Maybe we all should follow the Johns and try it out on our bosses, partners, friends and family members at the first opportunity. We can all celebrate the Johns’ higher standard of non-accountability.
The Minister of Health might well have to declare a NZ pandemic of Johnesia.
GSCB boss, Ian Fletcher has an interesting professional background:
Former high flyer in British Civil Service.
Former Director General and CEO of Queensland’s Dept. of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.
He took up his position at the GSCB at the beginning of this year.
Announcing the appointment Prime Minister John Key said he has ” policy and operational experience particularly in relation to international economic and trade matters.”
So, under the Prime Minister’s stewardship, the GSCB has been quietly shifting it’s focus away from international political developments (Foreign Affairs)? Does it now concentrate rather more on off-shore economic and trade concerns that are of interest to John Key and the National govt., but not necessarily the rest of us?
Very interesting to speculate what effect such a scenario might be having on the morale of those who work within the GCSB.
Nah, all this is, is the continued over-run of the imperialist officers into NZ. Have a good look around the governmnent departments, central and local, see how many are run or heavily influenced by the UK!
The head of our spy agency being one, is to be expected!
The Dotcom case appears to have its roots in US influence on NZ via the various agencies (FBI, NSA, etc), around the whole trade/IP/TPP negotiations mix.
Throw in the US/China tensions, and you have NZ jammed between the biggies on a serious issue of global power politics.
Fletcher the ideal man for the job, always assuming the Key/McCully instructions are to work for NZ and not the US. But then again, if those instructions were to mix trade with national security, then the illegal use of the GCSB is not surprising.
The GCSB is administered by a Director. The directors have been:
Colin Hanson (1977–1988)
Ray Parker (1988–1999)
Dr Warren Tucker (1999–2006)
Air Marshal Sir Bruce Ferguson (2006–2010)
Simon Murdoch (acting November 2010 – February 2011)[5]
Lieutenant General Sir Jerry Mateparae (7 February – 30 June 2011)
Simon Murdoch (acting 1 July – 19 December 2011)
Ian Fletcher (January 2012–)
Jerry Mateparae was appointed by Prime Minister John Key on 26 August 2010 taking up the role on 7 February 2011. On 8 March 2011 Mataparae was announced as the next Governor-General. He continued as Director until June 2011.
Up to and including Mateparae, all the permanent directors had military careers before joining the organisation – Hanson, Parker, and Ferguson were all Air Force officers (the latter serving as Chief of Defence), and Tucker and Mateparae were Army officers.
So Simon Murdoch was acting Director for four months before Mataparae (over the period the Dotcom came to NZ and was granted residency) AND for the six months after Mataparae.
EDIT – also from Wikipedia’s entry on Murdoch
Murdoch joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1972. He had an early posting to Canberra, before joining the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1980 as foreign affairs adviser to Prime Minister Robert Muldoon.
In 1983, Murdoch was assistant head of the Asian division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Later that year, he was posted to Washington DC as political counsellor, and the New Zealand intelligence liaison officer to the United States.
In 1987, Murdoch returned to New Zealand and became head of the Australia Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 1989, Murdoch was seconded to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to be head of the Policy Advisory Group. In 1991, State Services Commissioner Don Hunn appointed Murdoch to the post of Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Murdoch was head of the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Prime Ministers Jim Bolger and Jenny Shipley. He left the post in 1998, to become Visiting Professor of Public Policy and Management at Victoria University of Wellington for a year.
In 1999, Murdoch was appointed New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia. At the time, the posting was seen to be grooming Murdoch for the role of Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
In 2002, Murdoch succeeded Neil Walter as New Zealand’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
He was appointed to the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009.[2]
GCSB
In 2010 he conducted a review of New Zealand intelligence agencies, and for a period before and after the appointment of Lt Gen Sir Jerry Mateparae, he was acting chief executive and director of the GCSB. During his second stint in the position he presided over the illegal surveillance of Kim Dotcom.[3]
Murdoch has now been appointed to do the Rena review.
Thanks, should have recalled. But then I’m not paid to do this!
Murdoch before and after Mataparae…and at the crucial DotCom time. Hardly an amateur – and not someone to ‘overlook’ serious stuff. The DotCom saga will (may, eventually?) go right to the top.
We should be in for an interesting week or two.
All this may provoke some interesting discussion around the TPP, its timetable and the secret negotiations involved. We have an FTA with China, crucial to NZ exports. But the chances of similar TPP liberalization of US farm trade, especially in dairy, are those of the proverbial snowball in hell.
It is not difficult to imagine the sort of political pressure being brought to bear on Key. But that’s the job. The question is whether he will stand up for NZ. So far, looks unlikely.
That the GCSB run by ex RNZAF officers works on behalf of the US and A doesn’t surprise me in the least. RNZAF officers seem to put loyalty to Washington ahead of anything else and should probably all be imprisoned for treason. The speeches they used to give at Duntroon when Labour was in power were shocking.
… if those instructions were to mix trade with national security, then the illegal use of the GCSB is not surprising.
Thanks Red Rosa. It is essentially the point I was making.
Of course there is a role for our intelligence agencies to play in economic espionage. There is also a role for them to play in other areas too such as international drug cartels. However there is always a risk of them being used by a government in a way that is not appropriate. We saw it happen between 1975 and 1984 when Muldoon used the SIS for political purposes.
And since I don’t trust this govt. – and this PM in particular – then it is, in my view, a pertinent scenario to ponder… at least as far as the GCSB is concerned.
“However there is always a risk of them being used by a government in a way that is not appropriate. We saw it happen between 1975 and 1984 when Muldoon used the SIS for political purposes”.
Good point Anne – and that period covers Murdoch’s time as foreign affairs adviser to Muldoon and his appointment in 1983 as political councillor and NZ Intelligence liaison officer to the US in Washington DC. (as per my quote of Wikipedia’s summary of his career at 3.2.1)
Does it now concentrate rather more on off-shore economic and trade concerns that are in the interest of John Key and the National govt., but not necessarily the rest of us?
Males a difference in the meaning of the sentence.
Edit; just seen your comment deuto. No, I don’t believe it to be coincidence. I’m coming to the view there is not a coincidence with the appointment of Ian Fletcher either. Look at the way he is responding to the whistle blower story. What’s happened to Public Service ethics? You throw a staff member to the wolves because he/she is exercising his/her right to express concern over inexcusable behaviour?
Furthermore, our vicar spoke today on the Great Importance of focusing on Poverty in this country and I am certain that the same message is being delivered by All Men of Faith; I know that it is being delivered from the evangelical pastor I support also.
Excellent, that the pastors are defying Tax laws penalising socio-political rhetoric from the pulpit
in the God-Forsaken U S of A
(no Uturn, move on, nothing to see here; “you aint gotta hold on me, you aint gotta hold on me…)
The rot set in during the Rogernomic and Ruthanasia years. I know… I was on the receiving end for blowing a certain whistle. Interesting to note… some months after I resigned (virtually a forced resignation) the govt. unit I complained about was closed down.
I agree, Anne. Ethics were very much a part of public sector culture prior to then, but changed throughout that period – in some public sector areas more than others. Over the years I saw it eroding away – very much who you knew/’networked’ with rather than your competencies; back stabbing, etc etc. That is not to say that there are not still many public servants with ethics and the right culture, but more and more they are being troden down, disillusioned and give up and/or eventually leave as I did.
Yes, deuto. So sad. They have lost a lot of very good people – competent, loyal and reliable. Whilst lip service may still be paid to such qualities, in many areas of the public sector they seem no longer regarded as being essential requisites. And the bulk of the blame can be sheeted home to the ‘dog eat dog’ culture that epitomises NAct governments.
The only “significant positive effect” was that children felt less hungry, the study into free school breakfasts found.
Head of the study, Associate Professor Cliona Ni Murchu, said there were indications that attendance at school was also likely to improve but in reading, writing and maths there was no noticeable improvement.
Researchers at Auckland University’s School of Population Health studied 423 children at decile one to four schools in Auckland, Waikato and Wellington for the 2010 school year
Dear research unit.
Thank you for your time and effort in letting my, I mean our governmnet off the hook with this well timed release of information, I know Paula appreciates the fact that someone else is going to run interference today. I would also like to acknowledge stuff.co.nz for running the story as agreed today, especially as those reading it will be enjoying their latte breakfasts, and I can go back to getting on with the job, without having to worry if all that talk about not providing food in schools will cost me votes, let them eat fruit
Oh, and to John Campbell, eat a dick, you lost, I won!
“Ni Murchu said there was a chance her study did not capture the children who most needed the breakfasts.
“There’s always a risk that the kinds of people who participate are not the higher needs group.” This was because her study participants had to get parental consent and fill in a lengthy questionnaire – a process that may have alienated the high-needs families.”
Not the most authoritative study by the authors own account then.
What measures did they use to see if there were improvements or not?
There was NO indication in the report of how they ensured kid were hungry to start with.
“They were given a free daily breakfast – Weet-Bix, bread with honey, jam or Marmite, and Milo – by either the Red Cross or a private sector provider.”
There was no indication in the report if the kids had had any breakfast, there just seemed to be an assumption that if they were in a low (1-4) decile school they would be hungary.
Nor any indication that they checked if carbo-loading kids at the beginning of the day might, you know, give them a sugar-crash by morning tea which wouldn’t exactly help their concentration.
It’s amazing how many ex-ACT people get on to the media to spout the neo-liberal dogma.
For a party that commands 1% of the vote, they seem to have a lot more than 1% of the pundits invited to put forward their opinions.
Deborah Coddington,Rodney Hide and Stephen Franks come to mind immediately.
Agree, Paul. Those three are given far too much airtime, for example on RNZ National (Nine to Noon, The Panel etc)
Could not believe my ears last Monday(?) when on the politcal commentary slot on Nine to Noon, Coddington stated categorically that the Kim Dotcom was only big news in NZ and was not being covered by overseas media! It has been covered extensively by the likes of the NY Times, Washington Post etc. She certainly lives in a small bubble.
Who do the left have to represent them regularly on the MSM?
Matt McCarten and Chris Trotter are the only ones I can think of.
I’m not including pundits like Josie Pagani, who is really centrist..hardly the polar opposite to ACT anyway.
Maybe this is how the left should be tackling the issue..by challenging the impartiality of the New Zealand media.
The MSM are already predominantly left-wing ie Campbell, Gower, Smalley, Sainsbury – all good progressives (who like firework displays). We need some of these ACT center-right commentators to even it up a bit and raise a few hard issues that many people dont like being raised.
Paul Holmes, Mike Hosking, Fran O’Sullivan, John Roughan, John Armstrong, Leighton Smith, Danny Williams, Michael Laws…
The media is predominately left wing. Yeah right!
I guess it’s left wing if you’re an ACT supporter or ‘one tracked’.
The examples I gave are all the mainstream television identities so you have TV sown up. Do a few talkback hosts and weekly newspaper columnists make up for that? Nope.
John Armstrong – you must be joking – centre left at best (ie right is better of course). Paul Holmes – i dont think so, apart from one politically incorrect reference to the UN Secretary General which was a simple joke that the hard left media couldnt handle. No, he’s on your team. I note you didn’t even try to deny that the examples I gave are lefties though. And who is Danny Williams?
It’s amazing how many ex-ACT people get on to the media to spout the neo-liberal dogma.
For a party that commands 1% of the vote, they seem to have a lot more than 1% of the pundits invited to put forward their opinions.
Deborah Coddington,Rodney Hide and Stephen Franks come to mind immediately.
William Feller was quite succinct in this matter eg.
It has been suggested that an army of monkeys might be trained to pound typewriters at random in the hope that ultimately great works of literature would be produced. Using a coin for the same purpose may save feeding and training expenses and free the monkeys for other monkey business.
The most troublesome problem is that political pundits,(and to some extent economic commentators) almost never outperform either monkeys or chance.Eg Tetlock.
EVERY DAY, countless experts offer innumerable opinions in a dizzying array of forums. Cynics groan that expert communities seem ready at hand for virtually any issue in the political spotlight–communities from which governments or their critics can mobilize platoons of pundits to make prepackaged cases on a moment’s notice.
Although there is nothing odd about experts playing prominent roles in debates, it is odd to keep score, to track expert performance against explicit benchmarks of accuracy and rigor. And that is what I have struggled to do in twenty years of research of soliciting and scoring experts’ judgments on a wide range of issues. The key term is “struggled.” For, if it were easy to set standards for judging judgment that would be honored across the opinion spectrum and not glibly dismissed as another sneaky effort to seize the high ground for a favorite cause, someone would have patented the process long ago.
No and heres why. Act, like the Greens will never be the majority party in Govt. which is actually a good thing because it means the center govt of the day can take out the more radical parts while keeping the general idea
I mean does anybody take the Greens idea of QE seriously? I don’t think Cunliffe would go for that.
I take the Greens idea seriously as do many others.
In my opinion Labour asked the Greens to do this, they’re attacking the Government on other fronts.
(i.e Assets/Law)
And voting for a party that you don’t want in power is delusional bud.
I would vote for Act if Act got back to the principles it was founded on
you and a few thousand others, and that’s the problem. their ideas are just not at all popular. ACT doesn’t divert into law and order, and conservative knee jerkery, and climate change denialism for laughs. They do it because the need funders and votes.
Then I guess you didn’t understand it. It’s the economic stuff that’s so deeply disliked and distrusted.
Have you been in a coma or something? Everything you want has already happened. The populist Mr Hide was replaced with the serious economics focused Dr Brash, because the only thing holding the party back from its rightfully deserved popularity was all that populism.
Remember? He was to take the party back to its core economic principles and win 15% of the vote. Actually wasn’t he scoffing at that figure and saying he expected a lot more? You know, because of the serious economic focus and return to core principles.
How’d that work out again?
And “rebuild around Epsom”, are you serial? You want a party that’s deliberately structured to be 100% reliant on National gifting a seat every three years?
An ACT internal review: two people wondering why their chequebooks failed them.
Here’s a thought: the “one of us” you parachuted into the seat is a fucking lying moron, and your ability to fool people into thinking that your policies are a good idea is inversely proportional to the level of hardship that your prospective voters face.
ACT is a party for people who think their problems revolve around GDP and labour market flexibility (the solutions to which handily include tax cuts anf enabling developers to bulldoze unique environments), not around feeding the kids tonight.
Just listened to “Down the list”. Jeepers the satire was top-notch and cutting, even Chris said “ouch” when it finished – key gets chucked on the barbie – good fun.
Today, two Hollywood film moguls preparing for a quick meeting with Jeff Key (John Key) discuss making a film in New Zealand based on Richie McCaw’s sore foot. They struggle to make it sound exciting enough to invest in, but finally they are swayed by the concessions and subsidies being offered to overseas film productions.
Just listened to “Down the list”. Jeepers the satire was top-notch and cutting, even Chris said “ouch” when it finished – key gets chucked on the barbie – good fun.
Will our ill fated military intervention in Afghanistan end in one more final act of ignominy and disgrace to be covered over by lies and secrecy?
Who is lying? – Who is telling the truth? Former translator 19 year old Diamond Kazimi? or, Anonymous senior Defence Force spokespeople, backed by secretive, ‘no comment’ Prime Minister?
According to Diamond Kazimi, 6 of our Aghan translators, have been told not to talk to the press about their fears that they are being abandoned by our troops in Baniyan.
Last week, the Sunday Star-Times reported 26 Afghan interpreters working with Kiwi troops were pleading with the Government not to abandon them to “certain death”
And this week? According to Kazimi, 6 Afghan translators have been released by the army in Afghanistan and told not to go to the media.
In reply to Kazimi’s claim of lay offs, an anonymous unattributed statement was published in the Star Times on behalf of the army brass, it reads; “There are still 26 interpreters on staff and there is no change we are aware of.“, NZDF
Along with this official denial by the Defence Force – Prime Minister Key who had previously told media that, ‘the interpreters concern had been acknowledged and were being considered.’ On Friday, announced he would not be commenting any further on the issue.
19 year old Diamond Kazimi, in the face of official military denials and top government secrecy and apparent cover up, is defying military and the government officials in continuing to openly speak up, demanding that the rights of our troop’s translators and their families to safety be taken seriously by the army and the government.
Why will our government and military leaders not heed Diamond Kazimi and the other translators and give them and their families some assurance or certainty as to their fate?
Why have the 6 laid off last week, been ordered to shut up?
Is a shabby and cowardly abandonment by our troops of their interpreters being ordered?
Will our final withdrawal from Afghanistan be in dignity or shame?
Doc you haven’t addressed the question of why our military deny that it laid off 6 interpreters last week amid fears that they will abandoned when our troops finally pull out. Or why the Prime Minister has gone silent on the issue.
Maybe possibly, to admit we need to do something to protect our Afghan interpreters from Taliban retribution after our departure, is also an admission that our declared reason for being there: To pacify the country and turn back the Taliban has been a complete and dismal failure and pointless waste of the lives of the ten Kiwis who have died there.
Rather than admit the defeat of our mission in Afghanistan, Defence Force and Government personel are in effect claiming there is no problem, that Baniyan has been made safe by our efforts, and the interpreters claims that they face “certain death” on our withdrawal from the province are wrong.
Biosecurity officers have raided the Auckland Botanic Gardens, apparently looking for an exotic relation to the kauri tree that may have been illegally introduced to the country.
The homes of the gardens’ curator, Jack Hobbs, and veteran Albany ecologist Graeme Platt were also targeted by Ministry of Primary Industries staff in simultaneous raids just after dawn on Thursday.
….”I was sitting at my computer in my undies and the next thing a police car came roaring down the driveway, followed by five more cars.
I thought something very tragic must’ve happened. The policewoman was lovely, the others were maggots.”
….Officers removed computers and plants and ordered him not to not sell or remove plants from the property that were part of the kauri or Norfolk pine family.
Platt said after the raids Hobbs told him computers were also taken from his home and the botanic gardens, and plant samples were taken from the gardens.
“He’s extremely upset and staff at the botanic gardens are outraged.”
The ministry refused to comment before the Herald on Sunday deadline.
Can’t a tree or two grow in peace? And how come the Dotcom-like raid was enacted on hapless misnamed trees. Did the police think that trees might have a safe room or have an escape plan? Escaped trees last seen scampering down Kaihangahape Road. Do not approach. Jeez!
Today’s most insulting quote from the Minister of Hypocrisy, ” “an extra 50 bucks a week” into the homes of child abusers wouldn’t save lives and more than the extra $20 million budgeted to fight child abuse would not get abuse rates down”
Of course the child abusers the Minister refers to are beneficiaries – all of them. Bennett reverts to the tried and true B-bashing technique only this time making use of presuppositions.
The Minister confuses cause and effect by using statistics to wrongly imply beneficiaries are synonymous with abuse. Of course this suits her key purpose which is to vilify anyone who has legally sort government assistance under the Social Securities Act as they are entitled to do.
Another sad chapter of NZ politics. No word as yet from the Minister on how she thinks the continued attacks by her on the character of parents of the children on welfare affect the children’s self esteem and development.
Indeed the deflector shields are always up, because the biggest abusers on the planet are the elite, and in the case of the UN, and CPA in the USA, many openly busted instances of habitual abuse, and then of course there is the “entertainment” business known as Hollywood!
What a freakin lying-arsed, in-denial, freakin drench trough we live in, and the lice are only multiplying;
Military Assaults each other; apparently, weak discipline, they see a fox-hole, and they gotta fill it,
and the CDF blatently lies, does he think we are stupid? He can Bat his eyelids all he wants, but his aperture will not shut.
Bnnt- failing abysmally to acknowledge the Primary link (she would be a primary link if we ever saw one) between Poverty and Child Abuse. (if I was not a believer and follower of My Lord, I would be speaking much Harsher; however, I prophecy that all will not end well for her; her spirit is on show for All to see)
The freakin sheep still bleating after the very weak master of Deception, baaa, baaaa, as they slip down all the OECD slopes..
And, New Zealand is likely to be the “Weakest Link” in the Five Eyes Network (only one eye open) well, that suits me just fine. (bring it on you Crosby-Textor sycophantic Fasci; losers)
Personally, I WELCOME THE CHINESE (and they have known that for nearly a year), and then the sooner the local merchants can get on with business (all cards ON the table, instead of Denial about their graft and Inbred Kleptocracy)
Now I do not choose to Know much about Falun Gong, but I Do Know a lot about Monotheism (I believe) and the sooner THE CHINESE get here, The Better.
WELCOME THE CHINESE WELCOME THE CHINESE WELCOME THE CHINESE (and Foo Yung to any nation that gets in their way, fools)
As a contrast to the above poll Labour are on 30.8% the nats are on 50.6%
Labour down 2.4% Nats up 4.8%
Who on earth would believe these polls,garnered by garner.
TV3 news reid research polls are usually
way out of wack anyway.
The first polls are from roy morgan,the middle one is one i went looking for,tv3
reid research,the third is national and opposition parties also from roy morgan
for the dates 24/9 -7/10
Always worth remembering that the 3 news/Reid poll allways overestimates National support by 2-3 pts, at least. And always underestimates NZF’s support. Anyway, further comfirmation of the downward trend for Key and Co., so good news there.
I’m not sure about the reid research polls – too irregular to get a trend off, and the seem to have pumped national at getting over 50% in the election just a week or so out, and labour proportionately less than their election tally.
Oh, and take care looking at the RR graphs – they don’t have null spaces in their charts in the months they fail to publish a poll, e.g. the jump from april to june, and the last record is july.
The penguin probably does closer coverage, but I try not to go to sites that might lso-cookie me. Safe browsing, peeps!
The roy morgan tracker has the national led govt that includes support party’s
on 44%, the opposition party’s which includes all support party’s is 53.5%
I was shocked by the tv3 poll,so i went looking for some answers.
The tracker was taken 24/9/12 – 7/10/12
shonkey will be slapping his chest about how great they are doing and people
just dont care about the dotcom fiasco,he will say nz’ers have moved on,look at
the polls,the roy morgan polls need to be shown in the media as well,that will
stop him chest beating, but it will be difficult with the msm.
Last week, I got tipped-off that the parts of the MSD network were completely exposed to the public. You could go into any WINZ office and use their self-service kiosks to access their corporate network.
These locked-down kiosks are provided so you could look for jobs online, send off CVs etc. They’ve had some basic features disabled, which supposedly meant that you couldn’t just open up File Manager and poke around the machine. However, by just using the Open File dialogue in Microsoft Office, you could map any unsecured computer on the network, and then open up any accessible file.
Apparently you can’t access everything – just nearly everything – in MSDs servers.
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Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
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Brian Edwards now blames john banks for key’s memory loss.lol.
It does catch on, doesn’t it?
Maybe we all should follow the Johns and try it out on our bosses, partners, friends and family members at the first opportunity. We can all celebrate the Johns’ higher standard of non-accountability.
The Minister of Health might well have to declare a NZ pandemic of Johnesia.
Brian Edwards is yesterday’s political analyst and belongs in the same pasture as Franet, JA, Roughan etc
I’ve been watching and listening to Owen Glenn in regard to the Warriors. Serious question – is he just a litle bit senile now?
GSCB boss, Ian Fletcher has an interesting professional background:
Former high flyer in British Civil Service.
Former Director General and CEO of Queensland’s Dept. of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.
He took up his position at the GSCB at the beginning of this year.
Announcing the appointment Prime Minister John Key said he has ” policy and operational experience particularly in relation to international economic and trade matters.”
So, under the Prime Minister’s stewardship, the GSCB has been quietly shifting it’s focus away from international political developments (Foreign Affairs)? Does it now concentrate rather more on off-shore economic and trade concerns that are of interest to John Key and the National govt., but not necessarily the rest of us?
Very interesting to speculate what effect such a scenario might be having on the morale of those who work within the GCSB.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5589538/New-Zealands-new-top-spy-boss-revealed
Nah, all this is, is the continued over-run of the imperialist officers into NZ. Have a good look around the governmnent departments, central and local, see how many are run or heavily influenced by the UK!
The head of our spy agency being one, is to be expected!
Mmmm..that would fit.
The Dotcom case appears to have its roots in US influence on NZ via the various agencies (FBI, NSA, etc), around the whole trade/IP/TPP negotiations mix.
Throw in the US/China tensions, and you have NZ jammed between the biggies on a serious issue of global power politics.
Fletcher the ideal man for the job, always assuming the Key/McCully instructions are to work for NZ and not the US. But then again, if those instructions were to mix trade with national security, then the illegal use of the GCSB is not surprising.
Who ran the GCSB between Mataparae and Fletcher?
From Wikipedia, Red Rosa:
So Simon Murdoch was acting Director for four months before Mataparae (over the period the Dotcom came to NZ and was granted residency) AND for the six months after Mataparae.
EDIT – also from Wikipedia’s entry on Murdoch
Murdoch has now been appointed to do the Rena review.
Thanks, should have recalled. But then I’m not paid to do this!
Murdoch before and after Mataparae…and at the crucial DotCom time. Hardly an amateur – and not someone to ‘overlook’ serious stuff. The DotCom saga will (may, eventually?) go right to the top.
We should be in for an interesting week or two.
All this may provoke some interesting discussion around the TPP, its timetable and the secret negotiations involved. We have an FTA with China, crucial to NZ exports. But the chances of similar TPP liberalization of US farm trade, especially in dairy, are those of the proverbial snowball in hell.
It is not difficult to imagine the sort of political pressure being brought to bear on Key. But that’s the job. The question is whether he will stand up for NZ. So far, looks unlikely.
How on earth many more weeks are going to be “interesting, but stop right there!
That the GCSB run by ex RNZAF officers works on behalf of the US and A doesn’t surprise me in the least. RNZAF officers seem to put loyalty to Washington ahead of anything else and should probably all be imprisoned for treason. The speeches they used to give at Duntroon when Labour was in power were shocking.
… if those instructions were to mix trade with national security, then the illegal use of the GCSB is not surprising.
Thanks Red Rosa. It is essentially the point I was making.
Of course there is a role for our intelligence agencies to play in economic espionage. There is also a role for them to play in other areas too such as international drug cartels. However there is always a risk of them being used by a government in a way that is not appropriate. We saw it happen between 1975 and 1984 when Muldoon used the SIS for political purposes.
And since I don’t trust this govt. – and this PM in particular – then it is, in my view, a pertinent scenario to ponder… at least as far as the GCSB is concerned.
“However there is always a risk of them being used by a government in a way that is not appropriate. We saw it happen between 1975 and 1984 when Muldoon used the SIS for political purposes”.
Good point Anne – and that period covers Murdoch’s time as foreign affairs adviser to Muldoon and his appointment in 1983 as political councillor and NZ Intelligence liaison officer to the US in Washington DC. (as per my quote of Wikipedia’s summary of his career at 3.2.1)
Coincidence?
ooops, I meant to say:
Does it now concentrate rather more on off-shore economic and trade concerns that are in the interest of John Key and the National govt., but not necessarily the rest of us?
Males a difference in the meaning of the sentence.
Edit; just seen your comment deuto. No, I don’t believe it to be coincidence. I’m coming to the view there is not a coincidence with the appointment of Ian Fletcher either. Look at the way he is responding to the whistle blower story. What’s happened to Public Service ethics? You throw a staff member to the wolves because he/she is exercising his/her right to express concern over inexcusable behaviour?
addition… on the part of the prime-minister?
There are no coincidences. Not with this government – they know exactly what they’re doing and it’s not good for NZ.
Furthermore, our vicar spoke today on the Great Importance of focusing on Poverty in this country and I am certain that the same message is being delivered by All Men of Faith; I know that it is being delivered from the evangelical pastor I support also.
Excellent, that the pastors are defying Tax laws penalising socio-political rhetoric from the pulpit
in the God-Forsaken U S of A
(no Uturn, move on, nothing to see here; “you aint gotta hold on me, you aint gotta hold on me…)
Anne – so there was a time they had “ethics”?
Once Dr Terry – but it was a long time ago.
The rot set in during the Rogernomic and Ruthanasia years. I know… I was on the receiving end for blowing a certain whistle. Interesting to note… some months after I resigned (virtually a forced resignation) the govt. unit I complained about was closed down.
I agree, Anne. Ethics were very much a part of public sector culture prior to then, but changed throughout that period – in some public sector areas more than others. Over the years I saw it eroding away – very much who you knew/’networked’ with rather than your competencies; back stabbing, etc etc. That is not to say that there are not still many public servants with ethics and the right culture, but more and more they are being troden down, disillusioned and give up and/or eventually leave as I did.
Yes, deuto. So sad. They have lost a lot of very good people – competent, loyal and reliable. Whilst lip service may still be paid to such qualities, in many areas of the public sector they seem no longer regarded as being essential requisites. And the bulk of the blame can be sheeted home to the ‘dog eat dog’ culture that epitomises NAct governments.
Feeding hungry schoolchildren does nothing to boost their learning, a new report shows.
Dear research unit.
Thank you for your time and effort in letting my, I mean our governmnet off the hook with this well timed release of information, I know Paula appreciates the fact that someone else is going to run interference today. I would also like to acknowledge stuff.co.nz for running the story as agreed today, especially as those reading it will be enjoying their latte breakfasts, and I can go back to getting on with the job, without having to worry if all that talk about not providing food in schools will cost me votes, let them eat fruit
Oh, and to John Campbell, eat a dick, you lost, I won!
Best
J Key
“Ni Murchu said there was a chance her study did not capture the children who most needed the breakfasts.
“There’s always a risk that the kinds of people who participate are not the higher needs group.” This was because her study participants had to get parental consent and fill in a lengthy questionnaire – a process that may have alienated the high-needs families.”
Not the most authoritative study by the authors own account then.
Hey now, self-selecting samples are always the BEST samples.
And of course the headline on the page NOT biased one little bit is it?
Food and learning connection shot down
Yes and then at the bottom of the article is well, oopps maybe it’s not dead BUT Stuff as usual get’s it’s spin working.
Stephen Doyle said
You mean in that the study, if anything, paints a too optimistic picture because the most in need kids may have been left out?
You really are a brainbox, aren’t you, Stephen.
What measures did they use to see if there were improvements or not?
There was NO indication in the report of how they ensured kid were hungry to start with.
“They were given a free daily breakfast – Weet-Bix, bread with honey, jam or Marmite, and Milo – by either the Red Cross or a private sector provider.”
There was no indication in the report if the kids had had any breakfast, there just seemed to be an assumption that if they were in a low (1-4) decile school they would be hungary.
Nor any indication that they checked if carbo-loading kids at the beginning of the day might, you know, give them a sugar-crash by morning tea which wouldn’t exactly help their concentration.
ACT are conducting an internal review according to a small article on the Herald site
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10840409
LOL, best of luck to them. From a comment on Audrey’s Young’s column yesterday “Is Banks still alive?”
It’s amazing how many ex-ACT people get on to the media to spout the neo-liberal dogma.
For a party that commands 1% of the vote, they seem to have a lot more than 1% of the pundits invited to put forward their opinions.
Deborah Coddington,Rodney Hide and Stephen Franks come to mind immediately.
Agree, Paul. Those three are given far too much airtime, for example on RNZ National (Nine to Noon, The Panel etc)
Could not believe my ears last Monday(?) when on the politcal commentary slot on Nine to Noon, Coddington stated categorically that the Kim Dotcom was only big news in NZ and was not being covered by overseas media! It has been covered extensively by the likes of the NY Times, Washington Post etc. She certainly lives in a small bubble.
Who do the left have to represent them regularly on the MSM?
Matt McCarten and Chris Trotter are the only ones I can think of.
I’m not including pundits like Josie Pagani, who is really centrist..hardly the polar opposite to ACT anyway.
Maybe this is how the left should be tackling the issue..by challenging the impartiality of the New Zealand media.
The MSM are already predominantly left-wing ie Campbell, Gower, Smalley, Sainsbury – all good progressives (who like firework displays). We need some of these ACT center-right commentators to even it up a bit and raise a few hard issues that many people dont like being raised.
🙄
Paul Holmes, Mike Hosking, Fran O’Sullivan, John Roughan, John Armstrong, Leighton Smith, Danny Williams, Michael Laws…
The media is predominately left wing. Yeah right!
I guess it’s left wing if you’re an ACT supporter or ‘one tracked’.
Onetrack is centre-left (of Genghiz Khan)
A little harsh to Genghis maybe!
The examples I gave are all the mainstream television identities so you have TV sown up. Do a few talkback hosts and weekly newspaper columnists make up for that? Nope.
John Armstrong – you must be joking – centre left at best (ie right is better of course). Paul Holmes – i dont think so, apart from one politically incorrect reference to the UN Secretary General which was a simple joke that the hard left media couldnt handle. No, he’s on your team. I note you didn’t even try to deny that the examples I gave are lefties though. And who is Danny Williams?
You’re insane, but that’s an interesting slip of the tongue re: Holmes.
LOL get your head checked and a wheel alignment mate, I think you got your lefts and rights whacked out
so whatta ya think of the show so far….?
Reruns of Happy Days would be better.
The MSM is propaganda for the 1%.
It’s amazing how many ex-ACT people get on to the media to spout the neo-liberal dogma.
For a party that commands 1% of the vote, they seem to have a lot more than 1% of the pundits invited to put forward their opinions.
Deborah Coddington,Rodney Hide and Stephen Franks come to mind immediately.
William Feller was quite succinct in this matter eg.
It has been suggested that an army of monkeys might be trained to pound typewriters at random in the hope that ultimately great works of literature would be produced. Using a coin for the same purpose may save feeding and training expenses and free the monkeys for other monkey business.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/File:Monkey-typing.jpg
The most troublesome problem is that political pundits,(and to some extent economic commentators) almost never outperform either monkeys or chance.Eg Tetlock.
EVERY DAY, countless experts offer innumerable opinions in a dizzying array of forums. Cynics groan that expert communities seem ready at hand for virtually any issue in the political spotlight–communities from which governments or their critics can mobilize platoons of pundits to make prepackaged cases on a moment’s notice.
Although there is nothing odd about experts playing prominent roles in debates, it is odd to keep score, to track expert performance against explicit benchmarks of accuracy and rigor. And that is what I have struggled to do in twenty years of research of soliciting and scoring experts’ judgments on a wide range of issues. The key term is “struggled.” For, if it were easy to set standards for judging judgment that would be honored across the opinion spectrum and not glibly dismissed as another sneaky effort to seize the high ground for a favorite cause, someone would have patented the process long ago.
http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s7959.html
And Don Brash and even Muriel Newman, not too much heard from “Brothel signage eyes” Hilary Clavert though.
If the act louts are missing in action,they are most likey down the nearest toilet,getting
closer to the sewage waste going out to sea.
Heres some advice for them
Ditch Banks
Bring up some of the younger talent
Ditch the SST
Go back to focusing on economic matters
Classic Gnat policy ….
Destroy any thought and analysis that currently exists, and put a teenager in charge
Then start thinking about what everyone else has been talking about for 4 years.
“Welcome too PlanetChris73 M8!”
Classic lefty response: be a dipshit
Banks is not nor has he ever been Act. National yes or maybe even Conservative but not Act.
What?, R U trying too reason out here Chris73?
Restructure ACT so you can vote for them again?
Kinda head up ur arse stuff that one buddy!
I would vote for Act if Act got back to the principles it was founded on just like I’d imagine quite a few people would vote Labour if it did likewise
They only have one principle …. “Free Market”, i.e “Open Slather”
This country is dying because of that blinkered approach to Aoteoroa.
No and heres why. Act, like the Greens will never be the majority party in Govt. which is actually a good thing because it means the center govt of the day can take out the more radical parts while keeping the general idea
I mean does anybody take the Greens idea of QE seriously? I don’t think Cunliffe would go for that.
I take the Greens idea seriously as do many others.
In my opinion Labour asked the Greens to do this, they’re attacking the Government on other fronts.
(i.e Assets/Law)
And voting for a party that you don’t want in power is delusional bud.
If Cunliffe doesn’t then he’s a fool.
The principles that just had the global economy collapse.
I would vote for Act if Act got back to the principles it was founded on
you and a few thousand others, and that’s the problem. their ideas are just not at all popular. ACT doesn’t divert into law and order, and conservative knee jerkery, and climate change denialism for laughs. They do it because the need funders and votes.
I can’t disagree with that.
What I’d suggest is bring up the younger talent, stick with economic policies and rebuild around Epsom. It can be done but it’ll take time.
NZ politics need smaller parties to give voice to as many people so it’d be a shame if Act went under.
“I can’t disagree with that. “
Then I guess you didn’t understand it. It’s the economic stuff that’s so deeply disliked and distrusted.
Have you been in a coma or something? Everything you want has already happened. The populist Mr Hide was replaced with the serious economics focused Dr Brash, because the only thing holding the party back from its rightfully deserved popularity was all that populism.
Remember? He was to take the party back to its core economic principles and win 15% of the vote. Actually wasn’t he scoffing at that figure and saying he expected a lot more? You know, because of the serious economic focus and return to core principles.
How’d that work out again?
And “rebuild around Epsom”, are you serial? You want a party that’s deliberately structured to be 100% reliant on National gifting a seat every three years?
Doesn’t matter anyway, ACT is already over.
Did you have breakfast this morning,you seem to be a bit sugar deprived ?
reply to chris73 about his ‘lefty’ remark.
Is SST the name of the toilet they are in ?
Whatever is left of Act can gather together and stare down into their pit.
Betting on who they’ll throw in next, great bloodsportsmanship!
An internal review??? Have they got anyone left to do it?
An ACT internal review: two people wondering why their chequebooks failed them.
Here’s a thought: the “one of us” you parachuted into the seat is a fucking lying moron, and your ability to fool people into thinking that your policies are a good idea is inversely proportional to the level of hardship that your prospective voters face.
ACT is a party for people who think their problems revolve around GDP and labour market flexibility (the solutions to which handily include tax cuts anf enabling developers to bulldoze unique environments), not around feeding the kids tonight.
Just listened to “Down the list”. Jeepers the satire was top-notch and cutting, even Chris said “ouch” when it finished – key gets chucked on the barbie – good fun.
Link not there yet but well worth a listen
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/20121014
I heard that, it was brilliant! 🙂
Will our ill fated military intervention in Afghanistan end in one more final act of ignominy and disgrace to be covered over by lies and secrecy?
Who is lying? – Who is telling the truth? Former translator 19 year old Diamond Kazimi? or, Anonymous senior Defence Force spokespeople, backed by secretive, ‘no comment’ Prime Minister?
You decide.
Afghan interpreters ‘scared and confused’
According to Diamond Kazimi, 6 of our Aghan translators, have been told not to talk to the press about their fears that they are being abandoned by our troops in Baniyan.
And this week? According to Kazimi, 6 Afghan translators have been released by the army in Afghanistan and told not to go to the media.
In reply to Kazimi’s claim of lay offs, an anonymous unattributed statement was published in the Star Times on behalf of the army brass, it reads; “There are still 26 interpreters on staff and there is no change we are aware of.“, NZDF
Along with this official denial by the Defence Force – Prime Minister Key who had previously told media that, ‘the interpreters concern had been acknowledged and were being considered.’ On Friday, announced he would not be commenting any further on the issue.
19 year old Diamond Kazimi, in the face of official military denials and top government secrecy and apparent cover up, is defying military and the government officials in continuing to openly speak up, demanding that the rights of our troop’s translators and their families to safety be taken seriously by the army and the government.
Why will our government and military leaders not heed Diamond Kazimi and the other translators and give them and their families some assurance or certainty as to their fate?
Why have the 6 laid off last week, been ordered to shut up?
Is a shabby and cowardly abandonment by our troops of their interpreters being ordered?
Will our final withdrawal from Afghanistan be in dignity or shame?
Probably shame – it’s all we get out of this government.
Jenny – there is not a choice here. Any final withdrawal can only be “in shame”!
Maybe I should have said less shame.
Doc you haven’t addressed the question of why our military deny that it laid off 6 interpreters last week amid fears that they will abandoned when our troops finally pull out. Or why the Prime Minister has gone silent on the issue.
Maybe possibly, to admit we need to do something to protect our Afghan interpreters from Taliban retribution after our departure, is also an admission that our declared reason for being there: To pacify the country and turn back the Taliban has been a complete and dismal failure and pointless waste of the lives of the ten Kiwis who have died there.
Rather than admit the defeat of our mission in Afghanistan, Defence Force and Government personel are in effect claiming there is no problem, that Baniyan has been made safe by our efforts, and the interpreters claims that they face “certain death” on our withdrawal from the province are wrong.
May be a security thing. The less publicity the greater chance of a quiet withdrawl to safety below the Taliban radar?
Safety for who, ianmac?
Are they that worried about what the Taliban will do to our interpreters that our troops have to quietly sneak out of the country?
Do you really think that if they sneak out of the country silently the Taliban won’t notice they are gone and so will leave the translators alone?
The “over the top” raids phenomenum is catching!
“Plant Naz1s hunt for outlawed trees.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10840408
LOL – who signed off on this one?
PS – thanks to Dotcom’s twitter for the link….
Can’t a tree or two grow in peace? And how come the Dotcom-like raid was enacted on hapless misnamed trees. Did the police think that trees might have a safe room or have an escape plan? Escaped trees last seen scampering down Kaihangahape Road. Do not approach. Jeez!
Dawn raids? Oh unbelievable!
hey leAVE ‘EM ALONE.
THEY HAVE JUST AS MUCH RIGHT AS ANYONE ELSE TO GET THEIR GOBS PLASTERED ALL OVER THE TEEVEE FOR FIVE MINUTES!
Today’s most insulting quote from the Minister of Hypocrisy, ” “an extra 50 bucks a week” into the homes of child abusers wouldn’t save lives and more than the extra $20 million budgeted to fight child abuse would not get abuse rates down”
Of course the child abusers the Minister refers to are beneficiaries – all of them. Bennett reverts to the tried and true B-bashing technique only this time making use of presuppositions.
The Minister confuses cause and effect by using statistics to wrongly imply beneficiaries are synonymous with abuse. Of course this suits her key purpose which is to vilify anyone who has legally sort government assistance under the Social Securities Act as they are entitled to do.
Another sad chapter of NZ politics. No word as yet from the Minister on how she thinks the continued attacks by her on the character of parents of the children on welfare affect the children’s self esteem and development.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1210/S00207/qa-greg-boyed-interviews-paula-bennett.htm
Indeed the deflector shields are always up, because the biggest abusers on the planet are the elite, and in the case of the UN, and CPA in the USA, many openly busted instances of habitual abuse, and then of course there is the “entertainment” business known as Hollywood!
Kids of rich parents dont get abused!
Game-changer: LiLo endorses Mittens.
And what a ringing endorsement she is Joe. 🙂
Just thought i would give you these polls from roy morgan taken 24/9/2012 – 7/10/2012
it was taken nz wide and there were 827 electors.
National 41.5% ( down 2% )
Labour 33.5% ( up 0.5% )
Greens 13.5% ( up 2 % )
NZ First 6.5% ( up 1.5 % )
United F 0.5%
Act 0%
What a freakin lying-arsed, in-denial, freakin drench trough we live in, and the lice are only multiplying;
Military Assaults each other; apparently, weak discipline, they see a fox-hole, and they gotta fill it,
and the CDF blatently lies, does he think we are stupid? He can Bat his eyelids all he wants, but his aperture will not shut.
Bnnt- failing abysmally to acknowledge the Primary link (she would be a primary link if we ever saw one) between Poverty and Child Abuse. (if I was not a believer and follower of My Lord, I would be speaking much Harsher; however, I prophecy that all will not end well for her; her spirit is on show for All to see)
The freakin sheep still bleating after the very weak master of Deception, baaa, baaaa, as they slip down all the OECD slopes..
And, New Zealand is likely to be the “Weakest Link” in the Five Eyes Network (only one eye open) well, that suits me just fine. (bring it on you Crosby-Textor sycophantic Fasci; losers)
Personally, I WELCOME THE CHINESE (and they have known that for nearly a year), and then the sooner the local merchants can get on with business (all cards ON the table, instead of Denial about their graft and Inbred Kleptocracy)
Now I do not choose to Know much about Falun Gong, but I Do Know a lot about Monotheism (I believe) and the sooner THE CHINESE get here, The Better.
WELCOME THE CHINESE WELCOME THE CHINESE WELCOME THE CHINESE (and Foo Yung to any nation that gets in their way, fools)
As a contrast to the above poll Labour are on 30.8% the nats are on 50.6%
Labour down 2.4% Nats up 4.8%
Who on earth would believe these polls,garnered by garner.
TV3 news reid research polls are usually
way out of wack anyway.
starlight are you referring to the latest TV3 poll reported this evening?
The numbers are actually:
National 48.8%
Labour 33.0%
Greens 10.6%
NZ 1st 3.2%
Not a bad result given their landline based and are therefore always skewed towards National.
Same with TV1 too of course.
The first polls are from roy morgan,the middle one is one i went looking for,tv3
reid research,the third is national and opposition parties also from roy morgan
for the dates 24/9 -7/10
TV 3 Poll tonight:
National 48.8%
Labour 33.2%
Greens 10.6 %
NZF 3.2
For PM:
Key 41%
Shearer 8.5%
Norman 5%
Winston 2.4 %
According to Garner National could govern alone with 62 seats??
Snap Anne.
Always worth remembering that the 3 news/Reid poll allways overestimates National support by 2-3 pts, at least. And always underestimates NZF’s support. Anyway, further comfirmation of the downward trend for Key and Co., so good news there.
He wishes.
I’m not sure about the reid research polls – too irregular to get a trend off, and the seem to have pumped national at getting over 50% in the election just a week or so out, and labour proportionately less than their election tally.
Oh, and take care looking at the RR graphs – they don’t have null spaces in their charts in the months they fail to publish a poll, e.g. the jump from april to june, and the last record is july.
The penguin probably does closer coverage, but I try not to go to sites that might lso-cookie me. Safe browsing, peeps!
The roy morgan tracker has the national led govt that includes support party’s
on 44%, the opposition party’s which includes all support party’s is 53.5%
I was shocked by the tv3 poll,so i went looking for some answers.
The tracker was taken 24/9/12 – 7/10/12
Oh, I get it now starlight. Am easily confused. 🙂
shonkey will be slapping his chest about how great they are doing and people
just dont care about the dotcom fiasco,he will say nz’ers have moved on,look at
the polls,the roy morgan polls need to be shown in the media as well,that will
stop him chest beating, but it will be difficult with the msm.
I reckon that the more he beats his chest when more and more people think he’s a lying braggart, then the more it alienates him from the electorate.
Bill English should be worried.
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/the-greens-go-well-in-gore.html
Getting a little late but this needs to be out:
Apparently you can’t access everything – just nearly everything – in MSDs servers.
FFS. Cost cutting and private sector/corporate providers hurrah.
And today of course, it’s been all over the MSM!