and the party behind him. There is an assumption that Cunliffe will not be able to step up.
“Assumption” by who Fran? Don’t you mean “hope” by you and others from the right, but you actually fear you will be wrong.
…and finally
Cunliffe will emerge as victor if the Labour Party itself has decided it wants to win the 2014 election. But he hasn’t a hope in Hades of ramming home a victory against Prime Minister John Key unless his caucus colleagues decide they too want to win.
So now she’s hedging her bets and begrudgingly preparing for the right’s nightmare of a Cunliffe victory. Time then to roll out the “Labour is divided” message.
I think Armstrong was pretty strong in his support of Cunliffe; he notes Cunliffe’s flaws and challenges, but also says that Grant can’t get the job done while Cunliffe is the man for the moment. And that Labour have already wasted enough time with Shearer for Grant to spend the next few months raising his own public profile.
I was pleasantly surprised at Armstrong’s comments, and particularly appreciated his supportive observations re DC. I seldom read his articles these days as they’re so biased. While his conclusion is debatable and remains to be seen, right now I’m very happy with “Cometh the hour, cometh Cunliffe!”
That woman is stupid and useless. I think it’s time bloggers took a much more aggressive and frankly rude attitude towards these supposed professionals.
It’s like every terrible first-year-student essay, and if O’Sullivan’s editor were a lecturer they’d return it with “CITATIONS NEEDED” in big red letters on the front.
‘Public opinion has changed, prejudice is not what it was. A gay prime minister would just need to be good enough.’
No, I’m sad to say that’s bull. Just this week I’ve been called a faggot and told my marriage to a man isn’t real. Prejudice is less, but it’s exactly what it was and its still there.
Yeah there’s still some prejudiced weirdos out there.
Friend of mine was doing referee checks a few weeks ago.
When the referee was asked about the person’s honesty he said their were some “moral issues”.
When pressed he wouldn’t say but after a bit more digging the employer found out that she is in a relationship with someone outside of the church they (the referee) both go to.
FFS some employers might not have dug further and just not employed her. What the referee was saying / implying just didn’t add up to what the employer had seen.
These prejudices are played out every day by these bigots and they affect peoples lives in such negative ways.
Tigger, you must keep hope by recognising that many people are just straight out ignorant and the only way those views will change is by those bigots and their attitudes departing from the planet. Generational change is the only way for much of human behaviour to flex and bend.
Except that plenty of young gay people also call things “gay”. Language evolves and “gay” will go the way of “fey,” “camp,” and “queer”. Curiously it’s mostly heterosexuals who get the most upset about it – LGBT people have been lampooning ourselves for years.
As for young people being “bigoted assholes” – thoughtless, perhaps, but actually far more likely to support things like same sex marriage and gay adoption, or indeed claim bi/pansexuality, which casts doubt on the whole “perjorative use of the word ‘gay’ indicates widespread homophobia”. I don’t particyularly like the usage, but I file it in context and have slightly more important things in my life to worry about rather than find more excuses to play victim.
Personally I despise the way “females” has surpassed “women” (just as “women” surpassed “ladies”) because it makes them sound like farm animals, but I suppose that’s a generational thing about evolving sensibilities. Feel free to play Cnut all you want.
Yes, it’s all just lighthearted fun, and marginalized groups using deprecating terms about themselves is exactly the same as people in positions of privilege doing it, and no one ever complains about the use of “females” to refer to women. 🙄
Well perhaps you could, oh I don’t know, actually talk to some young people about what they actually think and how they use language instead of just being all pompous and judgemental instead of just interviewing your confirmation bias. You’d probably be surprised. Obviously you have forgotten language is contingent – “cool” doesn’t always mean “cold”, “groovy doesn’t always mean “lined with grooves”, and unless you really do have your head wedged up your duodenum, you will have noticed that “bad” frequently means “good” and “sick” has nothing to do with illness. But whatever.
And obviously some people object to the use of “females” because I just did. But just for you:
“Incidentally, in Dunedin I have heard a lot of people (men and women) referring to women as females, but never to men as males. It was even a newspaper headline: Man rapes female… Female what i’d like to know… Ugh. ”
Sigh. I did. Your points being (1) “Plenty of young people are bigoted assholes too” because of the way they use “gay”. And (2) “no one ever complains about the use of “females” to refer to women”. Again, whatever.
I am offended by the fact there are 21st century countries where people lack equal rights, can be arrested, or even killed simply because they are LGBT. Some spotty teen calling Justin Bieber’s latest single “a bit gay”, less so.
If you are heterosexual:
Stop straightsplaining to me how I should feel about something.
You may be greatly underestimating the extent of meanings sticking a rolly eyes emoticon on the end of a sentence can have. I assumed you were rolling eyes to imply that I was wrong. I’m flattered that you imagine me to have extraordinary telepathic powers, but unfortunately I don’t.
Excuse my language here Chris73 but fuck off you arsehole cocksucker and racist prick. If yu had read comments about this sale on this site over the last two days, as a sample of left sentiment on this issue, you would have seen the exact same comments about this sale as with every other foreign sale no matter what race of nationality is doing the buying.
Having foreign landlords helps nobody. The historically proven way to reduce a nation’s people is to have their land taken from them…. to become tenants in their own land.
There is no benefit to having foreign landlords and personally my vote is going to the party with this as its policy. It is the largest determinant for me. (and further, you may be interested to know that our livelihood derives from this exact similar sector, so having a worldwide pool of the richest buyers on the planet available should benefit us. It doesn’t.)
– I don’t suck cock (not that theres anything wrong with that) and being that the Labour party were all up in arms about chinese buyers of NZ farms but are now curiously silent about this the only conclusion is that the Labour party are inherently racist
Of course I could also be wrong and maybe they think its not as big a deal as it was last year but I bet JK is building an impressive dossier on all the back tracks and changes that Labour have done over the last couple of years and will bring them out during the election
With a big bribe of course…maybe something to equal interest free loans or WFF
Keep trying chris73 but you are simply completely and utterly wrong.
The fact that disquiet about foreign sales like this has nothing to do with race has been amply proved by the following evidence: raised on this site by commenters who raise all such sales; the sale making the mainstream media yesterday; the sale making a significant article in Canterbury’s Press this morning.
The Labour party made a big deal of farms (especially the Crafer farms) being sold off to “overseas”* buyers yet made no mention of Harvard University buying up farms in central otago and arn’t saying dickey-boo about this
and if you think National wont make light of this at the most opportune time you’re dreaming
* overseas being a code word for asian buyers but of course they can’t say that so they say overseas but we all know what they mean…dog whistle politics at its finest
The only reason the Crafar farms sale caused a stir was that it was one of the few land sales to foreigners that the public new about before the Overseas Investment Office rubberstamped the sale. In nearly every instance of land alienation, the first the public hears about it is after the OIO has rubberstamped the deal.
Don’t you love how Labour criticising “overseas” buyers is in itself proof against chris’ charge of racism … yet magically it’s not because obviously non-specific language is just ~code~ for what he wants it to be?
(Of course there has been a lot of racism around Asian property buyers, just most of it came from that bastion of journalistic integrity, Paddy Gower.)
Between January and July this year 143,745 ha has been alienated. That’s an average of 3,783 ha per day – assuming that the OIO rubberstamps overseas land sales 7 days a week.
Under National New Zealanders have ended up owning less of New Zealand and foreigners have ended up owning more of New Zealand.
Now that has to be aspirational…
What a result. Phewee, the path to riches lays before us. Thanks John Key, it really is a great achievement. Imagine if they get a third term – we will end up owning even less again. Wonderful wonderful. ……
I remember back in Rowling’s time when there was an almighty kerfuffle about an American buying a hunting lodge in Fiordland/Southland somewhere. It was a cause celebre at the time, and if I remember correctly, the sale was blocked. Overseas ownership: shock horror.
How things change!
Now our media don’t see even the glimpse of a question on the 12th ‘anniversary’ of the 911 atrocity as to how fkn come alQaeda are allied to house of Saudi who are allied to USA, if they did 911. Which is why he is called ‘Bandar BUSH’. Because he was in the room! ! None have researched any of the vast tracts stating openly that Syria was always a covert war run by the same neocons that did 911, that alQaeda always was asset to the CIA/PENTBOM nor evidence of the demolitions of 911. Not one question.
How to win: liked this from Cunliffe and it stood out among the answers as an example of his incisive communication:
We need three things: strategy, unity and urgency
Also thought that if Cunliffe was on a dessert island he’d be the one cooking up a signal fire or some way to get us the heck off- while as Metira Terei said Shane Jones is funny and Grant makes things bearable.
Hope Lbour doesn’t wander into Lost territory – they seemed to be escapees of the bewildered kind with no sense of place or direction just waiting for some miracle or revelation.
I am looking forward to tomorrow. Great stuff from the Labour Party which is taking the lead in progressively shaping this country’s political and parliamentary developments.
Well done to all associated with the Labour Party (and my personal message to Clare: I forgive you) and big thanks to Moira and Tim.
Jim Nald +1
David less hands on tv. The interviewer seemed to get bogged down in the trivia of the running and Clare Curran and unity stuff. Fairly unexciting when other things could be riveting.
With even GR distancing with self from Clare Curran one wonders if its acceptance that ABC club members are not going to be rehabilitated as backbenchers but as gone burgers come Monday.
Strategically dunedin south is weak very weak result last election, combined with the continual social media episodes and brain explosions I believe CC will be one of four casualties after cunliffe get in on the second ballot.
Know anti CC CV might have an opinion on this lol.
“With even GR distancing with self from Clare Curran…”
are you sure about this because in this mornings The Nation, GR stated that CC was within her rights to make the comments that she made, it didn’t sound like he was distancing himself from her comments to me. Given his response I get the impression he may have been involved. But the other point to make is around leadership, GR simply hasn’t displayed any on this issue, from what I can pick up, he doesn’t have any significant leadership experience….it would be a HUGE risk if he became Leader tomorrow.
Should have linked to the statement grant had made.
“Clare’s entitled to her views. I personally wouldn’t have expressed them that way, but that’s something she has to take responsibility for,” he said. As in GR.
This is interesting……..the gloss seems to be wearing off ShonKey Python amongst the really talented world-stage successful entrepreneurial class. After some years of often unctuous lionising of the fellow as some sort of land-based “oracle”.
This from Ian Taylor (see OTD link below) –
“It celebrates an unbroken line of design, engineering, technology, seamanship and navigation, from our Maori ancestors, who sailed the Pacific to Aotearoa, to this high-tech flying machine called Aotearoa, representing us so superbly on the waters off San Francisco Bay.”
“No other country, or billionaire, brings to the America’s Cup a story quite like it.”
“It is this that the world has recognised in the Team New Zealand challenge. And I wish our Prime Minister could have done the same.”
Interesting that Key hasnt been pushing the Americas Cup. I wonder if his polling is showing that his crony capitalism is damaging National so trying to distance himself from it. Ian Taylor had a fair point, he also had an interesting idea re hosting Americas Cup outside of NZ. But i dont think that will ever happen.
we will – next week. I got sidetracked yesterday. As soon as I get this mac build running under linux for work, I will finish the auto-post routine for OpenMike, fridays social, and the other routine posts (that worked last weekend under test and failed when I used it for real).
Thanks lprent. There is a more exciting thing coming up this weekend than anything else that might occur to me. Good for r0b – he stopped bad reporting in its tracks so he is the right stuff at any time.
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
The Treaty Principles Bill submission hearings continue at Parliament today with a range of submitters expected including councils, iwi, community organisations and individuals. ...
It’s become of one of Christchurch’s most famous landmarks online, but why? Alex Casey steps through the portal of the brutalist Timezone. Ask anyone what Christchurch’s most iconic building is and you might expect to hear some of the dusty old classics like the Cathedral, or the Town Hall, or ...
New Zealand’s alignment with the White House is further underscored by its refusal to oppose Trump’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is a serious blow to the soft power of the United States and disastrous for many poor countries ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janet Hoek, Professor in Public Health, University of Otago Shutterstock/Aliaksandr Barouski New Zealand’s smokefree law was hailed around the world for creating a smokefree generation that would have lifelong protection from smoking’s harms. The smokefree generation would have ended sales of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By George Disney, Research Fellow, Social Epidemiology, The University of Melbourne Edwin Tan/Getty Images When the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was established in 2013, one of its driving aims was to make disability services and support systems fairer. However, our new ...
The resignation of the director general of health is the latest departure in what Labour is calling a ‘purge’ of health leadership. Another day, another health resignation It’s a dangerous time to be a top health executive. On Friday, Dr Diana Sarfati announced her resignation as director general of health ...
Labour and the Greens say the government should focus spending on tourism infrastructure like tracks, toilets and protection of nature instead of more advertising. ...
Hundreds of people called the former prime minister vile and dehumanising things online. Internet safety agencies did nothing - then called in the lawyers. ...
Hundreds of people called the former prime minister vile and dehumanising things online. Internet safety agencies did nothing - then called in the lawyers. ...
After a morning spent calf marking, Flock Hill Station manager Richard Hill headed up Bridge Hill – about 100km from Christchurch on the way to the West Coast – to check on a fire near the station’s boundary.It was December 5 last year, and the Craigieburn area had experienced three ...
It can’t be much of a surprise that a relatively inexperienced Act MP, handed the workplace relations portfolio, doesn’t want to entertain the country’s biggest union in her office.But it still astonishes the head of that union, the CTU’s president, Richard Wagstaff.After all, he’s met regularly with ministers of all ...
Late 21st century Christchurch will be unrecognisable when compared with Christchurch today.Flooding will prompt retreat from all eastern and many northern suburbs. These areas, together with land near the Heathcote and Avon Rivers, are in a fifty-year flood zone. Fifty-year floods can happen more than once every fifty years; there ...
Is humanising a mountain the path to real transformation, or does it signal the need for a cultural paradigm shift in the operating system? Recently, a family member shared their delight at the news of Taranaki Maunga becoming a legal person.Of course, I was pleased for the eight Taranaki ...
Why New Zealanders donate money and who they give it to – and how tools like Givealittle are changing the giving landscape.Is New Zealand really a generous country? It’s difficult to quantify. Giving to registered charities can be counted through tax returns, but giving to overseas causes, giving money ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 17 February appeared first on Newsroom. ...
As the four Findlay siblings run out on the hockey turf, dressed in black with the silver fern, they take the drive and determination of their late mum with them.Emma Findlay is a Black Stick defender, on her way to Chile on Monday to play for the New Zealand women ...
COMMENTARY:By Paul G Buchanan Here is a scenario, but first a broad brush-painted historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With the unembarrassed audacity parties show as an election nears, the government has stolen the opposition’s policy to ban foreign investors buying established homes. Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Housing Minister Clare O’Neil have announced ...
The Jewish Council’s proposals are divisive, contrary to New Zealand’s human rights framework, and ignore the rights of other ethnic minorities in Aotearoa. ...
"This is shocking, and astounding," says Augusta Macassey-Pickard, spokesperson for the group. "We knew that this process was rushed, and flawed, but this is another level of compromised." ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific presenter/Bulletin editor Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark maintains that Cook Islands, a realm of New Zealand, should have consulted Wellington before signing a “partnership” deal with China. “[Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown] seems to have signed behind the backs of his own ...
COMMENTARY:By Saige England Mediawatch on RNZ today strongly criticised Stuff and YouTube among other media for using Israeli propaganda’s “Outbrain” service. Outbrain is a company founded by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) military and its technology can be tracked back to a wealthy entrepreneur, which in this case could ...
Luxon said protesters linked to Destiny Church "went too far" by disrupting Pride events in Auckland, while church leader Brian Tamaki said he told protesters, "I want you to storm the library they're in." ...
Hundreds of engineers are losing their jobs and leaving our shores due to infrastructure project delays, creating "significant" risk to our nation's development, says the head of New Zealand's engineering body. ...
So who ever wins on Sunday, they need to come out on Monday at full speed. They have some momentum, Key is clearly taking it more seriously than some of the Labour MP’s by turning down a junket for Tuesday Question time.
Already Fran O in the Herald is posing the ‘Poison chalice’ leadership question.
Good opposition advise from the Sydney Morning Herald.
Tony Abbott is promising again and again that he will lead a “methodical, measured, calm” government. But he’s overlooking something. He’s just finished writing a rip-roaring new guidebook on how to be a successful opposition.It’s the Abbott model of how to destroy a government. And guess what? The Labor Party noticed.
Rule No.1: Don’t give the government a thing. Fight it up hill, down dale, day in day out. Be strident, be angry, be unreasonable. Apply maximum pressure and see what cracks.
Rule No.2: Don’t allow the government to control the narrative. Make a lot of noise. Fill the airwaves with angry dissent and maximum outrage. Generate an impression of disorder. If you control the narrative, you control the psychological battlespace.
Rule No.3: Exploit the deadliest of all contemporary policy issues, the one that was central to the downfall of the last three prime ministers: climate change. This remains a potent issue and will remain so for years.And the Abbott model worked.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/abbott-rules–ok-20130913-2tqau.html#ixzz2eo5nrsqT
Thats why JK is a better politician then most if not all of the current labour line up* because he doesn’t underestimate Cunliffe (assuming its him) so hes going to make sure he doesn’t get an easy ride…
*Interestingly Cunliffe made mention of Labour consistently underestimating Key and paying the price and that he wont
Oh so the consistent line from you and your mates about how Key wants Cunliffe to win because he’ll be an easybeat is… bullshit?
zOMFG say it isn’t so.
The trouble with Rule No. 1 is that it can quickly make a nation ungovernable, whoever is in power. This is the unedifying situation we’re presently seeing in the USA where the Republicans, dangling from their Tea Party Wing, are resisting everything Obama presents even though Obama himself has shown himself to be pretty Right Wing. As a result those initiatives which would have brought some limited relief to the not-quite worst off in America’s society such as ObamaCare have been diluted out of existance.
The underlying understanding that makes democracy workable is the recognition that ‘the other guy’ has a view and policies some in the population voted for and so presumably want to see pursued – and where that segment of the population is in the majority they have the ‘right’ to see them pursued. The duty of the Opposition is to oppose and point out consequences and alternatives, but ultimately to accept that the Government has earned the right to govern. Being angry and unreasonable is the behaviour of kids in a playground, and God knows there’s already enough of that in Parliament.
I gather that the difference in support for the two American parties was very small so it makes the ‘let the rulers do their stuff” idea rather marginal … mores the pity
Abbott’s strategy would never work for an honest and principled politician, which I hope Cunliffe is. It also needed backing by the media to an extent that I have never seen in Aotearoa. It’s the sort of approach Mallard might take, not realising that looking bad in lycra only played an insignificant part.
O’Sullivan joins the ever expanding list of media to demonstrate how desperately scared the right are that Cunliffe will win the leadership race.
She hits the panic button in today’s Herald in a last ditch attempt to undermine.
For “political pundits” read “right-wing journos like me”.
Sorry Fran – a pathetic old chestnut. So presumably before he can advocate for the sick and disabled, he will need to be sick and disabled.
“Assumption” by who Fran? Don’t you mean “hope” by you and others from the right, but you actually fear you will be wrong.
…and finally
So now she’s hedging her bets and begrudgingly preparing for the right’s nightmare of a Cunliffe victory. Time then to roll out the “Labour is divided” message.
Lolz, poor old myopic Fran, She obviously didn’t get a peek at the latest Roy Morgan befor She penned Her latest piece of opinionated drivel…
funny thing with that o’sullivan piece..
..it is 90% utter drivel..
..but she suddenly comes right in the final paragraph..
“..“..Cunliffe will emerge as victor if the Labour Party itself has decided it wants to win the 2014 election.
But he hasn’t a hope in Hades of ramming home a victory against Prime Minister John Key –
– unless his caucus colleagues decide they too want to win..”
phillip ure..
Interesting that Fran gets it right in her last paragraph while Armstrong gets it wrong in his last paragraph.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11124484
The tone in the Armstrong and Young comments in the Herald this morning is indeed “begrudging”.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11124569
I think Armstrong was pretty strong in his support of Cunliffe; he notes Cunliffe’s flaws and challenges, but also says that Grant can’t get the job done while Cunliffe is the man for the moment. And that Labour have already wasted enough time with Shearer for Grant to spend the next few months raising his own public profile.
I was pleasantly surprised at Armstrong’s comments, and particularly appreciated his supportive observations re DC. I seldom read his articles these days as they’re so biased. While his conclusion is debatable and remains to be seen, right now I’m very happy with “Cometh the hour, cometh Cunliffe!”
You can count on that consummate sycophant Armstrong to be a weathervane, turning whichever way the wind blows.
+1
That woman is stupid and useless. I think it’s time bloggers took a much more aggressive and frankly rude attitude towards these supposed professionals.
This morning’s Herald article by authors Armstrong and Young burbles on then for authority quotes “the experts” Armstrong and Young ???
As Cunliffe’s heart is in the right place who cares where his bed is.
It’s like every terrible first-year-student essay, and if O’Sullivan’s editor were a lecturer they’d return it with “CITATIONS NEEDED” in big red letters on the front.
Dear oshillivan,
How many MP’S live in their electorate, heres a hand to start with, the PM and deputy PM do not…..
Smells like desparation there old trout
(my five cents worth on cunnliffe/robertson/blowback..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/leadership-battle-will-be-a-close-race-says-cunliffe-comment-why-cunnliffe-must-lead-labour-and-why-those-opposing-him-need-to-take-heed-of-the-wind-vanes/
(excerpt..)
“…and a big-straw in the wind for those plotters..must be the fact of their former party president williams..
..after pushing the wtf!-candidate jones with all the intensity of a jonesing crack-addicted pimp..
..he has now looked up at the wind-vanes..
..and has come down for cunnliffe..”
..phillip ure..
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11124543
‘Public opinion has changed, prejudice is not what it was. A gay prime minister would just need to be good enough.’
No, I’m sad to say that’s bull. Just this week I’ve been called a faggot and told my marriage to a man isn’t real. Prejudice is less, but it’s exactly what it was and its still there.
Yeah there’s still some prejudiced weirdos out there.
Friend of mine was doing referee checks a few weeks ago.
When the referee was asked about the person’s honesty he said their were some “moral issues”.
When pressed he wouldn’t say but after a bit more digging the employer found out that she is in a relationship with someone outside of the church they (the referee) both go to.
FFS some employers might not have dug further and just not employed her. What the referee was saying / implying just didn’t add up to what the employer had seen.
These prejudices are played out every day by these bigots and they affect peoples lives in such negative ways.
Tigger, you must keep hope by recognising that many people are just straight out ignorant and the only way those views will change is by those bigots and their attitudes departing from the planet. Generational change is the only way for much of human behaviour to flex and bend.
Progressive causes are advanced one funeral at a time
Don’t remember where I first heard that but I feel it is very true
Plenty of young people are bigoted assholes too. It wasn’t baby boomers who decided describing things as “so gay” was the worst thing in the world.
(Cue the apologists to insist that that use of “gay” is totally not about homosexuality at all. 🙄 )
Except that plenty of young gay people also call things “gay”. Language evolves and “gay” will go the way of “fey,” “camp,” and “queer”. Curiously it’s mostly heterosexuals who get the most upset about it – LGBT people have been lampooning ourselves for years.
As for young people being “bigoted assholes” – thoughtless, perhaps, but actually far more likely to support things like same sex marriage and gay adoption, or indeed claim bi/pansexuality, which casts doubt on the whole “perjorative use of the word ‘gay’ indicates widespread homophobia”. I don’t particyularly like the usage, but I file it in context and have slightly more important things in my life to worry about rather than find more excuses to play victim.
Personally I despise the way “females” has surpassed “women” (just as “women” surpassed “ladies”) because it makes them sound like farm animals, but I suppose that’s a generational thing about evolving sensibilities. Feel free to play Cnut all you want.
Yes, it’s all just lighthearted fun, and marginalized groups using deprecating terms about themselves is exactly the same as people in positions of privilege doing it, and no one ever complains about the use of “females” to refer to women. 🙄
Well perhaps you could, oh I don’t know, actually talk to some young people about what they actually think and how they use language instead of just being all pompous and judgemental instead of just interviewing your confirmation bias. You’d probably be surprised. Obviously you have forgotten language is contingent – “cool” doesn’t always mean “cold”, “groovy doesn’t always mean “lined with grooves”, and unless you really do have your head wedged up your duodenum, you will have noticed that “bad” frequently means “good” and “sick” has nothing to do with illness. But whatever.
And obviously some people object to the use of “females” because I just did. But just for you:
“Incidentally, in Dunedin I have heard a lot of people (men and women) referring to women as females, but never to men as males. It was even a newspaper headline: Man rapes female… Female what i’d like to know… Ugh. ”
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/6016/new-zealand-pronunciation-of-women-vs-woman
Hey, you just keep replying to the points you want to pretend I’ve made instead of the points I actually make if that’s what keeps you happy.
Sigh. I did. Your points being (1) “Plenty of young people are bigoted assholes too” because of the way they use “gay”. And (2) “no one ever complains about the use of “females” to refer to women”. Again, whatever.
Basically. if you are gay:
I am offended by the fact there are 21st century countries where people lack equal rights, can be arrested, or even killed simply because they are LGBT. Some spotty teen calling Justin Bieber’s latest single “a bit gay”, less so.
If you are heterosexual:
Stop straightsplaining to me how I should feel about something.
(2) “no one ever complains about the use of “females” to refer to women”
Yes, that was totally a sincere argument and the rolly-eyed smiley at the end of the sentence meant nothing. 🙄
You may be greatly underestimating the extent of meanings sticking a rolly eyes emoticon on the end of a sentence can have. I assumed you were rolling eyes to imply that I was wrong. I’m flattered that you imagine me to have extraordinary telepathic powers, but unfortunately I don’t.
Now that saddens me tigger but the realities is that too many people still have prejudices mainly hidden behind a veneer of cosmopolitism
Considering you are a cartoon tiger, the marriage comment was fair enough. The other, not so much.
That makes you what, some sort of infantile babble?
🙂
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11124376
– So why aren’t Labour up in arms about this? Wouldn’t because the buyers aren’t asian…
Excuse my language here Chris73 but fuck off you arsehole cocksucker and racist prick. If yu had read comments about this sale on this site over the last two days, as a sample of left sentiment on this issue, you would have seen the exact same comments about this sale as with every other foreign sale no matter what race of nationality is doing the buying.
Having foreign landlords helps nobody. The historically proven way to reduce a nation’s people is to have their land taken from them…. to become tenants in their own land.
There is no benefit to having foreign landlords and personally my vote is going to the party with this as its policy. It is the largest determinant for me. (and further, you may be interested to know that our livelihood derives from this exact similar sector, so having a worldwide pool of the richest buyers on the planet available should benefit us. It doesn’t.)
(sorry for the language…)
“you arsehole cocksucker and racist prick”
– I don’t suck cock (not that theres anything wrong with that) and being that the Labour party were all up in arms about chinese buyers of NZ farms but are now curiously silent about this the only conclusion is that the Labour party are inherently racist
Of course I could also be wrong and maybe they think its not as big a deal as it was last year but I bet JK is building an impressive dossier on all the back tracks and changes that Labour have done over the last couple of years and will bring them out during the election
With a big bribe of course…maybe something to equal interest free loans or WFF
Keep trying chris73 but you are simply completely and utterly wrong.
The fact that disquiet about foreign sales like this has nothing to do with race has been amply proved by the following evidence: raised on this site by commenters who raise all such sales; the sale making the mainstream media yesterday; the sale making a significant article in Canterbury’s Press this morning.
Race has nothing to with it. Proved.
go back to sleep fulla
Except that my point was why wasn’t Labour up in arms about this
Not this site
Not the MSM
Not the Christchurch Press
Why aren’t Labour talking about this
because they are racist., you’re right …..
sheesh
Absolute lies chris. Find me one single reference to the Labour party being up in arms about the foreign buyers being Chinese.
Well I’m fucked off about it. I imagine anyone who values economic sovereignty would be.
I don’t recall ever seeing anyone make a fuss about the nationality of foreign buyers except a few idiot righties like you, chris.
Lol
The Labour party made a big deal of farms (especially the Crafer farms) being sold off to “overseas”* buyers yet made no mention of Harvard University buying up farms in central otago and arn’t saying dickey-boo about this
and if you think National wont make light of this at the most opportune time you’re dreaming
* overseas being a code word for asian buyers but of course they can’t say that so they say overseas but we all know what they mean…dog whistle politics at its finest
Bollocks.
The only reason the Crafar farms sale caused a stir was that it was one of the few land sales to foreigners that the public new about before the Overseas Investment Office rubberstamped the sale. In nearly every instance of land alienation, the first the public hears about it is after the OIO has rubberstamped the deal.
“* overseas being a code word for asian buyers but of course they can’t say that so they say overseas but we all know what they mean”
Typical bigoted right wing fuck head, assuming everyone thinks the same as you.
Again, find one. single. reference for your lie that the Labour party was ever up in arms about foreign buyers’ nationality.
You can’t, because it’s just an out and out lie. You’re a truly horrible little shit of a human being.
felix +100
Don’t you love how Labour criticising “overseas” buyers is in itself proof against chris’ charge of racism … yet magically it’s not because obviously non-specific language is just ~code~ for what he wants it to be?
(Of course there has been a lot of racism around Asian property buyers, just most of it came from that bastion of journalistic integrity, Paddy Gower.)
You’re so right Felix…….outright lies from Chris73 !
Chris73 who displays a very, very much keener understanding and love of the dog-whistle than anyone else.
This morning I did a tally of how much land has been sold into overseas ownership using the OIO reports from http://www.linz.govt.nz/overseas-investment/decisions/
Between January and July this year 143,745 ha has been alienated. That’s an average of 3,783 ha per day – assuming that the OIO rubberstamps overseas land sales 7 days a week.
The biggest single transfer of land into foreign ownership 80,073 ha in February when Rayonier bought 74% of Matariki Forestry Group – http://www.linz.govt.nz/overseas-investment/decisions/decision-summaries/rayonier-canterbury-llc
Of course, some transfers of land into foreign ownership are so secret that the OIO won’t tell how much was sold and who to – http://www.linz.govt.nz/overseas-investment/decisions/decision-summaries/confidential-2
Actually, the average daily land alienation is 678ha/day
Under National New Zealanders have ended up owning less of New Zealand and foreigners have ended up owning more of New Zealand.
Now that has to be aspirational…
What a result. Phewee, the path to riches lays before us. Thanks John Key, it really is a great achievement. Imagine if they get a third term – we will end up owning even less again. Wonderful wonderful. ……
All hail the great National Party
citation?
See 5.2.2
143,745 ha / 212 days = 678ha/day
The government put more energy into selling land to those off shore than those trying to build and put a roof over the families head in NZ.
I remember back in Rowling’s time when there was an almighty kerfuffle about an American buying a hunting lodge in Fiordland/Southland somewhere. It was a cause celebre at the time, and if I remember correctly, the sale was blocked. Overseas ownership: shock horror.
How things change!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/13/alcohol-pot-use_n_3914511.html
“..A new website launched this month is comparing the direct death tolls from marijuana and alcohol use.
If you click over to Since This Morning – you’ll see a number growing on the left, above “Deaths Directly Caused by Alcohol”-
– while the number on the right – above “Deaths Directly Caused by Marijuana” –
– remains at zero.
These are estimates of the total people directly killed by each drug since the beginning of the day..”
phillip ure..
Calling open MIKE: Now maybe someone in ©GCSB/NSA or anywhere else in LaLa land can explain to me how come Obama is calling for airstrikes in material support of alQaeda mercenaries letting off CW SARIN supplied by Bandar BUSH to alNusra in Syria false flag? Aint there an oops in there somewhere? 12 long years killing half the Muslim population of the world BLAMED on alQaeda for 911 ! and now the national security Superstate is going to bomb the sht out of those poor souls stuck in the streets of Damascus in SUPPORT of alQaeda ? Does this not add to the FBI whistleblower Edmonds revelation of Zawahiri meeting CIA in Baku as asset? That alQaeda is ‘GLADIO’, ‘Office of Special Plans’. That alQaeda has always been ‘asset’ to the deep state? Used to leverage ongoing neocon global push through acts of terror, as in P2OG?
Now our media don’t see even the glimpse of a question on the 12th ‘anniversary’ of the 911 atrocity as to how fkn come alQaeda are allied to house of Saudi who are allied to USA, if they did 911. Which is why he is called ‘Bandar BUSH’. Because he was in the room! ! None have researched any of the vast tracts stating openly that Syria was always a covert war run by the same neocons that did 911, that alQaeda always was asset to the CIA/PENTBOM nor evidence of the demolitions of 911. Not one question.
Everything is a psy-op!
How to win: liked this from Cunliffe and it stood out among the answers as an example of his incisive communication:
We need three things: strategy, unity and urgency
Also thought that if Cunliffe was on a dessert island he’d be the one cooking up a signal fire or some way to get us the heck off- while as Metira Terei said Shane Jones is funny and Grant makes things bearable.
+1
Hope Lbour doesn’t wander into Lost territory – they seemed to be escapees of the bewildered kind with no sense of place or direction just waiting for some miracle or revelation.
Why can’t we have more unbiased reporting, like this article for instance?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11124789
I agree. Well written Rebecca Quilliam. A factual summary of what I witnessed on The Nation this morning.
May I just state that I was impressed by David Cunliffe on The Nation this morning, with a right wing interviewer.
Me too – He showed that he won’t be bullied by Plunkett or anyone else!!
Each and every one of the three candidates spoke very well:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Final-day-in-Labour-leader-race/tabid/1607/articleID/313173/Default.aspx
I am looking forward to tomorrow. Great stuff from the Labour Party which is taking the lead in progressively shaping this country’s political and parliamentary developments.
Well done to all associated with the Labour Party (and my personal message to Clare: I forgive you) and big thanks to Moira and Tim.
Jim Nald +1
David less hands on tv. The interviewer seemed to get bogged down in the trivia of the running and Clare Curran and unity stuff. Fairly unexciting when other things could be riveting.
With even GR distancing with self from Clare Curran one wonders if its acceptance that ABC club members are not going to be rehabilitated as backbenchers but as gone burgers come Monday.
Strategically dunedin south is weak very weak result last election, combined with the continual social media episodes and brain explosions I believe CC will be one of four casualties after cunliffe get in on the second ballot.
Know anti CC CV might have an opinion on this lol.
@neoleftie
“With even GR distancing with self from Clare Curran…”
are you sure about this because in this mornings The Nation, GR stated that CC was within her rights to make the comments that she made, it didn’t sound like he was distancing himself from her comments to me. Given his response I get the impression he may have been involved. But the other point to make is around leadership, GR simply hasn’t displayed any on this issue, from what I can pick up, he doesn’t have any significant leadership experience….it would be a HUGE risk if he became Leader tomorrow.
Should have linked to the statement grant had made.
“Clare’s entitled to her views. I personally wouldn’t have expressed them that way, but that’s something she has to take responsibility for,” he said. As in GR.
Last sentence is very telling…
Does being H3 not count as having leadership experience.
This is interesting……..the gloss seems to be wearing off ShonKey Python amongst the really talented world-stage successful entrepreneurial class. After some years of often unctuous lionising of the fellow as some sort of land-based “oracle”.
This from Ian Taylor (see OTD link below) –
“It celebrates an unbroken line of design, engineering, technology, seamanship and navigation, from our Maori ancestors, who sailed the Pacific to Aotearoa, to this high-tech flying machine called Aotearoa, representing us so superbly on the waters off San Francisco Bay.”
“No other country, or billionaire, brings to the America’s Cup a story quite like it.”
“It is this that the world has recognised in the Team New Zealand challenge. And I wish our Prime Minister could have done the same.”
http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/yachting/273050/opinion-pm-missing-point-americas-cup-investment
Acshually more of an orca-le only his tricks aren’t as well performed.
Interesting that Key hasnt been pushing the Americas Cup. I wonder if his polling is showing that his crony capitalism is damaging National so trying to distance himself from it. Ian Taylor had a fair point, he also had an interesting idea re hosting Americas Cup outside of NZ. But i dont think that will ever happen.
Key has never been an entrepreneur, or even anything worthwhile.
Key has been a salesman and ticket clipper. That is all.
End
Are we going to have the friday social bit? or post friday?
I hope it is not bloody Sunday tomorrow.
Sunday Bloody Sunday, not publicaly but expect the list and line up to be telling.
we will – next week. I got sidetracked yesterday. As soon as I get this mac build running under linux for work, I will finish the auto-post routine for OpenMike, fridays social, and the other routine posts (that worked last weekend under test and failed when I used it for real).
r0b used to do them.
Thanks lprent. There is a more exciting thing coming up this weekend than anything else that might occur to me. Good for r0b – he stopped bad reporting in its tracks so he is the right stuff at any time.