I’m going to stick to my usual watering hole that way the only people that will be laughing at me will be my children it’s a shed on the farm were my son in law stays as some people will turn a fart into a hurricane . I consume about 6 cans a fortnight so my tolerance is low.
I’m using a vapor pipe to help quit smoking and I am finally beating the habit I feel a lot fitter all ready what I do is I leave the smokes at home and just take the vapor now don’t listen to the people who say vaping is as bad as smoking because in my experience its a lot cheaper and less smelly so even if there are some negative effects all the positive effects by far out weight the negative . So all you people like me who have moko you look at them and know this that no one is going to love care teach your moko like you so I SAY go and buy a vapor and use it to quit smoking so we can be around longer to look after OUR moko when you start using a vapor it is like starting to smoke and after a few splutters you will get use to it give it a try. Good to see publicity about equal pay for our lady’s Ka pai
I’m not gay that is a strategy I use to keep the other Lady’s away as the person that I bullshit hit on knows that I’m strait and this works and I have enough drama to last 10 life times now .
A few years back when I finished Kiwi fruit packing I ran into one of my old bosses he said that he had a job for me managing 1500 cow farm . Now calving was only one month away and I new that this was going to be a hard task I said that I wanted my own staff yea right I had to keep some of the old Idiots and as soon as I was out of sight they would fuck around . I had 2 positions to fill one was my son and the other my son begged me to hire his cousin I did not want to because I had employed him before and I was not impressed. I hired my nephew .
One morning I got him to feed out and my son to wash the plant . Our good tractor broke down so he was lining up the old tractor up to load mag c into the bucket buy the office as he got off the tractor he did not have it in neutral and I got pined by the bucket and the mag c which is like cement bays on a pallet both my leg’s got broken .
I heard the breaks 4 snaps clearly he panicked and was trying to start the tractor I said fuck that put tractor in neutral and use the tires to roll it away from me he was not strong enough to do this so I called my son to help he did it by him self and had the cheek to ask if I could walk to the truck the same one I got now well after a few foul words they carried me to the truck we went to the house and tried to get a helicopter no go there so I got both my sons to drive me to the Rotorua hospital which was one hour 20 minutes away Taupo was 10 minutes closer but I new that they would send me to Rotorua .
When we got to the hospital and the staff pulled me out of the truck I screamed fuck that was the most pain I have ever felt with both feet flopping around man .
They give me some gas and the next morning waking up embarrassed as I remembered I had been telling all the hospital staff that I was a chief Rangatira well I don’t no were that came from. And I was telling my siblings that story on saturday I’v got 2 Titanium rods hammered through my knee caps down to the breaks . It was my fate that my feet were not chopped off. one month later I was getting cows in at 3 pm with cast up to my ass on both leggs I would just have them sticking strait past the handle bars of my Quad and I had my best dog ever I just had to open the gate and he would get all the cows out and if there was a cow down he would not leave the gate so I would follow him in and see whats up with the cow . So in telling this story I got pissed and well some of you no the rest .
Kia Kaha
I wonder what they think they are going to achieve by bulling all my clients and there neighbors into not waving to me or recognizing or from being nice to me as I am to everyone I meet . Are they looking to improve there public Image we no that’s not hard to work out who likes to be bullied well no one.
I have losted 5 of the 13 new clients I payed 10 x the cut price for good will because of these bullies . They don’t give a shit what have I done to them nothing they are just like key control freaks and don’t give a shit whom they cause harm having a compassionate and considerate thought is beyond them It is there alter ego that rules there thought process and who wants people like this in our state service well not me I will keep going till I win and the media no this is true as they are bullying you to. Kia kaha
We generally leave all comments alone here until they get abusive, completely violate the general taste rules, start outright lying about facts, get repetitive or excessive, cause stupid flame wars, start causing the site legal issues or one of the other gotchas.
There is deliberate policy behind that. It means that people know that they can leave crap here rather than feeling that they must dump in the middle of topics that authors have chosen to write about. That simple decision by r0b to have a daily OpenMike massively reduced the moderator problems after we instituted it. After that there was absolutely no excuse for trolling other topics. Which makes it a lot easier to moderate the site.
So my best advice is that if you don’t like it, then treat it like any other places with lot of animals around. Look down often and don’t step in the crap.
Like the way Adern is sticking it to the Australians
Antithesis of John Key who presided over the period when Australia gleefully shat on us the most. And the Australians gave him their ‘highest’ honour. Says it all.
This sums up the difference between this government and the last, between National Party voters and all other New Zealanders.
Actions speak louder than words so what exactly will Jacinda Ardern achieve? I mean yeah it sounds good but if nothing changes, like Kiwis getting the same deal in Australia as Australians get in NZ then its all for nought
But then I suppose it might take peoples attention away from Labour really wanting to sign the TPPA…
1. If losing access to a single, smallish market is a concern then we’re doing it wrong
2. If standing for principle is a concern then we’re doing it wrong
3. If they don’t want to trade with us then that’s their decision. It’s a free-market after all. We don’t have to trade with them either.
I suspect RNZ are mixing up the jobs a bit, with Espiner, Forbes on Checkpoint, etc – in anticipation of going RNZ+, with an expansion of the Checkpoint style into TV programmes. So, basically, giving their journos/hosts with TV backgrounds some more experience with the radio with pictures.
And, hopefully, a John Campbell RNZ+ TV show is in all our futures – ditto Mihingarangi Forbes.
A superb, dream partnership – they really spark off of each other! I love them to stay permanently. Have to say that Guyon gets up my nose sometimes. He sounded a little lost last night on Checkpoint but it was night one.
It was good to hear this morning in a brief reference from Kim that Suzie Ferguson is on the mend after her urgent surgery for endometriosis and expected back before Christmas.
I am not always a fan of Suzie’s style, but I wish her well
That complaint can be a killer, wrapping round and causing organ failure. Surgery often has to be repeated, so I hope she and her medical team “beat the bastard”.
When she announced on 2 Nov that she was having urgent surgery the very next day – possibly a hysterectomy – she was open about it being endometriosis and RNZ put up an article/interview on this horrible condition. I also put up a comment on it and included a link to the NZ Endometriosis website for anyone who wanted to learn more about the condition.
I know from a friend’s experience just recently we have some remarkable female doctors here in Wellington who are experts in Endo so I am sure Suzie is in good hands.
Since National has defined themselves as ready to fight hard dirty campaign to unseat the new fledgling labour coalition Jacinda is best to use the same strategies National used.
Jacinda needs to ‘neutralise’ and remove all the National Party ‘policies’ purposefully left as ‘fish hooks’ within every nook & cranny in all Government agencies to stymie the new labour lead government, so remove those toxic national policies so we then can “infuence” the real changes jacinda.
Next and very urgently required for us is the needs to make urgent changes within our provinces; – like such as bring back all rail freight & passenger services everywhere, giving us transport options to increase productivity & make environmental improvements, – and that will upset National no end and stop their stupid plans to increase climate change emissions using ‘truck mania’.
Why not bring back responsible politicians who are acting for NZs and planning how to advance the country encouraging domestic businesses and jobs, not plan everything around export so the country can afford to pay for the flash things that your mates consider are essential and their right.
Improvement after improvement from the new Government and now this, from Wayne! Who’d have thought Wayne would ever experience the epiphany he so clearly has; his suggestion, heart-felt I’m sure, though he’s played it low key, that we should open our hearts to socialism, and his realisation that New Zealanders yearn for the sharing and caring socialism brings; it’s a red-letter day for Wayne, and by association, all of us!
An article from Australian commentator Peter Fitzsimons quotes Winston Peters.
” “A key part is our MMP proportional representation system, which we have had since 1996. This allows for a diversity of political voices to be heard, and a diversity of politics to be represented. It is inclusive. There are not just two main voices, there are many. It works for us. When I was elected to Parliament, there were just four Maori in parliament. We now form 24 per cent. The system fosters progressive politics.”
What Wayne calls ‘socialism’ might be better reported as “progressive politics”.
That’s what NZF voters preferred along with Green and Labour voters.
56 versus 44.
MMP enabled this.
Progressive politics. Independent voices speaking truth to power. Significant change.
Perhaps socialism, is doing anything without getting money or in kind payment for it. Murray Ball did a take on choice and neo lib with a cartoon of a new mother offering her breasts to the baby, each one labelled and priced.
That’s involuntary socialism and possibly some well off women do find it very
satisfying, and a new experience to give away something, though of course it is all being kept in-house so it’s just giving advantage to one’s own.
Wayne I know you don’t want socialism either; – I didnt for most of my life and it seems we have failed this way.
But why not think about this first.
“Beyond Manapouri,” 50 years of environmental politics
On today’s show Radio NZ ‘Nine to noon with Kathryn Ryan.
14th November 2017.
This interview with Catherine Knight is brain food for us all even the hardnosed Very righ National party today.
Preliminary thoughts; – my journey to realise we need to now get serious about our environment.
I was a young 23 yrs old kiwi new tradesman Electrician in 1966 that firstly did my duty to NZ in an “NZ Army ‘National service'” training then went to work at the Manapouri “west Arm” of the power scheme to work on the power station tunnel project then went to the MOW Turangi power scheme.
I observed then we had higher ‘environmental awareness’ then, than we do today.
So we have gone backwards my friend and we do need to turn it around and ‘instill the environmental awareness’ again after a 25 yr hiatus.
Please consider this for our childens future.
==================================================================Subject: FW: Kathryn Ryan interviews Catherine Knight author of a new book ‘Beyond Manapouri” environmental issues in NZ. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
A good listen.
09:05Beyond Manapouri, 50 years of environmental politics
Aratiatia Rapids Photo: Clive Madge
Environmental historian, Catherine Knight examines the catalogue of missed opportunities since the birthplace of the Manapouri environmental movement. Her new book, ‘Beyond Manapouri: 50 years of environmental politics in New Zealand’ is particularly critical of the lack of political leadership in the last 25 years. Catherine Knight is an Honorary Research Associate at the School of People, Environment and Planning at Massey University.
Beyond Manapouri, 50 years of environmental politics
Environment
about 1 hour ago
Environmental historian, Catherine Knight examines the catalogue of missed opportunities since the birthplace of the Manapouri environmental movement. Her new book, ‘Beyond Manapouri: 50 years of environmental politics in New Zealand’ is particularly critical of the lack of political leadership in the last 25 years… AUDIO
Listenduration25′ :31″ http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
But we dont have the same ‘environmental awareness” now with public “actions” today as we saw then do we? Yes I recall all the Dam projects in NZ from that time to.
During the 1960’s when at the Turangi project (Tongariro Power Scheme) we had many more environmental considerations then to consider, as the series of dams were built there over the 1000 KM square area the dam project covered of creeks streams ect’ as I was heavily involved in then.
Now we see all our water ducts alongside our roads take the road runnoff and deposit it into our rivers and lakes and “road pollution runnoff”” is a global issue especialy in europe.
Like John Key’s government you mean? Remember when he called WFF “communism by stealth” and then kept it once elected ? That means he (and you) were part of a communist government my friend…
Can you name, with evidence, that last NZ Government/s which was Socialist?
“a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.”
Just interested under which governments in our history the means of production etc was regulated by the community as a whole?
Otherwise it is that slightly annoying habit you have of pretending to be rational and on high ground while slinging snide abuse in the form of epithets in place of counter argument.
” last NZ Government/s which was Socialist”.
The closest to this in my lifetime was when Rob Muldoon was PM.
Ah, remember the glorious days when Rob set all the rules.
Alone and unaided he determined the wages and prices of almost everything.
– state regulated wages via industry awards
– state regulated inflation
– state regulated days to drive a car
– state owned electricity, telephone
– state regulated farm production via prices
– state owned forests, tourism, etc etc
– state directed economic planning, including Think Big
– tiny and narrow private sector.
Etc
Oh don’t be such a silly duffer Wayne!
By the way, how’s all that ‘positioning’ coming along – a permanent appointment as a talking head rent-a-voice on the Sunday morning current affairs ‘shows’?
Wayne ,if you don’t like Socialism then give us back all your tax payer funded perks and go and be a “self made” man. You, of all on here ,have done best out of Socialism.
Brilliant garabaldi.
And Wayne please give us back our taxes we ‘incrimentally ‘sunk into all those ‘Government SOE’s’ you sold off eagerly too, and faiednus as you never gave us anything back to eh?
You are a sneaky fellow Wayne. Slipping that in there thinking we wouldn’t notice.
It’s true isn’t it; you had a great childhood. Health care, education, houses, extensive rail network (remember the railway workshops where countless men learnt a trade), all provided by the state. You didn’t mind that at all did you.
It served us all very well.
I felt great to wake up as a proud New Zealander this morning, several millions to teach kids to swim, suddenly South Marlborough residents are finding their quake claims are being settled a lot faster ( a quiet word from whom I wonder ), Jacinda holding the Aussies to account, shit that used to be in the too difficult basket actually getting done NOW !, and a plethora of other so very good-to-have-progress-on issues, and all to the melliferous tones of John Campbell and what must be the very personification of the mesmerising voice of a she-cobra about to strike, the absolutely
delightful Kim Hill. The most intelligent radio tag-team of all time.
Its really good to be a Kiwi these days.
Green Party social development spokesperson Jan Logie said although her party’s policy went further, what they had agreed with Labour was a good start.
“I will be hoping to work closely with the minister and providing a good evidence base for our policies as well as seeing how far we can get with this because we don’t have evidence that sanctions work, and we’ve got a lot of indications at the moment that the systems are causing harm.”
Mike O’Brien from the Child Poverty Action Group said the government needed to look at increasing benefits if it wanted to make a difference to vulnerable families.
“If you’re really serious about reducing poverty, then improving benefit rates, making some changes to Working for Families so you remove the discrimination against sole parents, a whole raft of those pieces that would make a really important and significant difference.”
Yes great news that s70A is going. Thank you to all the groups who have campaigned against this sanction. Now chuck the amendment in under urgency and get this sorted please.
If that’s to be a signature approach of the Green Party, and it gets enough cut through to shift the (whatd’yem’callit?) public discourse(?), then I’ll be happily rowing back from where I’ve been heading 😉
Explicitly qualified support with an equally explicit ‘pushing of the envelope’ gives me hope for a better three years than I was expecting a week or so back.
Bugger. Just noticed it’s a quote from CPAG and not The Green Party that’s pointing to the need for a raft of improvements.
So, okay. The Greens are offering qualified support and now just need to take a leaf out of CPAGs book 🙂
+1. Takes a bit of getting used to but I’m managing it!
It’s so refreshing after the suffocation of the past nine years. So good to have a government that’s doing what needs to be done rather than one which kept telling us what couldn’t be done and refusing to address the obvious especially when it was the right thing to do.
And Kim Hill and John Campbell in the morning – intelligent, engaging, insightful radio.
We in far the distant ‘remote North Island East coast Gisborne /HB regions both are waiting now for our sixth year without our rail.
Government are responsible for our rail washout here, and for the restoration of our railway service after it was washed out in March 2012, straight after the ruling National Government Minister of Transport Steven Joyce was believed to have pressured Kiwirail to sack 14 track maintenance staff and send those funds to Auckland for their commuter rail instead, and caused the storm blocked the drains with hillside slips and that washed out (only just 1km) of our 212 kms of rail and then refused to fix it over a later discredited ‘whitewashed report’ saying the service was not viablle, but we had an independant report prepared proving it was viable, by the BERL Economist Ganesh Nana (the same economist later during the election in 2017 who ruled Steven Joyce’s $11.7 billion defit hole he claimed labour had in their budget ‘was ficticious’.
We rejoyce for the South Island’s east coast communities to recieve their rail restored for their services and soon the road also will be reopenned too.
So we hope Jacinda does not forget to also ‘pressure’ Kiwirail to fix our rail they destroyed and reopen a modern efficient freight and passenger tourism rail service for us also before some Auckland guy succeeds to rob us of our rail for a cycleway!!!!!!!
Please jacinda push those buttons to bring our rail services back to our isolated NI East coast region. “lets do this.”
“We rejoyce for the South Island’s east coast communities to recieve their rail restored …..”
Christ @CG!. I know as we both enter our dotage we’re apt to forget things.
I know you don’t really mean ‘reJoyce’ – but rather rejoice. He might be useful as a bit of ballast in the foundations somewhere along a restored Gisborne railway, but please – let’s not let a Joyce near anything to do with governance or business (going forward). Their skid marks are everywhere. Steven’s contribution is to NZ what that Barnaby is to Australia’s bugger’s muddle of a parliament. Then there’s an Alan who’s done more to jeopardise Qantas’ safety record than anyone – they’re flying on luck
We over on the NI East Coast now truly hate Steven bloody Joyce with such venom as he is truly a slimly character we have met who hoodwinked most of our local choir of “civil leaders here with his bullshit, fluff & stuff, but he has well worn out his welcome here.
Good point. Just the thing that National and their ilk would do. Close the rail and then put a ‘Tourist venture” of a cycle track along that handy piece of land. Cycling is in, and heavy work is out.
The world is made for those who want to get an appearance of being green and can spend most of their time traveling around following cycle tracks round the world, or railways (my favourite if I could afford it), or hunting for precious earth minerals or whatever bright idea they have unconnected with day to day life.
“and what must be the very personification of the mesmerising voice of a she-cobra about to strike, the absolutely delightful Kim Hill”.
God, that has to be the best description of Kim Hill I have ever heard. I just hooted with laughter when I read it. Thank you Adrian. I couldn’t have described it better, just absolutely perfect .
Jacinda on TPP and David Parker.
Jacinda has done the international thing and so has lost sight of previous NZ aspirations to be part of a great country that operated by and for NZs.
David Parker worked as a litigation partner so would have idea of how ISDS could be an expensive disaster, so it might be one of those things that are such a threat they never get to be used.
He helped get a Community Law Centre shows a good attitude.
He managed Blis Technologies for a while – a NZ innovative company in the medical line.
But neither of them likely to strike a discordant note from the main choir.
english must have had a brain fade when making this accusation…. it was fine for him when the pm that quit aka key offered to take the Manus Island refugees, but as soon as Jacinda does the same it’s a whole different senario. But then key was never going to walk to talk, his offer was all for show.
“Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is continuing to offer to help resolve the Manus Island crisis to “balance up with her own constituency” the Government’s support for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, National leader bill english says.”
Take off your tin foil hat bill english, it’s not about winning votes or making the most money, it’s about people, once you get your head around that you might actually win an election for a change.
Go away bill english – 2 time loser tick from dipton and proven billshitter. The only good thing about him is hes blocking even more useless and unpleasant gnat members from being the leader of their rabble.
Mr Robertson told Morning Report New Zealand wasn’t giving up on the issue.
“Obviously the issue is primarily in PNG’s court but there are people [on Manus Island] who have been declared refugees which means globally we’ve all got a responsibility for that and locally and regionally New Zealand takes that seriously.” http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/343664/robertson-we-can-help-in-manus
But it is not good to say they will keep asking Australia, so we seem to have clean hands. Then saying what can we do, it’s Oz fault, and we do understand their knotty problem.
These guys are at the end of their tether. They obviously have a lot of stickability and are likely to make good citizens after care and counselling, and being reunited with families. It will have to go like that, and jobs found.
Waiting till the last moment is bad. Can we take most of who are left?
Have we got any sea transport lined up for emergency dash. Is there someone with some integrity at the UN who will call for help from member nations, and we can offer then. Is there…? It has to be done in a short time. People are like lettuces, they need water or they wilt.
I’ve been wondering for a week: does Bill English know the difference between ‘Opposition’ and ‘Obstruction’?
At the moment he and his are like a swarm of Anobium punctatum*. According to Te Ara Encyclopedia: “The larvae hatch and eat the timber for two to three years, making unsightly holes and tunnels. Adults bore exit holes in the wood in summer, and fly away. Little piles of dust near holes indicate an infestation.”
Leaving hazard and ruin behind them.
* House borer. Seemed apt…
The latest from Its Our Future NZ on TPP.
TPPA Bulletin #99 November 2017
Labour have caved in on the TPPA-11, but the agreement has yet to be signed. If the agreement goes ahead, the government can expect opposition in the streets.
Kia ora koutou katoa,
The news coming out of the TPPA talks in Vietnam last week were all over the place. An agreement was initially declared by Japan and Mexico, only to be contradicted by Canada. Jacinda Ardern then declared the negotiations had stalled indefinitely after Justin Trudeau failed to show up to a meeting of the TPPA-11 leaders. Finally, officials announced that they had reached agreement on the “core elements” of a new agreement, which they have now rebranded as the “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership”.
Where does this leave us? Good question. It would appear from the annexes to the ministerial statement (here and here) that only four outstanding items remain for negotiations and that these have been raised by Vietnam, Canada, Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia. New Zealand is a notable absence from this list, presumably because Ardern et al are content with the limited concessions that have been achieved on ISDS. To quote Jane Kelsey:
“There is no change to the pro-investor rules or the core investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism. A provision that would allow foreign investors to use the TPPA’s ISDS mechanism to enforce contracts for infrastructure or natural resources has been suspended, as has the ability to challenge measures affecting certain financial investments. But investors can still use ISDS to enforce their special rights under the investment chapter, and the delegitimised ISDS process remains intact.”
Needless to say, this is a disappointing. As Laura O’Connell-Rapira of ActionStation wrote in advance of the latest talks, Labour set us up to be let down by their negotiating position, as though they were simply making the best of a bad situation set in train by National. Jacinda continued to hold this line in an interview after the negotiations. Don’t buy this spin. If Labour were serious about ISDS they would have held the line in negotiations — four other countries stuck to their guns, and our negotiators could have done so as well. While the type of dispute for which corporations can sue our government has been narrowed, there are still significant areas of government policy that are under threat.
ISDS is not, and has never been, the sole problem with the TPPA. Threats to PHARMAC, affordable medicine, intellectual property, regulation of e-commerce (which will become more and more important in the increasingly digital economy), the operation of State-Owned Enterprises and the operation of a progressive government procurement policy are also significant. As it stands, some of these threats have been suspended in the current TPPA-11, pending the possible re-entry of the United States to the agreement. While these suspensions are a welcome relief, Labour have effectively committed us to the same TPPA should the United States ever come back to the table.
It’s Our Future and our friends at ActionStation campaigned in the lead up to the Vietnam negotiations on a platform that Labour ought to take the time to consult meaningfully with the public before committing us to any agreement in the TPPA-11. Labour were critical (in their select committee minority view) of the secrecy with which National conducted the TPPA negotiations, but have done no better themselves by proceeding with the agreement under the false pretense of an artificial deadline.
To quote Jane Kelsey again:
“The bad news is that the Labour government has endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, with the suspension of a limited range of items, at the ministerial and leaders’ meetings in Da Nang, Viet Nam.
The good news is that the meeting failed to conclude the new deal – rebranded the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).”
If the agreement goes ahead — and that is a big “if” — the agreement will require ratification in Parliament. We still have an opportunity to beat this toxic agreement by placing pressure on the government in future negotiations, and in the ratification process. The Greens have already made it clear that they will vote down the TPPA-11 in Parliament, and we would expect New Zealand First to do the same. The fact that Labour would have to rely on National to get the TPPA-11 agreement across the line is a measure of their hypocrisy.
The struggle continues, and we’ll be coordinating actions to oppose the TPPA-11 when we have a better idea about the timelines. The demand in our recent open letter to Jacinda Ardern (which we hope to deliver this week) for full and transparent consultation with the public still stands. In opposition, Labour strongly criticised the economic arguments for the original TPPA, stating that the modelling used in the patsy National Interest Analysis overstated the benefits of the agreement while failing to take into considerations its costs (particularly those related to jobs and wealth distribution). Labour needs to commission a new National Interest Analysis for the TPPA-11 to inform meaningful public scrutiny of the potential agreement.
In the meantime, Labour’s (welcome) position that they will not include ISDS clauses in any future agreements will be put to the test in the RCEP negotiations in Manila as we speak. While RCEP negotiations are nowhere near completion, it is important that the new government is held to a higher standard than National on these and other future negotiations.
Ngā mihi koutou, keep posted and please get in touch at itsourfuturenz@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments.
Yes, let’s go back to fortress NZ pre Euro Union, let’s not trade anything with anybody, let’s not compromise, let’s not collaborate, let’s just copy North Korea. Let’s not do this.
Yes, let’s cut ourselves off from the world and become a south seas North Korea without the nukes. Even Chris Trotter is showing some understanding of the real world today.
Our PM and David Parker are doing their best, as I see it, and to see all the squealing and complaining is a real let down. That’s not to say everything will be perfect, nothing ever is. The Greens may wish so, but it will not be so. Just what would be achieved by NZ throwing their toys out of the cot and having a sulk in the corner.
If it was just about free trade fine, the trade agreements are not about free trade they are the opposite. Look at the IP for example, making medicines more expensive (many of which were largely subsidised by governments), it just goes on and on. If
it was all about free trade for NZ exporters, why not export to Russia? Nope it’s political through and through and helps only lawyers and those already making a fortune. The rest is to keep everyone else from competing by keeping market dominance and stop change.
I reckon you have hit the button on TPP in that short comment savenz.
Sometimes the right words can be short and sweet/sour. (Depend which side you are on.)
and Reality
We actually discuss things here and argue about points, and then consider them, and discuss them further. We are not just a bunch ‘squealing and complaining’. You could try and read what we are concerned about before you indicate your ignorance with that fine high-handed irritation you have adopted. It makes you sound like one of the entitled to whom all blessings flow.
You ask: Just what would be achieved by NZ throwing their toys out of the cot and having a sulk in the corner.
Would you really like to take part in a discussion on that, or are you a lazy thinker who just says TINA?
Nope it’s political through and through and helps only lawyers and those already making a fortune. The rest is to keep everyone else from competing by keeping market dominance and stop change.
QFT
The present system is a racket designed to keep the majority oppressed to the wants and desires of the rich.
We are at a crossroads of loosing our country to coporates control so remember corporatates environmental record globally is grotesque and disgusting as they have no record or documents directing them to become “good Corporate global environmental citizens” of the world.
Our ‘reality’ speaks for itself!!!
If we want to protect our environment don’t allow corporate control over our NZ laws or involve these errant Corporations inside any agreements whatsoever with our NZ Government as we must remain “independant”.
Adrian
Let’s you go back to your cup of tea and sit in the naughty corner. We haven’t been Fortress NZ since ever. And when things were tightened down, we actually managed well, though we hankered after foreign baubles and had to think creatively how to get them.
Small things you were only allowed to build towards by getting Post Office vouchers at say today’s value of $2 a time, and you had to keep on visiting daily till you had enough to buy some delectable item from ‘overseas’. An overseas car could be brought back as an import, after using it during an overseas trip which we did. Both worked well for us and we were part of a thriving, eager NZ going upwards together.
What an awful picture, people whose moans were so tiny compared to today’s, but the one’s who were making it wanted to ratchet up their own lifestyle.
Bugger anyone else’s. And the problem was that they single-mindedly went after what they personally wanted and could get, by standing on other people’s shoulders.
And that applies to the wealthy rentiers and the powerful unions alike. Both short-sighted, but particularly those unionists with eternal wage demands and not able to impose better systems that allowed them to share in the rising profits in a practical way that would encourage more understanding and co-operation between business and worker. The left had WEA and the idea of keeping informed and educated so as to keep up with the capitalist class, but it wasn’t promoted enough, and workers soon left it all to union leaders to organise and were not ready for them turning squishy when confronted with neo lib from their very own bosom-buddies.
It’s not a question of going back to ‘fortress NZ’. NZ has always been a trading nation but there’s a difference being a trading nation to one which gives its sovereignty over to multi-national corporations.
We could drop out of all the FTAs that we’re a part of, including the WTO, and have freer trade.
Willing Buyer, Willing Seller
How about we ask the people what constitutes when we want to allow trade with another nation rather than asking the corporations who really only want countries, the people, to guarantee their profits.
There are still four issues up for neogitation but all 11 nations involved in the deal have now agreeed on every other aspect. The new deal also has a new name – it’s now the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans Pacific Partnership.
Veteran trade negotiator Charles Finny has been following developments, as has TPP sceptic Professor Jane Kelsey. They join us to debate the issues around the deal.
Beyond Manapouri, 50 years of environmental politics.
A book by one really smart lady: Catherine Knight on RNZ Nine to Noon. (link not yet up)
In the interview she identifies all that’s gone wrong with our public service over the past 25 years.
Put succinctly in one statement (to paraphrase), Ministers have become the CEO’s customer, rather than The Public.
CEO’s and senior management telling their Ministers what they think they want to hear, rather than truthful, honest policy advice.
Ten Reasons We Got Rid of National
No. 9: John Key
“I felt the actions weren’t those of a Prime Minister and I felt New Zealand should know that. It is because he is the PM that I went to the media. John Key feels he is untouchable.”
Plenty of folk lost everything they had with hotchin/bryers/petrovic/graham entities so why did SCF investors get 100% plus the at risk interest ? It has an odour to it.
The Alabama special election to replace Sessions remains as watchable as ever.
So far the papaya Palpatine has managed to duck having an opinion about Roy Moore, coz, you know, he’s too busy with his besties Pootee and Doody-Turdy. But he’ll be home soon.
Will the Grabber-in-chief try to crush Moore, coz Moore’s not a star and only stars get to do that? Or coz he doesn’t want the competition?
Will Don of the Deadbrains double down on boys will be boys, the more there are around him the better?
I'd be fine with a child predator in the Senate so long as it would keep the Democrats from stealing this seat. Child molesters are evil, Democrats are even worse— Eric Dondero R. (@EricDonderoR) November 11, 2017
Kayla Moore, wife of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, shared a letter on Facebook indicating support from more than 50 Alabama pastors.
Moore’s wife Kayla posted the letter to her Facebook page Sunday after days of controversy surrounding her husband and allegations he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old in 1979 when he was 32-years-old. Three other women said Moore pursued them as teenagers.
If this new TPP is finally signed off with Labour and National agreeing with it then it all bodes well for the Green Party in years to come. Firstly many Labour voters will next time, vote for the Greens as the only progressive party left to vote for and secondly with climate change being a real and present danger to the planet earth, then their policies will only bring about good for the country. In future years there will be many displaced people from coastal properties etc and rising sea levels, Australia will be frying and there will be climate refugees from there and the Pacific. Yes, its all good for the future for the Green Party.
Why nations are still concentrating on trading with each other with their heads in the sand it would seem they have this vision of a healthy future ahead of themselves, there is no vision, no urgency to tackle the pending serious weather conditions we are going to experience which will make trading the last thing on their minds. Now, if they spent as much time tackling this serious problem as they do trying to make even more profit trading around the world, then maybe this planet is in with a chance of being saved.
They voted Peters because they thought he could reign in National especially around immigration, they didn’t want Labour and they certainly didn’t want to give the Greens any power.
NZ First has lost half its voter block at least, that’s another 4% for National.
A pretty large majority of NZF voters wanted NZF with Labour.
Feelings at the start of a new govt are hardly predictive of how they will change their vote next time. There’s 3 years of Labour improving the economy and people’s lives.
“The older people were, the more negative they were, the poll’s trend showed”
And there’s a big class skew towards Labour from people with less wealth. Guess who dies earlier.
TPP will not survive; period; – so give away all that hot air to someone else we are sick of your whinning .
The world is on the brink of another GFC and a *climate change Catastophe nighmare of all proportion now so we won’t see these flimsy “fools trade” agreements go ahead now.
Martyn Bradbury Editor. – TDB.
One of the main concerns behind the scenes of the negotiations to be the next Government was the deep seated belief that the global economy is about to implode.
Since the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis, all the developed world has done is kick the day of market reckoning down the road with more and more money printing. At some point this band-aid won’t be able to stem the pressure building and it will rupture with a backlash that will make the depression look like a week without pocket money.
What will hit first? Economic armageddon or Environmental apocalypse?
It’s difficult to know what will hit us first, the Economic Armageddon or Environmental apocalypse caused by our dangerously warming climate.
I suspect they will both combine to create something beyond our scope to deal with.
When you are getting market spreads like this, panic doesn’t even seem to sum up the proper response. Remember, a spread above 30 points suggests elevated risk and a spread above 40 calls for ‘defensive measures’. Last week the spread was almost 50 fucking points…
Economic crash IMMINENT: Fears grow as markets hit high not seen since Black Tuesday
There is a growing sense of foreboding amongst economists who believe the market is poised to repeat what happened during the dotcom bubble and the Wall street crash.
Stock values have reached levels not seen since those two disasters and a correction would throw the world economy – currently seeing an ongoing boom period – into disarray.
Graham Hacche at the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said:“In both cases, sharp market ¬declines followed these high readings.”
He went onto say the cyclically adjusted price-earning ratio (the Shiller CAPE ratio) has risen above 30 which shows “markets may have become increasingly vulnerable to shocks.”
…the question is no longer if, but when and where the economic crash will start and cascade from.
China could be the trigger…
Red debt rising
The news during the Chinese Communist Party Congress was supposed to be uniformly positive. But the Oct. 19 press conference of Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of China’s central bank, was not. After admitting that the country’s high debt was high, he surprised everybody by adding that it was not so high as to cause a “Minsky Moment,” a sudden meltdown of asset prices. It was a fascinating insight into what worries China’s economic leaders and the tough choices they face.
…or it could be the failing Eurozone or Brexit that trigger it, or it could be the sudden realisation on Wall Street that Trump can’t get his tax cuts through.
Add in the sabre rattling over Chinese expansion into the Pacific, Venezuela imploding, North Korea going nuclear, Saudia Arabia launching war on Lebanon or a total collapse in Central Africa and any knock from Climate change could topple the global economy into free fall…
From Miami to Shanghai: 3C of warming will leave world cities below sea level
Hundreds of millions of urban dwellers around the world face their cities being inundated by rising seawaters if latest UN warnings that the world is on course for 3C of global warming come true, according to a Guardian data analysis.
What does a left wing Government do about it?
Anyway you want to look at it, the immediate future looks bleak, so what should a Left wing Government on these far away Shaky Isles do about it?
First of all, let’s appreciate the beauty and luck of our distance.
It’s near impossible for refugees to climb into boats and flee here successfully, we have a globally low debt to GDP ratio and we have enough fertile land to feed ourselves.
In short, the tyranny of our distance is going to end up being what saves us while the planet goes into meltdown.
BM…….hoping like fuck and quacking like a duck. Meanwhile Key’s cruising……and don’t give a fuck. BM……looks very much like Russia’s ya’ only hope baby. Udachi !
It’s now over 20 mins since Assange began a thread and failed to finish his sentence. I assume his lawyer burst into the room halfway through:
It's now over 20 mins since Assange began a thread and failed to finish his sentence. I assume his lawyer burst into the room halfway through: https://t.co/Gl5CWTAyJa
I’m assuming it means: Catalan separatists meet with Julian Assange => Julian Assange starts tweeting about the glorious revolution taking place in Catalonia => Russian media start giving extensive coverage to Assange’s tweets => Assange enthusiasts and Russian propaganda viewers the world over support independence for Catalonia. Did money change hands?
It is pretty suspicious, but the world is so full of crackpots it doesn’t necessarily mean anybody’s paying anybody for it.
Did you just summarily dismiss all and sundry who are supportive of the people of Catalonia being empowered to determine their own future?
One Russian media outlet (Sputnik) based 11 stories around Assange tweets (10 on comments by Carles Puigdemont and 5 by Mariano Rajoy). Apparently that’s outrageous because Assange isn’t an expert on Catalonia (or some such)…unlike all the talking heads whatever other outlets use. Them’s experts!
It’s utterly depressing, this enthusiasm to back the insinuation that anyone who doesn’t adhere to some “official” or “approved” script is “suspect”.
It’s kinda fascist.
BTW. Does the Scottish government’s support for Catalonian independence make them “Assange enthusiasts and/or Russian propaganda viewers” too? Maybe the SNP and Scottish Greens (plus a good proportion of Scottish Labour voters) are just ‘victims’ of Kremlin propaganda? I mean, Alex Salmond (ex First Minister of Scotland) is about to host a show on RT – gadzooks! (And yes. Pretty sure Assange tweeted on Scottish independence)
Pretty sure the barb was for Assange supporters and Russian propaganda consumers, not people supporting Catalonian independence generally (could be wrong though).
“It’s utterly depressing, this enthusiasm to back the insinuation that anyone who doesn’t adhere to some “official” or “approved” script is “suspect””
Go and do some article searches on some main Liberal publications if you genuinely don’t understand that (eg – The Guardian, Washington Post, The Independent).
And have a look at the various ministerial announcements that accompanied the vote in Catalan (but just mind and ignore what Sturgeon said, aye? 😉 )
For all practical purposes, is there a difference that matters? In either case, it still means treat everything emanating from Saint Julian of the Embassy with deep suspicion.
Looks to me more like the Russian government has found Wikileaks to be a useful way of releasing any embarrassing data they nick from the Americans and Assange isn’t fussy about where the data comes from. But the net effect is pretty much the same as if they had a business arrangement, so as Andre asks, does it matter? Either way, you have to treat the results with suspicion.
There is no Russian link to Wikileaks – that’s the whole point of having an intelligence service. However, reasons to suspect the Russian government is using Wikileaks to release embarrassing data it steals from the Americans is outlined here.
The whole “Russia Russia Russia” narrative is a totally overblown distraction.
Especially when it is clear that the US is unparalleled in its ability to steal, penetrate, impersonate the technology, data and systems of its foreign adversaries.
Further, its going to become very clear that the Democractic Party has very tight ties with Russian interests and operatives.
At the end of the day, the massive heavy handed way the USA handled the leaks has actually helped their rivals the most and reduced power in the USA both internationally and within public opinion.
If USA said sorry, and stopped their own illegal actions then it would have all gone away.
The nation has been divided. If US officials had been less gungho and less looking like manufacturing charges and extriditions for political reasons , then Wikileaks would have been yesterday’s news.
Like the Dotcom incident in NZ. Hard not to notice that one.
The young and the free are all Internet users, they want freedom in that space. Anyone trying to curb that, has a battle that they probably won’t win.
It’s 21st century Vietnam. You can’t force people to agree with things that are wrong. It just divides people.
To my mind Wikileaks/Assange began as an apolitical organisation concerned with human rights, using collateral damage/cablegate as disrupters of US foreign policy.
I’d like to know why they’ve moved past that brief, involving themselves in the political processes of at least three countries.
I reckon it’s most likely to be one of or a combination of an Assange vanity project, keeping Jules out of a Swedish/US federal prison or, for hire.
joe90 – perhaps you mean Wikileaks began as a non-partisan organisation.
Disrupting US foreign policy, releasing US secrets and then having the Anglo-American empire target you with smears and illegal lawfare tactics was always going to be highly political.
I.E. Bombing the shit out of any country that refuses to allow US corporations, free reign. Or changing the leadership of any country that threatened the dollar as the reserve currency.
I suspect your answer is ego rather than anything else. Assange has a big ego and he likes to bring it out every now and to remind us, and him, how important he is.
The tweets themselves (not the interpretation the Atlantic couches them in) just read as someone punting for business and figuring out moves that might help his own position. And given that he’s essentially under house arrest, that’s fair enough, no?
If you’re fate lay in the hands of someone who said you should be droned, wouldn’t you have something to say about that? And if there was the possibility another might open those doors, wouldn’t you be talking to them?
And in whatever correspondence you had, and given the levels of stress occasioned by your situation, you really think you wouldn’t say some really fucking stupid things among it all?
My impression of Assange (justified or otherwise) is that he’d be an unpleasant pain in the arse at a personal level. But fuck, this on-going knee-jerk reaction bullshit to anything associated with Assange or Wikileaks, from mostly Liberal quarters, is fucking diabolical.
And the tiresome attempts to discredit any and all voices that might disagree with “official takes” on world affairs or specific situations by tying those voices in with Assange or Wikileaks, or some news story from a Russian media outlet, is deeply and seriously fucked up. Actually. It’s not so much that that’s fucked up (It’s to be expected). It’s the sheer numbers of people buying into it that’s the problem.
“The tweets themselves (not the interpretation the Atlantic couches them in) just read as someone punting for business and figuring out moves that might help his own position. And given that he’s essentially under house arrest, that’s fair enough, no?”
Probably shouldn’t be using Wikileaks to do that though.
“If you’re fate lay in the hands of someone who said you should be droned, wouldn’t you have something to say about that? And if there was the possibility another might open those doors, wouldn’t you be talking to them?”
Quite possibly, but I would also probably take care not to conflate a statement about droning with an actual potential threat, especially if I was running an organisation that needed to maintain a high degree of trustworthiness in the public internationally.
I like the Trump family even less than you do, weka, and although I admire Julian Assange’s fearless journalism, I find his parlaying with these swine very odd indeed.
However, you damage your credibility immediately by citing Russell Brown, who is one of the most easily gulled people in all of faux-liberalism. You might remember how Matthew Hooton made a fool of him and the likes of Craig Ranapia back in December 2013, after Nelson Mandela died….
Funny, given that your own reputation on TS was undermined by the less than truthfulness of your transcripts 😉
Everyone does stupid shit online at some point, and everyone does something that other people disagree with. Calling RB names means nothing to me except to say that you disapprove of him somehow.
given that your own reputation on TS was undermined by the less than truthfulness of your transcripts
My transcripts were never less than truthful, despite your slimy smear. You, and a few others, objected to my emphasizing the lack of eloquence of some politicians by including every “errr” and “ahhh” and “ummm” they uttered, and you also seemed, or pretended to be, upset by my pointing out that when someone like Jim Mora or Chris Trotter said something unconscionably crass or nasty on air, there were often uncomfortable silences.
But of course that issue is long done with. You and your small group of fellow-detractors lost. Deal with it.
Everyone does stupid shit online at some point…
They certainly do, as you did just now with that attempt to smear me with an old and discredited falsehood.
Calling RB names means nothing to me except to say that you disapprove of him somehow.
I did more than call him names, I demonstrated his insufferable combination of naïveté and sanctimoniousness.
Not ums and errs but whole bits not transcribed literally (which is what a transcript is). They were impressions that by your own admission you acknowledged you wrote out mostly freehand as you listened.
From the first link – I was concerned with capturing the essence of that pompous bullfrog Trotter, and didn’t record her murmurings verbatim.
I say were, because I have a feeling you later increased the accuracy and started doing actual transcripts, but now that you’ve just denied the accuracy issue it makes me wonder if you can even tell.
“But of course that issue is long done with.”
Quite. 2013. Funnily enough, that’s the same year as whatever it is you are saying that Brown did.
“They certainly do, as you did just now with that attempt to smear me with an old and discredited falsehood.”
I’ve done stupid shit, but this isn’t one of those times as I’ve just demonstrated.
“I did more than call him names, I demonstrated his insufferable combination of naïveté and sanctimoniousness.”
I don’t see how. You linked to one of your impressions transcripts and expected people to read it and figure out what you were referring to. If RB did something wrong (I still have no idea what), then you should be able to (a) name it, and (b) back that claim up with some evidence. So far all you’ve done is said Hooton made a fool of him, and let us know that you believe Brown is x, y, z.
So. You don’t like him and are using a current event to refer to something from years ago that demonstrates that you don’t like him. I don’t see the relevance myself.
Most of what you upbraid me with is unarguable. I accept your points.
However, this one is unfair:
You linked to one of your impressions transcripts and expected people to read it and figure out what you were referring to.
No, what I did was: I took contributions of various people on the “Mandela” thread from Russell Brown’s blog of 30.12.13 and used them verbatim to form a fictional classroom situation. I imaginatively revivified a dreadful and embarrassing exercise in drippy “liberals” competing to share their feelings of sadness, then indulging a cynical and vicious manipulator. They were so drippy, in fact, that not one of them even noticed when the intruder (Matthew Hooton) smoothly compared Mandela to Reagan and Thatcher. That’s where this writer and another Standardista, Rhinocrates, came in….
Re today, I’m not going to read your fictional account. If you have something to say about Brown’s actions, by all means do and then cite to support it. Can you not see how a fictional account is still about *your opinions?
People do enjoy your posts Morrissey, I just wish you would understand that in this setting there are pretty clear dividing lines between opinion and reporting of factual events.
I’d call it over-generous. I went and read the comment you linked to. In it, you take verbatim comments from Public Address and sprinkle them in among shit you just made up, which invites the reader to assume the shit you made up consists of verbatim comments. That’s pretty low.
Our good friend Psycho Milt makes a few points, which I’ll address one by one….
…you take verbatim comments from Public Address and sprinkle them in among shit you just made up,
That’s pretty much it. But what you rather disparagingly call “shit you just made up” has a serious dramatic function. You are familiar with Monty Python’s Life of Brian, I presume, where the scriptwriters interpose a great deal of “made up shit” to counterpoint the words of the bloke delivering the Sermon on the Mount. Shakespeare did a lot of this sort of thing as well; I recommend you spend a few minutes studying a copy of Julius Caesar.
…which invites the reader to assume the shit you made up consists of verbatim comments.
Anyone with an IQ above room temperature could tell that the bits labeled “UPROAR FROM CLASS”, “MURMURING FROM CLASS,” “SEVERAL VOICES”, “OUTRAGE AND UPROAR”, etc. were made up, and distinct from the verbatim transcripts of Mike O’Connell, Hebe. Paul Campbell, Matthew Hooton and Russell Brown.
That’s pretty low.
That’s drama for you. It’s a pity for people like you that the playhouses can’t be shut down like in the good old days.
Anyone with an IQ above room temperature could tell that the bits labeled “UPROAR FROM CLASS”, “MURMURING FROM CLASS,” “SEVERAL VOICES”, “OUTRAGE AND UPROAR”, etc. were made up, and distinct from the verbatim transcripts of Mike O’Connell, Hebe. Paul Campbell, Matthew Hooton and Russell Brown.
They might well. Thing is, what you call “verbatim transcripts” include Russell Brown apparently making statements like
You will have other thoughts and memories and you are welcome to share them here. Please be respectful of each other. Michael, you were the first to put your hand up. Please stand up and share with the class how sad you are.
Having read the post in question, I’m aware that part of that “verbatim transcript” is verbatim and part of it is shit you made up. Other of these supposedly “verbatim transcripts” include similar insertions, which you offered to weka as evidence of Russell Brown’s foolishness, along with the claim that
My transcripts were never less than truthful, despite your slimy smear.
Pointing out that you put words in other people’s mouths and claim it’s evidence of their foolishness isn’t a “slimy smear,” it’s an “accurate description.”
Fool, I invented nothing in those transcripts, or near-transcripts. I accept weka’s serious and principled views, but yours are still as brutal and unbalanced as ever, I’m sorry to say.
Again, this isn’t about who likes each other or not. McFlock’s example is easily as good as the one I posted, probably better (I haven’t listened to the original audio). The arguments are well laid out about the problems with the transcript.
I see on the news that they are proposing a 140 to 190 Million development of the Auckland Waterfront for the America’s Cup. Goff is full of it and expects the taxpayer once again to finance this latest elitist toy.
I would like to remind ALL the rightwingers, that we have had thirty years of user pays, being told to stand on our own two feet, no handouts with the Tories in the last nine years cutting services and benefits. Now is a good time for the right to practice what they are always preaching, pay for the fucking thing yourselves.
I for one will be totally and completely pissed off if one dollar of taxpayers money goes towards this massive white elephant when there will be a struggle after nine years of neglect rectifying a large amount of child poverty and homelessness.
If the elite wants to play with their boats good on them, but don’t expect the taxpayer to to pay for your toys
.
Is the money Goff wants to throw at this farce instead of, or in addition to, the billion he wanted to spend on an Auckland stadium? What has happened to that by the way? I’ve been out of the country and haven’t heard anything about it recently.
@ alwyn – last I heard they were wasting ratepayer money on private consultants to do feasibility studies for the stadium. They are desperate to build one as a monument to their ego’s but know that there will be a massive public backlash… Ego vs public opinion (not sure which will win).
The right, the neo-liberal, NEVER practice what they preach.
Doesn’t matter whether it’s Ruth Richardson Limited (liability); a Jenny Shipley alongside that brick of a man Burton; the entitled rich versus the undeserving poor; Jeeze Wayne’s or Mathew Hootons. It’s a foreign concept to them, devoid of humanity but all cost-accounted for. And if the accounts don’t work, why we’ll just re-invent the way we do them, and Bill’s your seedy Uncle (Steven, and there’s a new generation eagre to lead the self-entitled charge.
Hopefully the gated-community locks are going to hold out
We already paid for the last America’s cup!! What happened to all that infrastructure???? If the industry can afford millions in yachts then they should be able to crowd fund for the infrastructure that is apparently needed.
Likewise if it will be an economic boom maybe the business who will benefit aka Skycity types (mostly owed offshore corporations) can get their wallets out. I know they are used to being showered with corporate welfare but under a Labour led government can somebody find the word NO?
For everyone who lives in Auckland, it’s just more traffic, more rates and more out of control officials like Goff who will enjoy lording it over the place with all the rich and powerful that type of event attracts.
Solve our transport first, cut down rates and increase public service levels like libraries that benefit people who live here NOT try to always be impressing rich people passing through.
You must also remember the Fucking Spiv gave a 17.25 mil grant to the company that built Oracle’s boat and at the same time Pula Benefit was cutting benefits left right and centre
Today’s workplace surveillance software is a digital panopticon that began with email and phone monitoring but now includes keeping track of web-browsing patterns, text messages, screenshots, keystrokes, social media posts, private messaging apps like WhatsApp and even face-to-face interactions with co-workers.
Another reason to move from the 2000+ year old ownership (Our present day ownership laws started back in Ancient Rome) model for a cooperative approach. The people doing the work and are most affected by this type of Big Brother approach are more likely to both decrease the amount of watching and use what’s gathered more ethically.
IMO, knowing everything about someone gives ways to control them. We see this in things like self-censorship.
I’m presently looking for a job after finishing a degree. So, what effect is my anti-capitalist stance going to have on that and should I thus keep from mentioning it on my Facebook page so as to help me get a job?
To normal people that is called “a creepy invasion of privacy”.
But. Way too many employers now assume a right to know, about employees private lives, that should have never been their fucking business in the first place.
Just a question DtB …. Where do experieces and what one might call ‘common’ sense fit into it.
I’m all for science based on facts and logic (well…science), but often the heuristics used in a triage situation when decisions can be required quickly can have big experiential and common sense components. In my case, if they’d relied purely on what the science said at the time – I’d be dead
Common sense, defined as “sound judgment derived from experience rather than study,” is one of the most revered qualities in America. It evokes images of early and simpler times in which industrious men and women built our country into what it is today. People with common sense are seen as reasonable, down to earth, reliable, and practical.
But here’s the catch. Common sense is neither common nor sense. There’s not a whole of sound judgment going on these days (though whether it is worse than in the past, I can’t be sure), so it’s not common. If common sense was common, then most people wouldn’t make the kinds of decisions they do every day. People wouldn’t buy stuff they can’t afford. They wouldn’t smoke cigarettes or eat junk food. They wouldn’t gamble. And if you want to get really specific and timely, politicians wouldn’t be tweeting pictures of their private parts to strangers. In other words, people wouldn’t do the multitude of things that are clearly not good for them.
And common sense isn’t real sense, if we define sense as being sound judgment, because relying on experience alone doesn’t usually offer enough information to draw reliable conclusions. Heck, I think common sense is a contradiction in terms. Real sense can rarely be derived from experience alone because most people’s experiences are limited.
In my case, if they’d relied purely on what the science said at the time – I’d be dead
Sometimes simply doing shit can work but it’s a fluke and not something that can be relied upon.
I agree – common sense is not common, – the wrong term to use. I’m a big fan of science (as you describe it above).
I’m not a big fan of the idea that there can’t be exceptions to every rule.
For many, it was evident that there was climate change occurring a long time ago. The science subsequently proved it.
I don’t agree that “simply doing shit” can work but its always a ‘fluke’.
In the case I mentioned (mine), I understand the science now recognises the exceptions to the rule.
By the way – science isn’t dogma either. It requires an open mind ready to consider possibilities, and to be able to contest previously held scientific views and theories
I don’t agree that “simply doing shit” can work but its always a ‘fluke’.
If someone does something without knowing what they’re doing and it works then it’s a fluke.
Now, that doesn’t actually mean that what they do isn’t a result of the training and experience that they have. What it means is that it hasn’t been researched and they’re running on intuition.
Good training and education will bring about better intuition but it’s still going to be a fluke because they don’t know. It could, as a matter of fact, go the other way. That doesn’t mean that it’s not worth trying if there’s no other options.
In the case I mentioned (mine), I understand the science now recognises the exceptions to the rule.
There are no exceptions to the rule – merely misunderstood, misapplied and unknown rules.
So glad you chose to highlight this – great example of how capital can be used to support a community at large and the investors get both a return (TBD) and the warm fuzzies from knowing that the collective knowledge of the workers is not lost forever.
Kudos to the people who stood up and worked behind the scenes to organise this.
The amendment did not extend the cost of Labour’s policy and it did not extend the total amount of time parents had available to them.
Adams said she could see no real reason why Labour would be opposed to giving new families greater flexibility.
“It seems to me they’re embarrassed that they rushed this bill and there was no need to do it. This has been their policy for a long time and they still haven’t properly turned their mind to some of the important issues, like how paid parental leave works and how it can be made more flexible.”
Such a change could be detrimental to the baby, says Labour; If both parents were off at the same time, that would be a shortened total time spent on leave with that child, said Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.
…
Lees Galloway said he was not opposed to looking at changes to flexibility rules further down the track, however. But the Government had not seen the amendment National was preparing to put forward.
Sounds like the ball is in National’s court. Plus, didn’t they oppose extending PPL last year?
I need to see what National are actually proposing in terms of the law before I could have an opinion. And then opinions from people that are affected and organisations that work in that area.
Yes, that’s right, I don’t trust National. The idea could be a good one, but we have no way of telling because National are dicks.
I would call it misleading their voters and parkers statement allowing the view to pervade that Labour negotiated the Oz ISDS change as Keyesque and as appaling as when Nats behaved this way.
this week it looks to me like Labour are being hoisted on their own neoliberal petard. Of course they’re pragmatic as well. Doesn’t mean they’re being pragmatic about the right things.
I feel like this is a real cynical move coming from the party who vetoed extending paid parental leave for financial reasons.
However, I think this should be considered. I am assuming labour are coming from the perspective that creating the most time before bub has to go into childcare has the most benefit. But there are plenty of situations where I think time together as a whole family trumps that. After my first baby I had PND and if my husband been able to take a chunk OK time off at that time it would have made the world of difference I think. Couples who have twins or very sick babies would also benefit.
Don’t you feel strange now as a national party spinner now seeing national comming out with real “social progams” like giving both parents maternity extended leave now that it was national (yourparty) that railed hard agaist giving the ecxtended leavejust to one parent?
I think this is not real but just a ploy by English to put a wedge between the coalition now eh?
Has National Costed this?
As they are already demading labour cost everyting they do right?
So, basically, you’re bunging a smiley face on the thought that a party of liars and hypocrites when they were in government is no longer required to attain even that shonky level.
New Zealanders deserve more transparency from their politicians so they can better engage in the political system. Having party policies independently costed will help to cut through the noise of political party promises and deliver New Zealanders unbiased information.
Amy is accusing Labour of maybe doing something her party resisted until election time? For all we know their policy was like no new taxes… only meant to win votes not be implemented.
This newfound social conscience of Nats needs to be pounced upon with some new legislation for them to support.
I thought this was good. As the leader of a small trading nation, New Zealand’s prime minister simply cannot affect a take-it-or-leave-it attitude to something as big as the TPP. The inescapable truth confronting Ardern (as it has every one of her predecessors) is that this country’s status as a first-world nation is inescapably contingent upon earning sufficient overseas currency to import the sort of lifestyle to which most Kiwis believe themselves entitled.
Bluntly: faced with the choice of announcing whether her government is “in” or “out” of a major trade agreement; no New Zealand prime minister can say “out” with impunity.
cleangreen
He is a political journalist with a left approach, not an avowed activist, and he tries to view the facts of the situation as they lie, not as you or others would like them to be. Reading him you can assess how likely it would be to get your favourite policy through, and hope he is wrong if it seem impossible. Or you might think of some other way to manage it.
Mind-boggling. That’s National for you though – “Fuck off, if we give one wrongful-imprisonment victim inflation-adjusted compensation, next thing they’ll all want it!”
The open floodgates will let through huge numbers of people who will knowingly allow themselves to be bullied and confused into confessing to things they didn’t do, spend 20 years in prison and then claim the money!
Don’t you see McFlock don’t you? It’ll be a flood, a veritable torrent!
Either that – or you shouldn’t expect liars to understand metaphors.
Bloody nora, the size of some of the hail falling in Auckland at the moment – it as big as a 50 cent piece, some pieces bigger. It’s also peeling the paint off the neighbours cars.
That unnamed “Australian newspaper” is a Murdoch rag.
And those “unnamed sources” are no doubt as scurrilous.
I note that Radio New Zealand, among other outlets, has been diligently recycling, without any hint of demur, the Double Dipper’s mad claims about New Zealand becoming a “target for people smugglers.”
An Australian newspaper has reported unnamed sources saying the government there has turned back four boats of asylum seekers that were heading to New Zealand.
The Murdoch rag cited as merely “an Australian newspaper” is the hideous Courier-Mail of Brisbane, one of the Dirty Digger’s notorious stable of racist, war-mongering, sex-obsessed but prurient, thoroughly disreputable scandal sheets. It is to RNZ’s discredit that it failed to point this out today.
Acting Prime Minister Kelvin Davis said he did not know the source of the story, but it was “quite possible” it could be the Australian government pushing back over Manus Island.
My immediate reaction when I heard the item on the car radio. In fact its such a coincidence that the story should appear at this moment in time, one has to conclude that is precisely what it is.
Oh dear Natz really does need to get over itself. Still sounding very bitter and twisted over election result. Very petulant statements from Finlayson and Collins! Natz termites all slithering out of the woodwork now. Had it too good for too long. Sore losers unable to accept the fact the present coalition government was preferred!
It’s not a good look. They’re acting like spoiled brats in trying to push the idea that Peters is untrustworthy as a means of running interference against his court proceedings.
They must think people are stupid and have very short memories because most Kiwis know that the Nats ran the Super-leak hit job against Peters. What’s that if it’s not untrustworthy!
Very bitter and twisted alright – they can’t get over their utter uselessness in failing. They want to blame anyone except themselves – both those links show callous lies and a complete spit in the face for voters. I hope they never get in again.
Glad RNZ and Guyon Espiner gave a racist thug like Ian such a platform to air his views on Checkpoint. Anyone will do if it smears Jacinda and the government, eh Guyon?
Ed that was a shocking display of naked arrogance from espiner that i was heklling at jhim on TV and got bloody so mad that my blood pressure went over the top[.
I will ask the minister of broadcvasting to sack the prick as he has no place in this public broadcasting platfom that is trying to calm the people and be a kinder, gentler way of treating each other.
Espiner was going and going repeatedly at her it was a shocking display of arrogance he showed toward a sitting M.P.
Get rid of him, and take his mate Suzie Ferguson with him please as she is also very agressive at times though maybe not as bad as Espiiner is.
Kim Hill is the very best NZ has and should be uplifted to a Radio NZ Management position to train these half backed Journo’s to act civily and treat everyone with dignity and respect.
I expect the billionaire press to be biased but not RNZ.
Espiner is a Tory hack and should sell his soul to Murdoch or Reinhart or another rich corporate bludger.
Bob Geldof has, correctly, described Aung San Suu Kyi
as a “handmaiden to genocide and accomplice to murder”.
Bob Geldof has said he will return his Freedom of the City of Dublin in protest against the Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who also holds the award. Mr Geldof said “her association with our city shames us all”. Ms Suu Kyi has faced heavy criticism over her failure to address allegations of ethnic cleansing against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims. More than half a million Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh following recent violence.
Mr Geldof, the musician and founder of Band Aid, said in a statement: “Her association with our city shames us all and we should have no truck with it, even by default. We honoured her, now she appals and shames us.”
He is handing back the award at City Hall in the Irish capital on Monday morning.
I picked up an anomolly in labour’s cheif negociator today in Parliament during Q+A which a National MP asked David Parker about his claim that he had got changes made to the ISDS wording.
The minister asked if Parker stuck by his words and then said how come when he was involved in April 2016 over the TPPA settling on wording of that ISDS it was actactly the same wording as parker had agreedto, Parker responded by claiming that “his text related to a different agreement to a new free trade agreement called the CPTPP now?????
So is parker saying that te ISDS he agreed to was different from the one in the TPPA that was signed off by nationalm April 2016????
Can anyone clarify this please as someone is playing games here.
Many reports had been formerly comming out including Jane kelsey’s reviews saying the ISDS was the exact wording in both the TPP 11 and the CPTPP, so I am lost here.
maybe Labour knows something we dont yet???
I will find the hansard report wording on this after this day and post it later tomorrow.
Sounds to me like Parker is playing lawyerly word games. The National MP asked about the wording being the same, and Parker essentially replied – the wording you are referring to was in the TPP whereas the CPTPP is a different agreement altogether.
Keir Starmer has hinted that Labour might vote in favour of the Johnson government's shoddy deal, with the proviso that a second referendum is attached:Speaking to BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, he said: “We will see what that looks like but it makes sense to say that by whatever ...
In 1994, I was the editor for an issue of Planet magazine focused on cannabis, its culture and the prospects for the end of its prohibition. Part of that issue was an interview with 'Ringo', an experienced cannabis dealer.I recently posted my essay from that issue, and I figured it ...
Dr Helen Waite, sports sociologist and former elite athlete, on the invasion of women’s sport by men and the anti-scientific and misogynist ideology used to rationalise it. ...
As Brexit comes to a grisly conclusion (perhaps) people on all sides are saying intemperate and uwise things. Some, like the Daly Mail, have been doing it for years.People as normally level headed as Jon Lansman are calling for automatic deselection of MPs who vote against a (likely) Labour three ...
I've got one source saying more Labour MPs than expected are mulling whether to vote for the deal - including names who were not on the letter to Juncker and Tusk— Emilio Casalicchio (@e_casalicchio) 17 October 2019 I've compiled a list of possible reasons why Labour ...
On Wednesday, the government was loudly telling us that it needed to legislate to allow it to impose "control orders" - effectively a parole regime, but imposed without charge, prosecution, conviction or real evidence - on suspected terrorists because they couldn't be prosecuted for their supposed crimes. Today, it turns ...
On Monday, the Hit and Run inquiry heard from NZDF's former director of special operations, who claimed that the defence Minister knew everything about the Operation Burnham raid. Today, the inquiry heard from that (former) Minister - and it turns out that he didn't know nearly as much as NZDF ...
Yoga gurus and cult leaders – I’ve seen a few. Two weeks ago, I unknowingly joined an alleged new-age cult at the Kāpiti coast, together with a giant kraken and some neatly dressed pensioners who would make any book club proud.They were among the two hundred people of all ages ...
The last decade has seen a trend of increasing weapons availability to police. Assault rifles. Tasers on every hip. Guns in cars. And following the march 15 massacre, pistols on every hip, all over the country. At the same time, its also seen an increase in the abuse of force: ...
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been busy preparing for our summer paper on Science Communication. Looking for something amusing about ‘risk’ in science, I came across this neat xkcd.com cartoon about why so many people come knocking on my door (or phoning me, or emailing me) desperately wanting ...
by John Edmundson The International Socialist Organisation (ISO) have recently reposted a February article, by Romany Tasker-Poland, explaining ISO’s position in the “trans rights” debate. It is available on their website and on their Facebook Page. The article sets out to explain why “socialists support trans rights”. It reads more ...
"Auckland City Mission: 10% of Kiwis experiencing food insecurity", RNZ, 16 October 2019:About half a million people are experiencing food insecurity, according to new research from the Auckland City Mission. Food insecurity, or food poverty, is defined as not having enough appropriate food. The City Mission said over the last ...
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...
Would You Buy A Used Propaganda Video From This Man? Bridges and the National Party’s strategists have discovered that the ideas and attitudes considered acceptable by today’s editors and journalists are no longer enforceable. The rise and rise of the Internet and the social media platforms it spawned means that ...
There is plenty of evidence of the way the business mentality has permeated every level of society since the recrudescence of market liberalism 35 years ago. You only need to think of how citizens in need of help from their government, their state, their country, are now routinely described as ...
John MacCormickOver the last 40 years, New Zealanders – and people in other countries – have experienced big changes in the jobs they do and where they live and work. These changes include: a decline in manufacturing jobs an increase in jobs in ‘information-intensive’ industries (which are better paid ...
Nick Wilson, Leah Grout, Mereana Wilson, Anja Mizdrak, Phil Shoemack, Michael BakerProtecting waterways has the benefits of: (1) protecting water from hazardous microbes; (2) minimising cancer risk and other problems from nitrates in water; (3) avoiding algal blooms that are hazardous to health; (4) protecting mahinga kai uses (cultural ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women In a press release today Massey University announced it has decided to rebrand and reorientate after struggling to be a University for grown-ups. For some time the University has wanted to be a safe play space for wee-woke-misogynists who have been really badly triggered ...
After a brief dalliance with 'hard Revoke' it looks like the Lib Dems are changing ground on on Brexit, with leader Jo Swinson reverting to calling for a second referendum on Johnson's deal.The party has tabled an amendment to the Queen’s speech requesting that any deal brought back from Brussels ...
The government has decided that someone has done Something Bad. But despite their belief, there seems to be no evidence that they have actually broken the law. So the government's solution is to pass a retrospective law allowing them to be punished anyway, on a lower standard of proof. If ...
So, Judith Collins has done a Facebook rant about climate change, peddling the same shit National has been shovelling for the past twenty years: the impacts are overstated, there's no need to do anything about it, and its too hard anyway (oh, and its so unfair that people who peddle ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzThere is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...
I came across this song quite by accident. If it isn't one of Greta Thunberg's favourites - it should be.Video courtesy of YouTube.This post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
Last month, NZDF's shoddy coverup of what it knew about civilian casualties in Operation Burnham began to fall apart, with the revelation that a report on the matter, which NZDF claimed not to have, had been sitting in an NZDF safe for the past nine years. Yesterday, the man responsible ...
While many imagine that countries like the USA and Europe dominate space activities, in fact India is now a major player on this stage. It launches satellites for its own purposes and also commercially, and has constellations orbiting our planet and returning data of vital importance to that nation in ...
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...
For the past week, Extinction Rebellion has been peacefully protesting in London to demand action on climate change. The British government's response? Ban their protests:Police have banned Extinction Rebellion protests from continuing anywhere in London, as they moved in almost without warning to clear protesters who remained at the movement’s ...
An essay by Judith Collins MP reported on Carbon News yesterday seems to show an alarming shift in attitude within the National Party. Collins argues against the Zero Carbon Bill, the Paris Agreement, and downplays the magnitude of climate impacts. The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 and ratified ...
When they were running for election, Labour promised to overhaul the Employment Relations Act and introduce fair pay agreements to set basic pay and conditions on an industry level, preventing bad employers from undercutting good ones. They followed this up by establishing a working group, which reported back in January ...
A list of indicators of bad science – many of these are found in articles promoted by anti-fluoride activists. Anti-fluoride activists have been pouring money into a scaremongering campaign warning pregnant women not to drink fluoridated water. They claim fluoride will lower the IQ of their future child. Fluoride ...
Nothing Left To Say: Labour's pollster, Stephen Mills, remains swaddled-up in the comforting myths of the 1980s. As if the experience of Roger Douglas’s genuinely radical post-Muldoon policy agenda was literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing – as much as the party could possibly absorb for at least the next 50 years.MEMO ...
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
How could government evolve over the next decades? Reports of democracy’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. However, satisfaction with political systems in many countries is low, so there is much to do for governments of all political stripes to improve relevance and trust. Digital technologies are seen as one ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Hassan Vally, La Trobe UniversityWho doesn’t want to know if drinking that second or third cup of coffee a day will improve your memory, or if sleeping too much increases your risk of a heart attack? We’re invested in staying healthy and many of us are interested in reading ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Two secondary-school initiatives are being expanded as part of the Government’s plan to see more young New Zealanders take up a trade to help close the skills gap. This includes the largest single increase in Trades Academy places in recent years. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
Botany is an electorate that deserves a representative who is committed to their community which is the reason New Conservative has confirmed Elliot Ikilei as the candidate for the 2020 election. ...
Anyone who would like to submit an account of their experience of state care to the Māori Inquiry into Oranga Tamariki has 10 days left before submissions close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Shaw, Conservation Biologist, The University of Queensland This year, five of the seven Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science were awarded to women. While this is a welcome development, the great majority of awards and prizes for science, technology, engineering and mathematics ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison seized the opportunity of his Jakarta weekend visit for Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s inauguration to obtain a meeting with Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan. Morrison told a news conference he had come out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon O’Connor, Associate Professor in American Politics at the United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney During the 2016 US presidential campaign, people around the world were regularly reassured by election experts that Donald Trump was too outrageous to be elected president. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Leask, Professor, University of Sydney Your neighbour is telling you about his new baby. He feels nervous about vaccinating, and says he’s considering delaying Lucy’s vaccines. Your mother’s group is chatting about vaccines. One mother tells the group Jimmy isn’t vaccinated, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Associate Director – City Futures – Urban Policy and Strategy, City Futures Research Centre, Housing Policy and Practice, UNSW Low-income tenants in Australia are increasingly likely to be trapped in rental stress for years. New evidence from the Productivity Commission ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland In line with his usual practice, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backed Donald Trump over the World Trade Organisation, criticising of China’s status in it as a “developing country”. Critics of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kristal Spreadborough, Casual Academic, University of New England As the Australian premier season of The Masked Singer draws to a close, fans are listening hard to guess which celebrities remain behind the weird and wonderful costumes. Although the celebrities throw listeners a ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ First holds crucial party conference, roving AOS trial sparks concerns, and Mediaworks facing dramatic days ahead.The most pivotal political party in the country right now has held their annual conference, a year out from what will be a make ...
Five experts, all from countries with varying levels of cannabis legality, came to Auckland to speak on the benefits and costs of the drug before New Zealand’s cannabis referendum in 2020. Alice Webb-Liddall reports.While New Zealanders wait for the cannabis referendum in 2020, the government is working hard to draft ...
Protesting has brought about enormous social change in NZ. Will transformational groups emerge from the climate and Ihumātao protests? Trevor Richards hopes so. ...
Dr Olivier Jutel goes deep on blockchain, explaining why we should be cognisant of sweeping ideological claims masquerading as the technology of truth. ...
A psychiatric doctor who helps suicidal teenagers says the Ministry of Health’s suicide reduction plans miss much of the wider issue. We need to listen to affected communities, and equip them to make the changes they need, he writes.Last week, as I left yet another 3am crisis interview in ED ...
Highly trained, armed police are a necessary tool in emergency situations, but roving teams eager to find work could be a recipe for disaster, writes investigator and former police officer Tim McKinnel for RNZ. Police announced yesterday they are to introduce a trial of Armed Response Teams (ARTs) in Auckland, Waikato ...
“Proposals to curb environmental damage help our coasts and the oceans Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. We at CEAC also ...
David Robie, concluding his three-part series about Iran, profiles an extraordinary pair of Tehran brothers who have been pioneering global research adventurers. They have been dubbed the “Persian Indiana Joneses”. Their adventures are fabled and hair-raising, as shown by a Jivaro shrunken human head and relics from curious rituals ...
Four months ago Caroline Shaw bought an e-bike. She explains why they’re the answer to our lethal car culture.Four months ago we took what felt like a huge leap of faith and bought an e-cargo bike. The combination of three things tipped us over the edge: feeling the need to ...
The online magazine that boasted a bigger Instagram following than most New Zealand media has abruptly come to an end. So what was Auckland Mag? Why did it exist? And who was it mysterious founder Dan Rolph? David Farrier investigates. The reply from Dan Rolph at Auckland Magazine came quickly. It came ...
In the wake of the shocking revelations about Three, Duncan Greive assesses the health of New Zealand’s six big media companies.Winston Peters has studied the cold, pitiless heart of a certain strand of New Zealander for four decades now, and has become our foremost expert on both expressing its feelings ...
US justice reform activists Deborah Small and asha bandele say white supremacy and colonialism are at the heart of punitive drug laws. They spoke to Teuila Fuatai about how drug reform can reverse their effects on minority communities. Deborah Small sees Donald Trump as the US Dorian Gray. “He’s the physical ...
Madeleine Chapman spent a day learning about Christchurch through its most famous dishes.What is there do with with a day in Christchurch? Thanks to the inexplicably early check-out times at hotels all over the world and a 7pm flight back to Auckland, I had a full day to wander the ...
Winston Peters says his party is a handbrake on bad ideas and a "supercharged turbo" for good ones - but will it be in the driver's seat come 2020? ...
Our former prime minister secured a meeting with Chinese premier Xi Jinping outside all normal diplomatic channels. Interest’s Jenée Tibshraeny asks what it means for New Zealand’s evolving relationship with the superpower.Former prime minister John Key secured a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week without the involvement of ...
David Robiecontinues his three-part series about travelling in Iran. I stumbled on the scene by chance. Our host family in Iran’s second city Mashhad, a modern and beautiful metropolis that would comfortably fit in New Zealand’s entire population, was taking us on a drive to the outskirts to ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has lashed out at the media, in particular, MediaWorks, just a day after the company announced it was selling off its television arm. ...
About a hundred disgruntled licensed gun owners have descended on the New Zealand First conference to tell the party leader Winston Peters that they feel like victims. ...
New Zealand First members will vote on a policy today that would allow businesses of all sizes to enforce 90-day trials when they employ people straight out of prison. ...
"Each time she held her lighter underneath the pipe and sucked the smoke into the back of her throat, the promise was there": a New Zealand tragedy by Alice Tawhai. ...
With the future of Mediaworks’ TV business hanging in the balance, Al Jazeera news presenter Kamahl Santamaria reflects on what the imperilled channel meant, and continues to mean, to him.I always liked the logo. The fresh bright colours, the nod to a koru in its shape, and just the fact ...
There are still many barriers preventing people from voting in local elections. Laura O’Connell Rapira proposes some social solutions.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here.To vote in the local elections, I cast ...
What’s really stood out for me being back in Tokyo is the unique qualities of Japan’s spectators, writes Richard Light, professor of sport coaching at the University of Canterbury.The Rugby World Cup has thrown a global spotlight on Japan over recent weeks. Not just the rugby: the distinctive culture and ...
As the New Zealand First Party gathers for its annual conference, the question swirling in the year is how it can carve out a path to avoid electoral defeat in 2020, writes Jo Moir for RNZ. It’s not you, it’s me. It’s a familiar break up excuse that’s used ...
To the early intervention therapists, to the teachers, to the speech therapists, the occupational therapists, music therapists, diabetes nurses and all: you change the world.When I was married almost a decade ago we had the following reading at our wedding:You are holding up a ceilingwith both arms. It is very ...
The faces said it all. The smiles of the European leaders crowded round Boris after the Brexit deal was struck. The deal his opponents – no, pretty much everyone – said was impossible.So what’s in it? The detail is still opaque, but subject to gremlins in the fine print, ...
Iran attracts an onslaught of negative media in New Zealand and Western media. But is it fair or deserved? David Robie has spent several weeks travelling in the country on sabbatical and finds the media negativity far from the reality of the “most friendly” country he has ever visited ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Leigh Sullivan discusses the week in politics with Michelle Grattan. They talk about Alan Jones accusing Prime Minister Scott Morrison of failing the immediate needs of drought-striken farmers, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anita Parbhakar-Fox, Senior Research Fellow in Geometallurgy/Applied Geochemistry, The University of Queensland Last month, scientists uncovered a mineral called Edscottite. Minerals are solid, naturally occurring substances that are not living, such as quartz or haematite. This new mineral was discovered after an ...
The Auckland-based collective talk origins, ambitions and making the rave accessible to everybody.Friendly Potential is an outfit that defies easy summary. They’re among the country’s most ambitious and prolific club promoters. In their almost five-years of operation, they’ve been responsible for the local debuts of electronic music icons including Detroit ...
Analysis: Two polls show support for Labour sliding, the government is accused of breaking another promise and the Greens's refusal to back a bill forces Labour to rely on National to get it through. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Lindsey, University of Technology Sydney One spring morning in 1850, over 8,000 Sydneysiders marched through town to protest the resumption of transportation – the act of sending British criminals to Australia. It was the largest protest in Australia thus far, an ...
Two shareholders of failed insurance firm company CBL are leading a class action against the firm's former directors seeking compensation for financial losses. ...
Sam Brooks recaps the third episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and wonders why some of these queens don’t know how to sew.This episode asks, and sort of answers the main question that millions of people across the world: why would you come on Drag Race and not know how to sew?!There ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John M Clarke, Team Leader, Regional Projections, CSIRO Last month we lost Dr Penny Whetton – one of the world’s most respected climate scientists and a brilliant mentor to the next generation of researchers. Penny will also be remembered as a passionate ...
Ten moose were upended into the Dusky Sounds in 1910. Now, their descendants are getting their day in the sun.The climate crisis is affecting wildlife all over the country: rockhopper penguin populations are in drastic decline, tuatara eggs aren’t hatching females, and the ice walls keeping predators away from kea ...
Security footage of NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell being thrown out of a Tauranga bar looks unlikely to ever be aired - despite his leader Winston Peters promising a screening. ...
Amnesty International is concerned that Justice Minister Andrew Little's Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill could have the potential to undermine human rights in New Zealand. The Bill would give the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to ...
Expect the old campaigner Winston Peters to be at his belligerent best as he gears up for another election. He’s kept his party alive for 27 years and he shows no sign of quitting. The omens may be bleak—polls this week showed his party below the 5% threshold– but Peters ...
The National Party has agreed to take down any videos breaching the current rules around the use of parliamentary TV footage, as all parties try to reach consensus. ...
Recently the Health Promotion Agency released a report into hazardous drinking in New Zealand. The report shows that Māori who drink alcohol and live in deprived circumstances are less likely to have a harmful relationship with alcohol if they ...
Turkey-US joint-statement on military ops within Syria’s territory.The Turkish Embassy in New Zealand issued Evening Report this unabridged United States of America-Republic of Turkey joint-statement detailing what both sides agreed to regarding Turkey’s military operations within the so-called security zone within Syrian territory near Turkey’s southern border. It is ...
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash didn’t mention what winners will receive, when he proudly called for entries for a new public award “to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector”. Nor did he mention the cost to taxpayers of this initiative. Point of Order’s checks with the website where more details have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona R Martin, Senior Lecturer in Convergent and Online Media, University of Sydney One of the basic tenets of the ABC Act is independence from government. Yet once again, in contravention to that principle, the federal government is trying to push through ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Lily Holloway.modernity to globalisationwhen I get there as still life and landscape and also portraitureseeking the cacti in small pots who dot the globeslices of pie offer up the vision after the sermonexpressing emotions without coherent narrative supportbecause no artist responded to this callemploying ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi to rule out any taxpayer-funded purchase or bailout for Mediaworks’s channel Three. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “For the last few months Mediaworks ...
The Police Commissioner's announcement that squadcars of officers with automatic rifles will patrol New Zealand's streets is dangerous and unnecessary, according to the criminal justice community organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The ...
News broke this morning that Mediaworks is seeking to sell off, and even contemplating closing, its TV division. What might that mean for journalism?For journalism in New Zealand, the loss of Three’s TV division is a devastating blow. It is not yet known whether any of the news properties will ...
Open Mike 14/11/2017 
Keir Starmer has hinted that Labour might vote in favour of the Johnson government's shoddy deal, with the proviso that a second referendum is attached:Speaking to BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, he said: “We will see what that looks like but it makes sense to say that by whatever ...3 hours ago
In 1994, I was the editor for an issue of Planet magazine focused on cannabis, its culture and the prospects for the end of its prohibition. Part of that issue was an interview with 'Ringo', an experienced cannabis dealer.I recently posted my essay from that issue, and I figured it ...2 days ago
Dr Helen Waite, sports sociologist and former elite athlete, on the invasion of women’s sport by men and the anti-scientific and misogynist ideology used to rationalise it. ...2 days ago
On Wednesday, the government was loudly telling us that it needed to legislate to allow it to impose "control orders" - effectively a parole regime, but imposed without charge, prosecution, conviction or real evidence - on suspected terrorists because they couldn't be prosecuted for their supposed crimes. Today, it turns ...3 days ago
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been busy preparing for our summer paper on Science Communication. Looking for something amusing about ‘risk’ in science, I came across this neat xkcd.com cartoon about why so many people come knocking on my door (or phoning me, or emailing me) desperately wanting ...3 days ago
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...4 days ago
Would You Buy A Used Propaganda Video From This Man? Bridges and the National Party’s strategists have discovered that the ideas and attitudes considered acceptable by today’s editors and journalists are no longer enforceable. The rise and rise of the Internet and the social media platforms it spawned means that ...4 days ago
by The Council of Disobedient Women In a press release today Massey University announced it has decided to rebrand and reorientate after struggling to be a University for grown-ups. For some time the University has wanted to be a safe play space for wee-woke-misogynists who have been really badly triggered ...5 days ago
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz There is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...5 days ago
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...6 days ago
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...6 days ago
A list of indicators of bad science – many of these are found in articles promoted by anti-fluoride activists. Anti-fluoride activists have been pouring money into a scaremongering campaign warning pregnant women not to drink fluoridated water. They claim fluoride will lower the IQ of their future child. Fluoride ...6 days ago
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...1 week ago
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...1 week ago
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...2 weeks ago
We're rebuilding our hospitals, protecting our oceans, and taking mental health seriously. ...3 days ago
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...5 days ago
Two secondary-school initiatives are being expanded as part of the Government’s plan to see more young New Zealanders take up a trade to help close the skills gap. This includes the largest single increase in Trades Academy places in recent years. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris ...44 mins ago
Botany is an electorate that deserves a representative who is committed to their community which is the reason New Conservative has confirmed Elliot Ikilei as the candidate for the 2020 election. ...37 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Shaw, Conservation Biologist, The University of Queensland This year, five of the seven Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science were awarded to women. While this is a welcome development, the great majority of awards and prizes for science, technology, engineering and mathematics ...3 hours ago
Move over Grey Power, here comes Young New Zealand First. ...4 hours ago
Steve Braunias reviews Michelle Duff’s portrait of Jacinda Ardern, published today. ...4 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ First holds crucial party conference, roving AOS trial sparks concerns, and Mediaworks facing dramatic days ahead.The most pivotal political party in the country right now has held their annual conference, a year out from what will be a make ...4 hours ago
Canon Focus on Rugby: Jim Kayes reports from the madness at Oita as the Brave Blossoms' journey at the Rugby World Cup is blown apart. ...4 hours ago
The NZ First leader offered up his greatest hits to an adoring crowd - but did little to suggest a change of team is viable come 2020. ...6 hours ago
Protesting has brought about enormous social change in NZ. Will transformational groups emerge from the climate and Ihumātao protests? Trevor Richards hopes so. ...6 hours ago
Dr Olivier Jutel goes deep on blockchain, explaining why we should be cognisant of sweeping ideological claims masquerading as the technology of truth. ...6 hours ago
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I’m going to stick to my usual watering hole that way the only people that will be laughing at me will be my children it’s a shed on the farm were my son in law stays as some people will turn a fart into a hurricane . I consume about 6 cans a fortnight so my tolerance is low.
I’m using a vapor pipe to help quit smoking and I am finally beating the habit I feel a lot fitter all ready what I do is I leave the smokes at home and just take the vapor now don’t listen to the people who say vaping is as bad as smoking because in my experience its a lot cheaper and less smelly so even if there are some negative effects all the positive effects by far out weight the negative . So all you people like me who have moko you look at them and know this that no one is going to love care teach your moko like you so I SAY go and buy a vapor and use it to quit smoking so we can be around longer to look after OUR moko when you start using a vapor it is like starting to smoke and after a few splutters you will get use to it give it a try. Good to see publicity about equal pay for our lady’s Ka pai
I’m not gay that is a strategy I use to keep the other Lady’s away as the person that I bullshit hit on knows that I’m strait and this works and I have enough drama to last 10 life times now .
A few years back when I finished Kiwi fruit packing I ran into one of my old bosses he said that he had a job for me managing 1500 cow farm . Now calving was only one month away and I new that this was going to be a hard task I said that I wanted my own staff yea right I had to keep some of the old Idiots and as soon as I was out of sight they would fuck around . I had 2 positions to fill one was my son and the other my son begged me to hire his cousin I did not want to because I had employed him before and I was not impressed. I hired my nephew .
One morning I got him to feed out and my son to wash the plant . Our good tractor broke down so he was lining up the old tractor up to load mag c into the bucket buy the office as he got off the tractor he did not have it in neutral and I got pined by the bucket and the mag c which is like cement bays on a pallet both my leg’s got broken .
I heard the breaks 4 snaps clearly he panicked and was trying to start the tractor I said fuck that put tractor in neutral and use the tires to roll it away from me he was not strong enough to do this so I called my son to help he did it by him self and had the cheek to ask if I could walk to the truck the same one I got now well after a few foul words they carried me to the truck we went to the house and tried to get a helicopter no go there so I got both my sons to drive me to the Rotorua hospital which was one hour 20 minutes away Taupo was 10 minutes closer but I new that they would send me to Rotorua .
When we got to the hospital and the staff pulled me out of the truck I screamed fuck that was the most pain I have ever felt with both feet flopping around man .
They give me some gas and the next morning waking up embarrassed as I remembered I had been telling all the hospital staff that I was a chief Rangatira well I don’t no were that came from. And I was telling my siblings that story on saturday I’v got 2 Titanium rods hammered through my knee caps down to the breaks . It was my fate that my feet were not chopped off. one month later I was getting cows in at 3 pm with cast up to my ass on both leggs I would just have them sticking strait past the handle bars of my Quad and I had my best dog ever I just had to open the gate and he would get all the cows out and if there was a cow down he would not leave the gate so I would follow him in and see whats up with the cow . So in telling this story I got pissed and well some of you no the rest .
Kia Kaha
What’s up bill we know that Jacinda has more courage than you and I’m being nice
Ka pai
I wonder what they think they are going to achieve by bulling all my clients and there neighbors into not waving to me or recognizing or from being nice to me as I am to everyone I meet . Are they looking to improve there public Image we no that’s not hard to work out who likes to be bullied well no one.
I have losted 5 of the 13 new clients I payed 10 x the cut price for good will because of these bullies . They don’t give a shit what have I done to them nothing they are just like key control freaks and don’t give a shit whom they cause harm having a compassionate and considerate thought is beyond them It is there alter ego that rules there thought process and who wants people like this in our state service well not me I will keep going till I win and the media no this is true as they are bullying you to. Kia kaha
They are sending people into my wife’s workplace to get her sacked what has she dune to them she loves her job WTF
Kia kaha
Mods, admin, what’s up with allowing these idiot posts?
Surely they’re more suited to facebook or a twitter account nobody reads than a supposed serious left leaning forum.
I think he is mentally unwell and could use some help rather than slagging off, but no one else here seems to see it
You are probably right, though note I wrote “these idiot posts” and not this idiots posts.
So what should we do about it
Except asking the mods to intervene there’s nothing we can do about it.
We could all start submitting unsubstantiated delusional paranoid anecdotal treatises, but surely the standard platform has suffered enough already.
There isn’t a particular topic in OpenMike.
We generally leave all comments alone here until they get abusive, completely violate the general taste rules, start outright lying about facts, get repetitive or excessive, cause stupid flame wars, start causing the site legal issues or one of the other gotchas.
There is deliberate policy behind that. It means that people know that they can leave crap here rather than feeling that they must dump in the middle of topics that authors have chosen to write about. That simple decision by r0b to have a daily OpenMike massively reduced the moderator problems after we instituted it. After that there was absolutely no excuse for trolling other topics. Which makes it a lot easier to moderate the site.
So my best advice is that if you don’t like it, then treat it like any other places with lot of animals around. Look down often and don’t step in the crap.
Like the way Adern is sticking it to the Australians
Antithesis of John Key who presided over the period when Australia gleefully shat on us the most. And the Australians gave him their ‘highest’ honour. Says it all.
This sums up the difference between this government and the last, between National Party voters and all other New Zealanders.
Actions speak louder than words so what exactly will Jacinda Ardern achieve? I mean yeah it sounds good but if nothing changes, like Kiwis getting the same deal in Australia as Australians get in NZ then its all for nought
But then I suppose it might take peoples attention away from Labour really wanting to sign the TPPA…
What will she achieve? Probably far more than National’s kowtowing ever did or ever will.
Sure. Nz access to aussie denied.
1. If losing access to a single, smallish market is a concern then we’re doing it wrong
2. If standing for principle is a concern then we’re doing it wrong
3. If they don’t want to trade with us then that’s their decision. It’s a free-market after all. We don’t have to trade with them either.
Twisted old Chris73 what! Luv it!
Kim Hill and John Campbell on Morning Report.
Bliss.
I suspect RNZ are mixing up the jobs a bit, with Espiner, Forbes on Checkpoint, etc – in anticipation of going RNZ+, with an expansion of the Checkpoint style into TV programmes. So, basically, giving their journos/hosts with TV backgrounds some more experience with the radio with pictures.
And, hopefully, a John Campbell RNZ+ TV show is in all our futures – ditto Mihingarangi Forbes.
A superb, dream partnership – they really spark off of each other! I love them to stay permanently. Have to say that Guyon gets up my nose sometimes. He sounded a little lost last night on Checkpoint but it was night one.
It was good to hear this morning in a brief reference from Kim that Suzie Ferguson is on the mend after her urgent surgery for endometriosis and expected back before Christmas.
I am not always a fan of Suzie’s style, but I wish her well
That complaint can be a killer, wrapping round and causing organ failure. Surgery often has to be repeated, so I hope she and her medical team “beat the bastard”.
Good luck and good wishes Suzie.
Same, Patricia re not always being a Suzie fan.
When she announced on 2 Nov that she was having urgent surgery the very next day – possibly a hysterectomy – she was open about it being endometriosis and RNZ put up an article/interview on this horrible condition. I also put up a comment on it and included a link to the NZ Endometriosis website for anyone who wanted to learn more about the condition.
Here is the NZ Endo Support link again – http://www.nzendo.org.nz/about-endometriosis/index.html
I know from a friend’s experience just recently we have some remarkable female doctors here in Wellington who are experts in Endo so I am sure Suzie is in good hands.
Yeah of course……good recovery Suzie Ferguson.
Ed (3) … Broadcasting at its best . A Natz nightmare. Brilliant 🙂
Isn’t just! It’s a dream team for me. So great to wake up listening to them and they have a great rapport.
Aunty Jacinda or ‘combatant Jacinda’?
Since National has defined themselves as ready to fight hard dirty campaign to unseat the new fledgling labour coalition Jacinda is best to use the same strategies National used.
Jacinda needs to ‘neutralise’ and remove all the National Party ‘policies’ purposefully left as ‘fish hooks’ within every nook & cranny in all Government agencies to stymie the new labour lead government, so remove those toxic national policies so we then can “infuence” the real changes jacinda.
Next and very urgently required for us is the needs to make urgent changes within our provinces; – like such as bring back all rail freight & passenger services everywhere, giving us transport options to increase productivity & make environmental improvements, – and that will upset National no end and stop their stupid plans to increase climate change emissions using ‘truck mania’.
Yes, why not bring back socialism. That is what the people, including NZF voters want.
Why not bring back responsible politicians who are acting for NZs and planning how to advance the country encouraging domestic businesses and jobs, not plan everything around export so the country can afford to pay for the flash things that your mates consider are essential and their right.
Improvement after improvement from the new Government and now this, from Wayne! Who’d have thought Wayne would ever experience the epiphany he so clearly has; his suggestion, heart-felt I’m sure, though he’s played it low key, that we should open our hearts to socialism, and his realisation that New Zealanders yearn for the sharing and caring socialism brings; it’s a red-letter day for Wayne, and by association, all of us!
An article from Australian commentator Peter Fitzsimons quotes Winston Peters.
” “A key part is our MMP proportional representation system, which we have had since 1996. This allows for a diversity of political voices to be heard, and a diversity of politics to be represented. It is inclusive. There are not just two main voices, there are many. It works for us. When I was elected to Parliament, there were just four Maori in parliament. We now form 24 per cent. The system fosters progressive politics.”
What Wayne calls ‘socialism’ might be better reported as “progressive politics”.
That’s what NZF voters preferred along with Green and Labour voters.
56 versus 44.
MMP enabled this.
Progressive politics. Independent voices speaking truth to power. Significant change.
Socialism, I think, in Wayne’s mind means anything not done by National.
Or maybe he thinks equal to communism? A popular error on the right.
Perhaps socialism, is doing anything without getting money or in kind payment for it. Murray Ball did a take on choice and neo lib with a cartoon of a new mother offering her breasts to the baby, each one labelled and priced.
That’s involuntary socialism and possibly some well off women do find it very
satisfying, and a new experience to give away something, though of course it is all being kept in-house so it’s just giving advantage to one’s own.
😆
Now you sound like David Bennett. What a pair of clowns.
Wayne is sounding like David Garrett to me – certainly trolling like him with the same non existant intellectual honesty.
Yes, why not bring back socialism.
Er, bring “back” socialism? Was there a bit of NZ’s history I wasn’t told about?
Don’t forget Labour introduced Communism, by stealth. So obviously that must’ve replaced the Socialism.
Wayne, what people said of you in parliament still applies…
https://timewantsaskeleton.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/asshole.gif
Really? Not much of a counter narrative there Morrisey
You really think Wayne’s smug and sarcastic comment at 4.1 deserves more than that?
Wayne, have you finally seen the light. More We less Me.
Wayne I know you don’t want socialism either; – I didnt for most of my life and it seems we have failed this way.
But why not think about this first.
“Beyond Manapouri,” 50 years of environmental politics
On today’s show Radio NZ ‘Nine to noon with Kathryn Ryan.
14th November 2017.
This interview with Catherine Knight is brain food for us all even the hardnosed Very righ National party today.
Preliminary thoughts; – my journey to realise we need to now get serious about our environment.
I was a young 23 yrs old kiwi new tradesman Electrician in 1966 that firstly did my duty to NZ in an “NZ Army ‘National service'” training then went to work at the Manapouri “west Arm” of the power scheme to work on the power station tunnel project then went to the MOW Turangi power scheme.
I observed then we had higher ‘environmental awareness’ then, than we do today.
So we have gone backwards my friend and we do need to turn it around and ‘instill the environmental awareness’ again after a 25 yr hiatus.
Please consider this for our childens future.
==================================================================Subject: FW: Kathryn Ryan interviews Catherine Knight author of a new book ‘Beyond Manapouri” environmental issues in NZ. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
A good listen.
09:05Beyond Manapouri, 50 years of environmental politics
Aratiatia Rapids Photo: Clive Madge
Environmental historian, Catherine Knight examines the catalogue of missed opportunities since the birthplace of the Manapouri environmental movement. Her new book, ‘Beyond Manapouri: 50 years of environmental politics in New Zealand’ is particularly critical of the lack of political leadership in the last 25 years. Catherine Knight is an Honorary Research Associate at the School of People, Environment and Planning at Massey University.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
Beyond Manapouri, 50 years of environmental politics
Environment
about 1 hour ago
Environmental historian, Catherine Knight examines the catalogue of missed opportunities since the birthplace of the Manapouri environmental movement. Her new book, ‘Beyond Manapouri: 50 years of environmental politics in New Zealand’ is particularly critical of the lack of political leadership in the last 25 years… AUDIO
Listenduration25′ :31″
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
– a good listen.
Manapouri protest did not stop the dam. It just stayed at a regulated water level.
It did not stop Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. Didnt alter it.
It did not even stop major business inside a National Park. The tunnel and generator any continues upgraded.
It’s a heroic protest, but by no means a perfect one.
Hi Ad,
Yes that may be so;
But we dont have the same ‘environmental awareness” now with public “actions” today as we saw then do we? Yes I recall all the Dam projects in NZ from that time to.
During the 1960’s when at the Turangi project (Tongariro Power Scheme) we had many more environmental considerations then to consider, as the series of dams were built there over the 1000 KM square area the dam project covered of creeks streams ect’ as I was heavily involved in then.
Now we see all our water ducts alongside our roads take the road runnoff and deposit it into our rivers and lakes and “road pollution runnoff”” is a global issue especialy in europe.
http://www.oecd.org/env/the-cost-of-air-pollution-9789264210448-en.htm
We in NZ are now very slack as I pointed out so we need to raise the “awareness again” and that was my principle driving point
Can you please put actual links to what you are cut and pasting? It’s not hard to do.
Like John Key’s government you mean? Remember when he called WFF “communism by stealth” and then kept it once elected ? That means he (and you) were part of a communist government my friend…
Can you name, with evidence, that last NZ Government/s which was Socialist?
“a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.”
Just interested under which governments in our history the means of production etc was regulated by the community as a whole?
Otherwise it is that slightly annoying habit you have of pretending to be rational and on high ground while slinging snide abuse in the form of epithets in place of counter argument.
” last NZ Government/s which was Socialist”.
The closest to this in my lifetime was when Rob Muldoon was PM.
Ah, remember the glorious days when Rob set all the rules.
Alone and unaided he determined the wages and prices of almost everything.
You seem horribly confused about what socialism means.
He thinks authoritarian = the people controlling the means of production.
– state regulated wages via industry awards
– state regulated inflation
– state regulated days to drive a car
– state owned electricity, telephone
– state regulated farm production via prices
– state owned forests, tourism, etc etc
– state directed economic planning, including Think Big
– tiny and narrow private sector.
Etc
And. Highest standard of living in the world.
If that was “Socialism”, which it wasn’t. Please bring it back.
Debated here:
http://socialdemocracy21stcentury.blogspot.co.nz/2009/07/new-zealand-and-think-big-did-it-ruin.html
Muldoon himself would agree he wasn’t socialist here:
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/video/dancing-cossacks
The political historian Gustafson gets into the detail on Muldoon here:
file:///C:/Users/alan.howard-smith/Downloads/431-1-389-1-10-20120514.pdf
You don’t know what socialism is.
Naughty!
And cancel all those nasty FTAs. I wonder how many here know that NZ is part of a ASEAN-CER (NZ-Australia) FTA and has been since 2009.
http://asean.org/?static_post=asean-australia-new-zealand-free-trade-area
What’s Jacinda (and Winston and Damien O’Connor) up to in the Philippines at the ASEAN Summit?
Oh dear. Good thing it ends today.
Oh don’t be such a silly duffer Wayne!
By the way, how’s all that ‘positioning’ coming along – a permanent appointment as a talking head rent-a-voice on the Sunday morning current affairs ‘shows’?
Wayne ,if you don’t like Socialism then give us back all your tax payer funded perks and go and be a “self made” man. You, of all on here ,have done best out of Socialism.
+ 1 yep bet there’d be plenty of squeals if the snout had to come out the trough.
Brilliant garabaldi.
And Wayne please give us back our taxes we ‘incrimentally ‘sunk into all those ‘Government SOE’s’ you sold off eagerly too, and faiednus as you never gave us anything back to eh?
You are a sneaky fellow Wayne. Slipping that in there thinking we wouldn’t notice.
It’s true isn’t it; you had a great childhood. Health care, education, houses, extensive rail network (remember the railway workshops where countless men learnt a trade), all provided by the state. You didn’t mind that at all did you.
It served us all very well.
That would be wonderful.
Wayne Wayne W A Y N E !……you’re being hysterical darling. Or at least trying to make out you are. Chill !
I felt great to wake up as a proud New Zealander this morning, several millions to teach kids to swim, suddenly South Marlborough residents are finding their quake claims are being settled a lot faster ( a quiet word from whom I wonder ), Jacinda holding the Aussies to account, shit that used to be in the too difficult basket actually getting done NOW !, and a plethora of other so very good-to-have-progress-on issues, and all to the melliferous tones of John Campbell and what must be the very personification of the mesmerising voice of a she-cobra about to strike, the absolutely
delightful Kim Hill. The most intelligent radio tag-team of all time.
Its really good to be a Kiwi these days.
Yay! And Sepuloni has announced single mothers will no longer be issued with sanctions for not naming their child/ren’s father!
nice one!
On RNZ.
And hopefully more to come.
Yes great news that s70A is going. Thank you to all the groups who have campaigned against this sanction. Now chuck the amendment in under urgency and get this sorted please.
Good to also see Marama wanting to push for even more changes too. Strong positive work.
If that’s to be a signature approach of the Green Party, and it gets enough cut through to shift the (whatd’yem’callit?) public discourse(?), then I’ll be happily rowing back from where I’ve been heading 😉
Explicitly qualified support with an equally explicit ‘pushing of the envelope’ gives me hope for a better three years than I was expecting a week or so back.
Bugger. Just noticed it’s a quote from CPAG and not The Green Party that’s pointing to the need for a raft of improvements.
So, okay. The Greens are offering qualified support and now just need to take a leaf out of CPAGs book 🙂
The “Greens” are pushing bloody hard in Parliament for our “socialist” policies. Like ensuring children have enough money to eat.
Chocolate coins? 🙂
+1 Adrian 🙂
+1. Takes a bit of getting used to but I’m managing it!
It’s so refreshing after the suffocation of the past nine years. So good to have a government that’s doing what needs to be done rather than one which kept telling us what couldn’t be done and refusing to address the obvious especially when it was the right thing to do.
And Kim Hill and John Campbell in the morning – intelligent, engaging, insightful radio.
Bloody good to hear Adrian Good on Jacinda.
We in far the distant ‘remote North Island East coast Gisborne /HB regions both are waiting now for our sixth year without our rail.
Government are responsible for our rail washout here, and for the restoration of our railway service after it was washed out in March 2012, straight after the ruling National Government Minister of Transport Steven Joyce was believed to have pressured Kiwirail to sack 14 track maintenance staff and send those funds to Auckland for their commuter rail instead, and caused the storm blocked the drains with hillside slips and that washed out (only just 1km) of our 212 kms of rail and then refused to fix it over a later discredited ‘whitewashed report’ saying the service was not viablle, but we had an independant report prepared proving it was viable, by the BERL Economist Ganesh Nana (the same economist later during the election in 2017 who ruled Steven Joyce’s $11.7 billion defit hole he claimed labour had in their budget ‘was ficticious’.
We rejoyce for the South Island’s east coast communities to recieve their rail restored for their services and soon the road also will be reopenned too.
So we hope Jacinda does not forget to also ‘pressure’ Kiwirail to fix our rail they destroyed and reopen a modern efficient freight and passenger tourism rail service for us also before some Auckland guy succeeds to rob us of our rail for a cycleway!!!!!!!
Please jacinda push those buttons to bring our rail services back to our isolated NI East coast region. “lets do this.”
“We rejoyce for the South Island’s east coast communities to recieve their rail restored …..”
Christ @CG!. I know as we both enter our dotage we’re apt to forget things.
I know you don’t really mean ‘reJoyce’ – but rather rejoice. He might be useful as a bit of ballast in the foundations somewhere along a restored Gisborne railway, but please – let’s not let a Joyce near anything to do with governance or business (going forward). Their skid marks are everywhere. Steven’s contribution is to NZ what that Barnaby is to Australia’s bugger’s muddle of a parliament. Then there’s an Alan who’s done more to jeopardise Qantas’ safety record than anyone – they’re flying on luck
Yes thanks tim,
We over on the NI East Coast now truly hate Steven bloody Joyce with such venom as he is truly a slimly character we have met who hoodwinked most of our local choir of “civil leaders here with his bullshit, fluff & stuff, but he has well worn out his welcome here.
Good point. Just the thing that National and their ilk would do. Close the rail and then put a ‘Tourist venture” of a cycle track along that handy piece of land. Cycling is in, and heavy work is out.
The world is made for those who want to get an appearance of being green and can spend most of their time traveling around following cycle tracks round the world, or railways (my favourite if I could afford it), or hunting for precious earth minerals or whatever bright idea they have unconnected with day to day life.
“and what must be the very personification of the mesmerising voice of a she-cobra about to strike, the absolutely delightful Kim Hill”.
God, that has to be the best description of Kim Hill I have ever heard. I just hooted with laughter when I read it. Thank you Adrian. I couldn’t have described it better, just absolutely perfect .
A dream to listen to every morning.
Jacinda on TPP and David Parker.
Jacinda has done the international thing and so has lost sight of previous NZ aspirations to be part of a great country that operated by and for NZs.
David Parker worked as a litigation partner so would have idea of how ISDS could be an expensive disaster, so it might be one of those things that are such a threat they never get to be used.
He helped get a Community Law Centre shows a good attitude.
He managed Blis Technologies for a while – a NZ innovative company in the medical line.
But neither of them likely to strike a discordant note from the main choir.
english must have had a brain fade when making this accusation…. it was fine for him when the pm that quit aka key offered to take the Manus Island refugees, but as soon as Jacinda does the same it’s a whole different senario. But then key was never going to walk to talk, his offer was all for show.
“Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is continuing to offer to help resolve the Manus Island crisis to “balance up with her own constituency” the Government’s support for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, National leader bill english says.”
Take off your tin foil hat bill english, it’s not about winning votes or making the most money, it’s about people, once you get your head around that you might actually win an election for a change.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98848979/pms-manus-island-push-a-deflection-from-tpp–bill-english
Go away bill english – 2 time loser tick from dipton and proven billshitter. The only good thing about him is hes blocking even more useless and unpleasant gnat members from being the leader of their rabble.
Grant Robertson with some brave words yesterday. But…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thepanel/audio/2018621455/to-push-or-not-to-push-australia-over-manus-island-refugees
http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/2018621469/png-minister-says-no-to-nz-on-manus
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018621368/ardern-to-meet-again-with-turnbull-over-manus
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018621385/govt-has-serious-concerns-for-manus-detainees
Mr Robertson told Morning Report New Zealand wasn’t giving up on the issue.
“Obviously the issue is primarily in PNG’s court but there are people [on Manus Island] who have been declared refugees which means globally we’ve all got a responsibility for that and locally and regionally New Zealand takes that seriously.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/343664/robertson-we-can-help-in-manus
But it is not good to say they will keep asking Australia, so we seem to have clean hands. Then saying what can we do, it’s Oz fault, and we do understand their knotty problem.
These guys are at the end of their tether. They obviously have a lot of stickability and are likely to make good citizens after care and counselling, and being reunited with families. It will have to go like that, and jobs found.
Waiting till the last moment is bad. Can we take most of who are left?
Have we got any sea transport lined up for emergency dash. Is there someone with some integrity at the UN who will call for help from member nations, and we can offer then. Is there…? It has to be done in a short time. People are like lettuces, they need water or they wilt.
I’ve been wondering for a week: does Bill English know the difference between ‘Opposition’ and ‘Obstruction’?
At the moment he and his are like a swarm of Anobium punctatum*. According to Te Ara Encyclopedia: “The larvae hatch and eat the timber for two to three years, making unsightly holes and tunnels. Adults bore exit holes in the wood in summer, and fly away. Little piles of dust near holes indicate an infestation.”
Leaving hazard and ruin behind them.
* House borer. Seemed apt…
The latest from Its Our Future NZ on TPP.
TPPA Bulletin #99 November 2017
Labour have caved in on the TPPA-11, but the agreement has yet to be signed. If the agreement goes ahead, the government can expect opposition in the streets.
Kia ora koutou katoa,
The news coming out of the TPPA talks in Vietnam last week were all over the place. An agreement was initially declared by Japan and Mexico, only to be contradicted by Canada. Jacinda Ardern then declared the negotiations had stalled indefinitely after Justin Trudeau failed to show up to a meeting of the TPPA-11 leaders. Finally, officials announced that they had reached agreement on the “core elements” of a new agreement, which they have now rebranded as the “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership”.
Where does this leave us? Good question. It would appear from the annexes to the ministerial statement (here and here) that only four outstanding items remain for negotiations and that these have been raised by Vietnam, Canada, Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia. New Zealand is a notable absence from this list, presumably because Ardern et al are content with the limited concessions that have been achieved on ISDS. To quote Jane Kelsey:
“There is no change to the pro-investor rules or the core investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism. A provision that would allow foreign investors to use the TPPA’s ISDS mechanism to enforce contracts for infrastructure or natural resources has been suspended, as has the ability to challenge measures affecting certain financial investments. But investors can still use ISDS to enforce their special rights under the investment chapter, and the delegitimised ISDS process remains intact.”
Needless to say, this is a disappointing. As Laura O’Connell-Rapira of ActionStation wrote in advance of the latest talks, Labour set us up to be let down by their negotiating position, as though they were simply making the best of a bad situation set in train by National. Jacinda continued to hold this line in an interview after the negotiations. Don’t buy this spin. If Labour were serious about ISDS they would have held the line in negotiations — four other countries stuck to their guns, and our negotiators could have done so as well. While the type of dispute for which corporations can sue our government has been narrowed, there are still significant areas of government policy that are under threat.
ISDS is not, and has never been, the sole problem with the TPPA. Threats to PHARMAC, affordable medicine, intellectual property, regulation of e-commerce (which will become more and more important in the increasingly digital economy), the operation of State-Owned Enterprises and the operation of a progressive government procurement policy are also significant. As it stands, some of these threats have been suspended in the current TPPA-11, pending the possible re-entry of the United States to the agreement. While these suspensions are a welcome relief, Labour have effectively committed us to the same TPPA should the United States ever come back to the table.
It’s Our Future and our friends at ActionStation campaigned in the lead up to the Vietnam negotiations on a platform that Labour ought to take the time to consult meaningfully with the public before committing us to any agreement in the TPPA-11. Labour were critical (in their select committee minority view) of the secrecy with which National conducted the TPPA negotiations, but have done no better themselves by proceeding with the agreement under the false pretense of an artificial deadline.
To quote Jane Kelsey again:
“The bad news is that the Labour government has endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, with the suspension of a limited range of items, at the ministerial and leaders’ meetings in Da Nang, Viet Nam.
The good news is that the meeting failed to conclude the new deal – rebranded the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).”
If the agreement goes ahead — and that is a big “if” — the agreement will require ratification in Parliament. We still have an opportunity to beat this toxic agreement by placing pressure on the government in future negotiations, and in the ratification process. The Greens have already made it clear that they will vote down the TPPA-11 in Parliament, and we would expect New Zealand First to do the same. The fact that Labour would have to rely on National to get the TPPA-11 agreement across the line is a measure of their hypocrisy.
The struggle continues, and we’ll be coordinating actions to oppose the TPPA-11 when we have a better idea about the timelines. The demand in our recent open letter to Jacinda Ardern (which we hope to deliver this week) for full and transparent consultation with the public still stands. In opposition, Labour strongly criticised the economic arguments for the original TPPA, stating that the modelling used in the patsy National Interest Analysis overstated the benefits of the agreement while failing to take into considerations its costs (particularly those related to jobs and wealth distribution). Labour needs to commission a new National Interest Analysis for the TPPA-11 to inform meaningful public scrutiny of the potential agreement.
In the meantime, Labour’s (welcome) position that they will not include ISDS clauses in any future agreements will be put to the test in the RCEP negotiations in Manila as we speak. While RCEP negotiations are nowhere near completion, it is important that the new government is held to a higher standard than National on these and other future negotiations.
Ngā mihi koutou, keep posted and please get in touch at itsourfuturenz@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments.
Stephen Parry
It’s Our Future Coordinator
Itsourfuturenz@gmail.com
http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz
P.S, for a round-up of the press coverage of the recent TPPA-11 negotiations, Bryce Edwards’ recent article in the Herald is a good starting point.
Yes, let’s go back to fortress NZ pre Euro Union, let’s not trade anything with anybody, let’s not compromise, let’s not collaborate, let’s just copy North Korea. Let’s not do this.
Yes, let’s cut ourselves off from the world and become a south seas North Korea without the nukes. Even Chris Trotter is showing some understanding of the real world today.
Our PM and David Parker are doing their best, as I see it, and to see all the squealing and complaining is a real let down. That’s not to say everything will be perfect, nothing ever is. The Greens may wish so, but it will not be so. Just what would be achieved by NZ throwing their toys out of the cot and having a sulk in the corner.
If it was just about free trade fine, the trade agreements are not about free trade they are the opposite. Look at the IP for example, making medicines more expensive (many of which were largely subsidised by governments), it just goes on and on. If
it was all about free trade for NZ exporters, why not export to Russia? Nope it’s political through and through and helps only lawyers and those already making a fortune. The rest is to keep everyone else from competing by keeping market dominance and stop change.
I reckon you have hit the button on TPP in that short comment savenz.
Sometimes the right words can be short and sweet/sour. (Depend which side you are on.)
and Reality
We actually discuss things here and argue about points, and then consider them, and discuss them further. We are not just a bunch ‘squealing and complaining’. You could try and read what we are concerned about before you indicate your ignorance with that fine high-handed irritation you have adopted. It makes you sound like one of the entitled to whom all blessings flow.
You ask: Just what would be achieved by NZ throwing their toys out of the cot and having a sulk in the corner.
Would you really like to take part in a discussion on that, or are you a lazy thinker who just says TINA?
QFT
The present system is a racket designed to keep the majority oppressed to the wants and desires of the rich.
Agreed Adrian,
We are at a crossroads of loosing our country to coporates control so remember corporatates environmental record globally is grotesque and disgusting as they have no record or documents directing them to become “good Corporate global environmental citizens” of the world.
Our ‘reality’ speaks for itself!!!
If we want to protect our environment don’t allow corporate control over our NZ laws or involve these errant Corporations inside any agreements whatsoever with our NZ Government as we must remain “independant”.
Adrian
Let’s you go back to your cup of tea and sit in the naughty corner. We haven’t been Fortress NZ since ever. And when things were tightened down, we actually managed well, though we hankered after foreign baubles and had to think creatively how to get them.
Small things you were only allowed to build towards by getting Post Office vouchers at say today’s value of $2 a time, and you had to keep on visiting daily till you had enough to buy some delectable item from ‘overseas’. An overseas car could be brought back as an import, after using it during an overseas trip which we did. Both worked well for us and we were part of a thriving, eager NZ going upwards together.
What an awful picture, people whose moans were so tiny compared to today’s, but the one’s who were making it wanted to ratchet up their own lifestyle.
Bugger anyone else’s. And the problem was that they single-mindedly went after what they personally wanted and could get, by standing on other people’s shoulders.
And that applies to the wealthy rentiers and the powerful unions alike. Both short-sighted, but particularly those unionists with eternal wage demands and not able to impose better systems that allowed them to share in the rising profits in a practical way that would encourage more understanding and co-operation between business and worker. The left had WEA and the idea of keeping informed and educated so as to keep up with the capitalist class, but it wasn’t promoted enough, and workers soon left it all to union leaders to organise and were not ready for them turning squishy when confronted with neo lib from their very own bosom-buddies.
It’s not a question of going back to ‘fortress NZ’. NZ has always been a trading nation but there’s a difference being a trading nation to one which gives its sovereignty over to multi-national corporations.
We could drop out of all the FTAs that we’re a part of, including the WTO, and have freer trade.
Willing Buyer, Willing Seller
How about we ask the people what constitutes when we want to allow trade with another nation rather than asking the corporations who really only want countries, the people, to guarantee their profits.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018621388/charles-finny-jane-kelsey-debate-tpp-developments
7.26m
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern thinks the refashioned Trans Pacific Partnership is a ‘damned sight better than the last’. And it could be in effect in just a matter of months.
There are still four issues up for neogitation but all 11 nations involved in the deal have now agreeed on every other aspect. The new deal also has a new name – it’s now the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans Pacific Partnership.
Veteran trade negotiator Charles Finny has been following developments, as has TPP sceptic Professor Jane Kelsey. They join us to debate the issues around the deal.
Greywarshark.
You speak higghly of Charles Finny here.
This man is simply just another corporate trumpet so what is he doing there.???????
he should be removed at all costs unless you want to sign NZ away to ruin under corporate private control!!!!
“Veteran trade negotiator Charles Finny has been following developments,”
No no no.
All that is quotes from Radionz cleangreen. I know nussing of Mr Finny Fishy. I must put quotes in italics to buffer myself from the indignant.
When we had the highest standard of living in the world. Please……………….
+1 Adrian. But some people seem to have taken your comment at face value, LOL.
Also excellent back-up comments from Reality.
Beyond Manapouri, 50 years of environmental politics.
A book by one really smart lady: Catherine Knight on RNZ Nine to Noon. (link not yet up)
In the interview she identifies all that’s gone wrong with our public service over the past 25 years.
Put succinctly in one statement (to paraphrase), Ministers have become the CEO’s customer, rather than The Public.
CEO’s and senior management telling their Ministers what they think they want to hear, rather than truthful, honest policy advice.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018621558/beyond-manapouri-50-years-of-environmental-politics
Nice, might listen to that later. Thanks.
If you’re interested in the environment and NZ’s environmental history check out her blog too:
https://envirohistorynz.com/
Many thanks @mauī
Ten Reasons We Got Rid of National
No. 9: John Key
“I felt the actions weren’t those of a Prime Minister and I felt New Zealand should know that. It is because he is the PM that I went to the media. John Key feels he is untouchable.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11436978
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/17/new-zealand-prime-minister-john-key-criticised-for-joke
http://www.noted.co.nz/currently/politics/eyes-wide-shut-the-governments-guilty-secrets-in-afghanistan/
SCF royal commission please.
Plenty of folk lost everything they had with hotchin/bryers/petrovic/graham entities so why did SCF investors get 100% plus the at risk interest ? It has an odour to it.
I cannot confirm but a little birdie assures me there was at least one well known South Island National MP who had a trust heavily invested in SCF.
Jacinda in Manila…..SO jACINDANILA.. clever A !!?
Very good Td, +
100
TPPA update for anyone interested:
http://mailchi.mp/9261891ab9a4/bulletin?e=86cb35e34a
The Alabama special election to replace Sessions remains as watchable as ever.
So far the papaya Palpatine has managed to duck having an opinion about Roy Moore, coz, you know, he’s too busy with his besties Pootee and Doody-Turdy. But he’ll be home soon.
Will the Grabber-in-chief try to crush Moore, coz Moore’s not a star and only stars get to do that? Or coz he doesn’t want the competition?
Will Don of the Deadbrains double down on boys will be boys, the more there are around him the better?
The suspense is unbearable…
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/13/politics/roy-moore-mitch-mcconnell-trump/index.html
Party of the vile.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/roy-moores-gop-stands-for-grand-old-pedobears
Yuck.
Good God!
Yup.
Kayla Moore, wife of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, shared a letter on Facebook indicating support from more than 50 Alabama pastors.
Moore’s wife Kayla posted the letter to her Facebook page Sunday after days of controversy surrounding her husband and allegations he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old in 1979 when he was 32-years-old. Three other women said Moore pursued them as teenagers.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/11/53_pastors_sign_letter_of_supp.html
If this new TPP is finally signed off with Labour and National agreeing with it then it all bodes well for the Green Party in years to come. Firstly many Labour voters will next time, vote for the Greens as the only progressive party left to vote for and secondly with climate change being a real and present danger to the planet earth, then their policies will only bring about good for the country. In future years there will be many displaced people from coastal properties etc and rising sea levels, Australia will be frying and there will be climate refugees from there and the Pacific. Yes, its all good for the future for the Green Party.
Why nations are still concentrating on trading with each other with their heads in the sand it would seem they have this vision of a healthy future ahead of themselves, there is no vision, no urgency to tackle the pending serious weather conditions we are going to experience which will make trading the last thing on their minds. Now, if they spent as much time tackling this serious problem as they do trying to make even more profit trading around the world, then maybe this planet is in with a chance of being saved.
If Labour signs the TPP then it’s National again in 2020.
Lol yep and the frogs shall fall from the sky and the statues cry blood… give up rabble rouser, your lines are weak just like the gnats.
It will split the left vote.
and then they’ll vote National? Lol.
Be either a lot of non-vote or a sizable swing back to the Greens, which will push all those centrist voters back towards the far stable National.
NZ First won’t feature in 2020, Peters has burnt his bridges with the rural community and especially the elderly.
If you want proof, this article just recently from stuff.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98813714/if-youre-old-and-rich-youre-more-likely-to-hate-the-new-government
They voted Peters because they thought he could reign in National especially around immigration, they didn’t want Labour and they certainly didn’t want to give the Greens any power.
NZ First has lost half its voter block at least, that’s another 4% for National.
A pretty large majority of NZF voters wanted NZF with Labour.
Feelings at the start of a new govt are hardly predictive of how they will change their vote next time. There’s 3 years of Labour improving the economy and people’s lives.
“The older people were, the more negative they were, the poll’s trend showed”
And there’s a big class skew towards Labour from people with less wealth. Guess who dies earlier.
A political party that constantly lies is not stable and doesn’t bring about stable government or a stable society because its foundation is all myth.
It will be forgotten like the legacy of johnny hotfoot and bill nobody.
So you’re saying the TPPA is no big deal and was only a concern to all the tin foilers out on the fringes?
It’s a big deal, but unlikely to cause Labour to lose the election*. Unless we get sued in the next 3 years I guess.
*think it though BM. If Labour voters are pissed about the TPPA, who are they going to vote for instead?
No I’m not saying that. Use your brain mate it’s not just for show.
If’s it’s so easily forgotten it’s obviously not a big deal
Pretty weak BM.
BM dont get your nickers in a twist,
TPP will not survive; period; – so give away all that hot air to someone else we are sick of your whinning .
The world is on the brink of another GFC and a *climate change Catastophe nighmare of all proportion now so we won’t see these flimsy “fools trade” agreements go ahead now.
* http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2017/11/daunting-antarctic-sea-ice-plummet-could-be-tipping-point.html
13 November 2017
Newshub
‘Daunting’ Antarctic sea ice plummet could be tipping point
Credit here to Martyn Bradbury Editor TDB for the monologue below on GFC.- and the link.
http://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/876082/stock-market-black-Tuesday-dotcom-bubble-Wall-street-crash
Martyn Bradbury Editor. – TDB.
One of the main concerns behind the scenes of the negotiations to be the next Government was the deep seated belief that the global economy is about to implode.
Since the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis, all the developed world has done is kick the day of market reckoning down the road with more and more money printing. At some point this band-aid won’t be able to stem the pressure building and it will rupture with a backlash that will make the depression look like a week without pocket money.
What will hit first? Economic armageddon or Environmental apocalypse?
It’s difficult to know what will hit us first, the Economic Armageddon or Environmental apocalypse caused by our dangerously warming climate.
I suspect they will both combine to create something beyond our scope to deal with.
When you are getting market spreads like this, panic doesn’t even seem to sum up the proper response. Remember, a spread above 30 points suggests elevated risk and a spread above 40 calls for ‘defensive measures’. Last week the spread was almost 50 fucking points…
Economic crash IMMINENT: Fears grow as markets hit high not seen since Black Tuesday
There is a growing sense of foreboding amongst economists who believe the market is poised to repeat what happened during the dotcom bubble and the Wall street crash.
Stock values have reached levels not seen since those two disasters and a correction would throw the world economy – currently seeing an ongoing boom period – into disarray.
Graham Hacche at the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said:“In both cases, sharp market ¬declines followed these high readings.”
He went onto say the cyclically adjusted price-earning ratio (the Shiller CAPE ratio) has risen above 30 which shows “markets may have become increasingly vulnerable to shocks.”
…the question is no longer if, but when and where the economic crash will start and cascade from.
China could be the trigger…
Red debt rising
The news during the Chinese Communist Party Congress was supposed to be uniformly positive. But the Oct. 19 press conference of Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of China’s central bank, was not. After admitting that the country’s high debt was high, he surprised everybody by adding that it was not so high as to cause a “Minsky Moment,” a sudden meltdown of asset prices. It was a fascinating insight into what worries China’s economic leaders and the tough choices they face.
…or it could be the failing Eurozone or Brexit that trigger it, or it could be the sudden realisation on Wall Street that Trump can’t get his tax cuts through.
Add in the sabre rattling over Chinese expansion into the Pacific, Venezuela imploding, North Korea going nuclear, Saudia Arabia launching war on Lebanon or a total collapse in Central Africa and any knock from Climate change could topple the global economy into free fall…
From Miami to Shanghai: 3C of warming will leave world cities below sea level
Hundreds of millions of urban dwellers around the world face their cities being inundated by rising seawaters if latest UN warnings that the world is on course for 3C of global warming come true, according to a Guardian data analysis.
What does a left wing Government do about it?
Anyway you want to look at it, the immediate future looks bleak, so what should a Left wing Government on these far away Shaky Isles do about it?
First of all, let’s appreciate the beauty and luck of our distance.
It’s near impossible for refugees to climb into boats and flee here successfully, we have a globally low debt to GDP ratio and we have enough fertile land to feed ourselves.
In short, the tyranny of our distance is going to end up being what saves us while the planet goes into meltdown.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2017/11/daunting-antarctic-sea-ice-plummet-could-be-tipping-point.html
13 November 2017
Newshub
‘Daunting’ Antarctic sea ice plummet could be tipping point
Might be one these babies hiding under the Antarctic ice sheet causing the sudden ice melt?
http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/natural-wonders/nasa-study-suggests-an-antarctic-supervolcano-could-make-the-ice-sheet-vulnerable/news-story/14ee668fa018e7f7d861ccbe63a3cd2f
Then you’ve got this ticking time bomb which will solve GW http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/natural-wonders/supervolcano-at-yellowstone-national-park-set-to-erupt-sooner-than-expected/news-story/561d721bd007038fcab727c0ca140330
BM…….hoping like fuck and quacking like a duck. Meanwhile Key’s cruising……and don’t give a fuck. BM……looks very much like Russia’s ya’ only hope baby. Udachi !
Julian Assange or Wikileaks’ long conversation with Trump Jnr,
” Russell Brown @publicaddress
37m37 minutes ago
Anyone who thinks Wikileaks is a “transparency organisation” after reading this is basically just a cult member.”
Ooops,
Asher WolfVerified account @Asher_Wolf
It’s now over 20 mins since Assange began a thread and failed to finish his sentence. I assume his lawyer burst into the room halfway through:
LOLOLOL
Wow what a goddam mess – cred gone, just another puppet or puppet master. And Wikileaks nuked as well. Thanks Julian asshole.
It’s like someone’s working for someone.
/
https://translate.google.co.nz/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://politica.elpais.com/politica/2017/11/12/actualidad/1510497199_316581.html&prev=search
“It’s like someone’s working for someone.”
How do you mean?
I’m assuming it means: Catalan separatists meet with Julian Assange => Julian Assange starts tweeting about the glorious revolution taking place in Catalonia => Russian media start giving extensive coverage to Assange’s tweets => Assange enthusiasts and Russian propaganda viewers the world over support independence for Catalonia. Did money change hands?
It is pretty suspicious, but the world is so full of crackpots it doesn’t necessarily mean anybody’s paying anybody for it.
True, and for Wikileaks it probably doesn’t matter if money is changing hands, they’ve lost their credibility and keep putting nails in that coffin.
Did you just summarily dismiss all and sundry who are supportive of the people of Catalonia being empowered to determine their own future?
One Russian media outlet (Sputnik) based 11 stories around Assange tweets (10 on comments by Carles Puigdemont and 5 by Mariano Rajoy). Apparently that’s outrageous because Assange isn’t an expert on Catalonia (or some such)…unlike all the talking heads whatever other outlets use. Them’s experts!
It’s utterly depressing, this enthusiasm to back the insinuation that anyone who doesn’t adhere to some “official” or “approved” script is “suspect”.
It’s kinda fascist.
BTW. Does the Scottish government’s support for Catalonian independence make them “Assange enthusiasts and/or Russian propaganda viewers” too? Maybe the SNP and Scottish Greens (plus a good proportion of Scottish Labour voters) are just ‘victims’ of Kremlin propaganda? I mean, Alex Salmond (ex First Minister of Scotland) is about to host a show on RT – gadzooks! (And yes. Pretty sure Assange tweeted on Scottish independence)
Pretty sure the barb was for Assange supporters and Russian propaganda consumers, not people supporting Catalonian independence generally (could be wrong though).
“It’s utterly depressing, this enthusiasm to back the insinuation that anyone who doesn’t adhere to some “official” or “approved” script is “suspect””
Sorry, which is the approved script?
You being serious here Weka?
An abbreviated “official” or “approved” script in this instance runs along the following lines…
Catalonia seeking independence = bad. Catalonia seeking independence = threat to “European democracy”. Reports backing Catalonian independence = Russian interference.
Go and do some article searches on some main Liberal publications if you genuinely don’t understand that (eg – The Guardian, Washington Post, The Independent).
And have a look at the various ministerial announcements that accompanied the vote in Catalan (but just mind and ignore what Sturgeon said, aye? 😉 )
Sure, I just wasn’t sure if you meant that Psycho Milt believes anyone not adhering to establishment lines was suspect.
Did you just summarily dismiss all and sundry who are supportive of the people of Catalonia being empowered to determine their own future?
Er, no, given that I’m supportive of that myself. Not much sign of it in the current conflict, though.
Sorry PM. Reading too much into your comment.
From Ukraine, Crimea, and brexit through to Trump and now Catalonia, we see Assange/wikileaks turning up like a bad penny.
Wikileaks/Assange working for someone? Or just manipulating things for their own political ends?
For all practical purposes, is there a difference that matters? In either case, it still means treat everything emanating from Saint Julian of the Embassy with deep suspicion.
I tend to agree, just thought it worth checking what Joe meant.
Looks to me more like the Russian government has found Wikileaks to be a useful way of releasing any embarrassing data they nick from the Americans and Assange isn’t fussy about where the data comes from. But the net effect is pretty much the same as if they had a business arrangement, so as Andre asks, does it matter? Either way, you have to treat the results with suspicion.
Where is the Russian link to Wikileaks?
There is no Russian link to Wikileaks – that’s the whole point of having an intelligence service. However, reasons to suspect the Russian government is using Wikileaks to release embarrassing data it steals from the Americans is outlined here.
The whole “Russia Russia Russia” narrative is a totally overblown distraction.
Especially when it is clear that the US is unparalleled in its ability to steal, penetrate, impersonate the technology, data and systems of its foreign adversaries.
Further, its going to become very clear that the Democractic Party has very tight ties with Russian interests and operatives.
If you last sentence is true, your first is wrong.
At the end of the day, the massive heavy handed way the USA handled the leaks has actually helped their rivals the most and reduced power in the USA both internationally and within public opinion.
If USA said sorry, and stopped their own illegal actions then it would have all gone away.
The nation has been divided. If US officials had been less gungho and less looking like manufacturing charges and extriditions for political reasons , then Wikileaks would have been yesterday’s news.
Like the Dotcom incident in NZ. Hard not to notice that one.
The young and the free are all Internet users, they want freedom in that space. Anyone trying to curb that, has a battle that they probably won’t win.
It’s 21st century Vietnam. You can’t force people to agree with things that are wrong. It just divides people.
To my mind Wikileaks/Assange began as an apolitical organisation concerned with human rights, using collateral damage/cablegate as disrupters of US foreign policy.
I’d like to know why they’ve moved past that brief, involving themselves in the political processes of at least three countries.
I reckon it’s most likely to be one of or a combination of an Assange vanity project, keeping Jules out of a Swedish/US federal prison or, for hire.
Yep. Or Assange’s personal politics.
That’s a good description of the problem and what has happened.
Agree and his ego. Wikileaks stopped being “we” a long time ago. It is the Assange Show.
joe90 – perhaps you mean Wikileaks began as a non-partisan organisation.
Disrupting US foreign policy, releasing US secrets and then having the Anglo-American empire target you with smears and illegal lawfare tactics was always going to be highly political.
That’s the point of wikileaks.
Disrupting US foreign policy.
I.E. Bombing the shit out of any country that refuses to allow US corporations, free reign. Or changing the leadership of any country that threatened the dollar as the reserve currency.
Was a good thing.
Genuine question, what have they leaked about Russia and China over the years.
Trumpingly good to have you back CV !
I suspect your answer is ego rather than anything else. Assange has a big ego and he likes to bring it out every now and to remind us, and him, how important he is.
Yep dirty paw prints all over the place – we’ve been fucken played. Truth out now and it is not good.
Played. But by whom?
Everyone. Everyone in power is playing someone.
We also see the USA turning up for a bit of a meddle – again;
https://www.state.gov/j/drl/p/275396.htm
The tweets themselves (not the interpretation the Atlantic couches them in) just read as someone punting for business and figuring out moves that might help his own position. And given that he’s essentially under house arrest, that’s fair enough, no?
If you’re fate lay in the hands of someone who said you should be droned, wouldn’t you have something to say about that? And if there was the possibility another might open those doors, wouldn’t you be talking to them?
And in whatever correspondence you had, and given the levels of stress occasioned by your situation, you really think you wouldn’t say some really fucking stupid things among it all?
My impression of Assange (justified or otherwise) is that he’d be an unpleasant pain in the arse at a personal level. But fuck, this on-going knee-jerk reaction bullshit to anything associated with Assange or Wikileaks, from mostly Liberal quarters, is fucking diabolical.
And the tiresome attempts to discredit any and all voices that might disagree with “official takes” on world affairs or specific situations by tying those voices in with Assange or Wikileaks, or some news story from a Russian media outlet, is deeply and seriously fucked up. Actually. It’s not so much that that’s fucked up (It’s to be expected). It’s the sheer numbers of people buying into it that’s the problem.
“The tweets themselves (not the interpretation the Atlantic couches them in) just read as someone punting for business and figuring out moves that might help his own position. And given that he’s essentially under house arrest, that’s fair enough, no?”
Probably shouldn’t be using Wikileaks to do that though.
“If you’re fate lay in the hands of someone who said you should be droned, wouldn’t you have something to say about that? And if there was the possibility another might open those doors, wouldn’t you be talking to them?”
Quite possibly, but I would also probably take care not to conflate a statement about droning with an actual potential threat, especially if I was running an organisation that needed to maintain a high degree of trustworthiness in the public internationally.
” I was running an organisation that needed to maintain a high degree of trustworthiness in the public internationally. ”
I think it stopped being about anything other than Assanges motivations after he went into the Embassy
I like the Trump family even less than you do, weka, and although I admire Julian Assange’s fearless journalism, I find his parlaying with these swine very odd indeed.
However, you damage your credibility immediately by citing Russell Brown, who is one of the most easily gulled people in all of faux-liberalism. You might remember how Matthew Hooton made a fool of him and the likes of Craig Ranapia back in December 2013, after Nelson Mandela died….
Funny, given that your own reputation on TS was undermined by the less than truthfulness of your transcripts 😉
Everyone does stupid shit online at some point, and everyone does something that other people disagree with. Calling RB names means nothing to me except to say that you disapprove of him somehow.
given that your own reputation on TS was undermined by the less than truthfulness of your transcripts
My transcripts were never less than truthful, despite your slimy smear. You, and a few others, objected to my emphasizing the lack of eloquence of some politicians by including every “errr” and “ahhh” and “ummm” they uttered, and you also seemed, or pretended to be, upset by my pointing out that when someone like Jim Mora or Chris Trotter said something unconscionably crass or nasty on air, there were often uncomfortable silences.
But of course that issue is long done with. You and your small group of fellow-detractors lost. Deal with it.
Everyone does stupid shit online at some point…
They certainly do, as you did just now with that attempt to smear me with an old and discredited falsehood.
Calling RB names means nothing to me except to say that you disapprove of him somehow.
I did more than call him names, I demonstrated his insufferable combination of naïveté and sanctimoniousness.
Really? I thought you’d gotten past this shit.
On the accuracy of the transcripts,
Not ums and errs but whole bits not transcribed literally (which is what a transcript is). They were impressions that by your own admission you acknowledged you wrote out mostly freehand as you listened.
From the first link – I was concerned with capturing the essence of that pompous bullfrog Trotter, and didn’t record her murmurings verbatim.
I say were, because I have a feeling you later increased the accuracy and started doing actual transcripts, but now that you’ve just denied the accuracy issue it makes me wonder if you can even tell.
“But of course that issue is long done with.”
Quite. 2013. Funnily enough, that’s the same year as whatever it is you are saying that Brown did.
“They certainly do, as you did just now with that attempt to smear me with an old and discredited falsehood.”
I’ve done stupid shit, but this isn’t one of those times as I’ve just demonstrated.
“I did more than call him names, I demonstrated his insufferable combination of naïveté and sanctimoniousness.”
I don’t see how. You linked to one of your impressions transcripts and expected people to read it and figure out what you were referring to. If RB did something wrong (I still have no idea what), then you should be able to (a) name it, and (b) back that claim up with some evidence. So far all you’ve done is said Hooton made a fool of him, and let us know that you believe Brown is x, y, z.
So. You don’t like him and are using a current event to refer to something from years ago that demonstrates that you don’t like him. I don’t see the relevance myself.
Most of what you upbraid me with is unarguable. I accept your points.
However, this one is unfair:
You linked to one of your impressions transcripts and expected people to read it and figure out what you were referring to.
No, what I did was: I took contributions of various people on the “Mandela” thread from Russell Brown’s blog of 30.12.13 and used them verbatim to form a fictional classroom situation. I imaginatively revivified a dreadful and embarrassing exercise in drippy “liberals” competing to share their feelings of sadness, then indulging a cynical and vicious manipulator. They were so drippy, in fact, that not one of them even noticed when the intruder (Matthew Hooton) smoothly compared Mandela to Reagan and Thatcher. That’s where this writer and another Standardista, Rhinocrates, came in….
Ok, thanks.
Re today, I’m not going to read your fictional account. If you have something to say about Brown’s actions, by all means do and then cite to support it. Can you not see how a fictional account is still about *your opinions?
People do enjoy your posts Morrissey, I just wish you would understand that in this setting there are pretty clear dividing lines between opinion and reporting of factual events.
Fair enough weka. All the best, my friend!
What a pleasure to watch that discourse unfold between you and weka. Truly, I am not being sarcastic.
Given the difficulties of conversations online, kudos to you both on this one.
🙂
Here you go, tracey….
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/77/54/03/77540399c7cbe389c35a6e89fe602af7.jpg
However, this one is unfair:
I’d call it over-generous. I went and read the comment you linked to. In it, you take verbatim comments from Public Address and sprinkle them in among shit you just made up, which invites the reader to assume the shit you made up consists of verbatim comments. That’s pretty low.
Our good friend Psycho Milt makes a few points, which I’ll address one by one….
…you take verbatim comments from Public Address and sprinkle them in among shit you just made up,
That’s pretty much it. But what you rather disparagingly call “shit you just made up” has a serious dramatic function. You are familiar with Monty Python’s Life of Brian, I presume, where the scriptwriters interpose a great deal of “made up shit” to counterpoint the words of the bloke delivering the Sermon on the Mount. Shakespeare did a lot of this sort of thing as well; I recommend you spend a few minutes studying a copy of Julius Caesar.
…which invites the reader to assume the shit you made up consists of verbatim comments.
Anyone with an IQ above room temperature could tell that the bits labeled “UPROAR FROM CLASS”, “MURMURING FROM CLASS,” “SEVERAL VOICES”, “OUTRAGE AND UPROAR”, etc. were made up, and distinct from the verbatim transcripts of Mike O’Connell, Hebe. Paul Campbell, Matthew Hooton and Russell Brown.
That’s pretty low.
That’s drama for you. It’s a pity for people like you that the playhouses can’t be shut down like in the good old days.
Anyone with an IQ above room temperature could tell that the bits labeled “UPROAR FROM CLASS”, “MURMURING FROM CLASS,” “SEVERAL VOICES”, “OUTRAGE AND UPROAR”, etc. were made up, and distinct from the verbatim transcripts of Mike O’Connell, Hebe. Paul Campbell, Matthew Hooton and Russell Brown.
They might well. Thing is, what you call “verbatim transcripts” include Russell Brown apparently making statements like
You will have other thoughts and memories and you are welcome to share them here. Please be respectful of each other. Michael, you were the first to put your hand up. Please stand up and share with the class how sad you are.
Having read the post in question, I’m aware that part of that “verbatim transcript” is verbatim and part of it is shit you made up. Other of these supposedly “verbatim transcripts” include similar insertions, which you offered to weka as evidence of Russell Brown’s foolishness, along with the claim that
My transcripts were never less than truthful, despite your slimy smear.
Pointing out that you put words in other people’s mouths and claim it’s evidence of their foolishness isn’t a “slimy smear,” it’s an “accurate description.”
Strict but fair, Psycho Milt. I’ll take that on board.
No, morrissey, you outright invented things.
repeatedly.
Fool, I invented nothing in those transcripts, or near-transcripts. I accept weka’s serious and principled views, but yours are still as brutal and unbalanced as ever, I’m sorry to say.
🙄
Maybe you’re just delusional.
Again, this isn’t about who likes each other or not. McFlock’s example is easily as good as the one I posted, probably better (I haven’t listened to the original audio). The arguments are well laid out about the problems with the transcript.
McFlock’s example is easily as good as the one I posted, probably better….
Yeah, it was pretty good. Sorry McFlock.
http://i.123g.us/c/emay_flowerofmonth/card/312638.gif
Kia kaha morrissey.
Love your work.
I see on the news that they are proposing a 140 to 190 Million development of the Auckland Waterfront for the America’s Cup. Goff is full of it and expects the taxpayer once again to finance this latest elitist toy.
I would like to remind ALL the rightwingers, that we have had thirty years of user pays, being told to stand on our own two feet, no handouts with the Tories in the last nine years cutting services and benefits. Now is a good time for the right to practice what they are always preaching, pay for the fucking thing yourselves.
I for one will be totally and completely pissed off if one dollar of taxpayers money goes towards this massive white elephant when there will be a struggle after nine years of neglect rectifying a large amount of child poverty and homelessness.
If the elite wants to play with their boats good on them, but don’t expect the taxpayer to to pay for your toys
.
Couple of hundred million would build quite a few houses even in Auckland.
Sounds like extortion by a bunch of rich twats.
Is the money Goff wants to throw at this farce instead of, or in addition to, the billion he wanted to spend on an Auckland stadium? What has happened to that by the way? I’ve been out of the country and haven’t heard anything about it recently.
@ alwyn – last I heard they were wasting ratepayer money on private consultants to do feasibility studies for the stadium. They are desperate to build one as a monument to their ego’s but know that there will be a massive public backlash… Ego vs public opinion (not sure which will win).
Depends on the size of the ego. If it’s large enough, it will have a gravity of its own.
Space monkeys know about gravity, and that was very funny.
The right, the neo-liberal, NEVER practice what they preach.
Doesn’t matter whether it’s Ruth Richardson Limited (liability); a Jenny Shipley alongside that brick of a man Burton; the entitled rich versus the undeserving poor; Jeeze Wayne’s or Mathew Hootons. It’s a foreign concept to them, devoid of humanity but all cost-accounted for. And if the accounts don’t work, why we’ll just re-invent the way we do them, and Bill’s your seedy Uncle (Steven, and there’s a new generation eagre to lead the self-entitled charge.
Hopefully the gated-community locks are going to hold out
Empire builders all at the poor’s expense like rome eh?
exactly halfcrown!
We already paid for the last America’s cup!! What happened to all that infrastructure???? If the industry can afford millions in yachts then they should be able to crowd fund for the infrastructure that is apparently needed.
Likewise if it will be an economic boom maybe the business who will benefit aka Skycity types (mostly owed offshore corporations) can get their wallets out. I know they are used to being showered with corporate welfare but under a Labour led government can somebody find the word NO?
For everyone who lives in Auckland, it’s just more traffic, more rates and more out of control officials like Goff who will enjoy lording it over the place with all the rich and powerful that type of event attracts.
Solve our transport first, cut down rates and increase public service levels like libraries that benefit people who live here NOT try to always be impressing rich people passing through.
You must also remember the Fucking Spiv gave a 17.25 mil grant to the company that built Oracle’s boat and at the same time Pula Benefit was cutting benefits left right and centre
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/67998523/americas-cup-team-oracles-new-zealandbased-boat-builders-get-government-grant
Soon he will propose a name change to Goffland – where wet dreams come true
Yep and we can call NZ, New Key Land after John.
Big Brother isn’t just watching: workplace surveillance can track your every move
Another reason to move from the 2000+ year old ownership (Our present day ownership laws started back in Ancient Rome) model for a cooperative approach. The people doing the work and are most affected by this type of Big Brother approach are more likely to both decrease the amount of watching and use what’s gathered more ethically.
Why do they want to know everything about everyone – haven’t they got better things to do.
IMO, knowing everything about someone gives ways to control them. We see this in things like self-censorship.
I’m presently looking for a job after finishing a degree. So, what effect is my anti-capitalist stance going to have on that and should I thus keep from mentioning it on my Facebook page so as to help me get a job?
Good luck job hunting – tough situation for you too in finding good employment you are prepared to give your energy to.
As a recruiter I can confirm that the vast majority of employers do look at facebook etc. when considering candidates.
So you recommend that I self-censor to please them?
That would be that control that I was talking about.
To normal people that is called “a creepy invasion of privacy”.
But. Way too many employers now assume a right to know, about employees private lives, that should have never been their fucking business in the first place.
As for the HR business………
Hi Marty,
In the get rich quick club they believe gathering intellegence on everyone is “money” and thats the long & short of it.
Sick isn’t it?
Cos they assume their employees are like them, corner cutters and piss takers
Exactly
Is that your opinion?
It’s a quote from Hippocrates. It’s what one would call a truism.
As I’ve pointed out to you before – opinions are meaningless tripe unless they’re backed by facts, logic and, well, science.
Where are the facts, logic and science behind your opinion on this one. I see nothing… just a quote.
I’ve linked to those before. Several times in fact. You seem to be one of the ones that get most upset when I do.
Same as you’re getting upset now.
And that was just a quote, a truism, from an age old philosopher.
In the dictionary. Hippocrates’ remarks is axiomatic, on account of the meanings of words.
Self referencing then?
No: he’s relying on the fact that words have meaning.
It’s hardly a controversial statement.
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. Einstein
does imagination beget ignorance?
There’s a difference between imagining something and then testing to see if its true and merely imagining something and then believing it to be true.
The former is a path to knowledge while the latter propagates ignorance.
EDIT: And you should read this as it seems that that is not an actual quote of Einstein.
I got it from the same source as yours – I wonder if yours is true or just made up.
Edit – nice you looked the answer up.
That is a good point. Wikiquotes has no source for it. Still, I don’t think that takes away from the message.
All good – these discussions for me hone my thinking i hope tgey arent too tedious for you ☺
If they’re backed by facts, logic and science, they cease to be an opinion.
Just a question DtB …. Where do experieces and what one might call ‘common’ sense fit into it.
I’m all for science based on facts and logic (well…science), but often the heuristics used in a triage situation when decisions can be required quickly can have big experiential and common sense components. In my case, if they’d relied purely on what the science said at the time – I’d be dead
Common Sense Is Neither Common nor Sense
Sometimes simply doing shit can work but it’s a fluke and not something that can be relied upon.
I agree – common sense is not common, – the wrong term to use. I’m a big fan of science (as you describe it above).
I’m not a big fan of the idea that there can’t be exceptions to every rule.
For many, it was evident that there was climate change occurring a long time ago. The science subsequently proved it.
I don’t agree that “simply doing shit” can work but its always a ‘fluke’.
In the case I mentioned (mine), I understand the science now recognises the exceptions to the rule.
By the way – science isn’t dogma either. It requires an open mind ready to consider possibilities, and to be able to contest previously held scientific views and theories
If someone does something without knowing what they’re doing and it works then it’s a fluke.
Now, that doesn’t actually mean that what they do isn’t a result of the training and experience that they have. What it means is that it hasn’t been researched and they’re running on intuition.
Good training and education will bring about better intuition but it’s still going to be a fluke because they don’t know. It could, as a matter of fact, go the other way. That doesn’t mean that it’s not worth trying if there’s no other options.
There are no exceptions to the rule – merely misunderstood, misapplied and unknown rules.
It’s the opinion of Hippocrates.
It’s a fairly obvious restatement of the definition of the word “opinion”. Words do have meanings, after all.
Angel investors in NZ.
Start up businesses investment going strong. Always room for more though.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/businessnews/audio/2018621431/nz-s-arch-angel-of-the-year-in-it-for-more-than-money
Note: Sweeeet.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/343774/dunedin-chocolate-crowdfund-reaches-target
A PledgeMe project for the public to buy out the boutique chocolatier Ocho was launched yesterday morning, and raised more than $1 million by the end of the day.
The campaign was born out of the closure of the city’s Cadbury factory and an unsuccessful attempt by the community to buy it.
Pledges have just reached $1.75m, very close to the $1.8m threshold for the project.
So glad you chose to highlight this – great example of how capital can be used to support a community at large and the investors get both a return (TBD) and the warm fuzzies from knowing that the collective knowledge of the workers is not lost forever.
Kudos to the people who stood up and worked behind the scenes to organise this.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98858474/labour-says-no-to-allowing-both-parents-take-paid-parental-leave-at-the-same-time
The amendment did not extend the cost of Labour’s policy and it did not extend the total amount of time parents had available to them.
Adams said she could see no real reason why Labour would be opposed to giving new families greater flexibility.
“It seems to me they’re embarrassed that they rushed this bill and there was no need to do it. This has been their policy for a long time and they still haven’t properly turned their mind to some of the important issues, like how paid parental leave works and how it can be made more flexible.”
C’mon Labour do the right thing by families 🙂
Such a change could be detrimental to the baby, says Labour; If both parents were off at the same time, that would be a shortened total time spent on leave with that child, said Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.
…
Lees Galloway said he was not opposed to looking at changes to flexibility rules further down the track, however. But the Government had not seen the amendment National was preparing to put forward.
Sounds like the ball is in National’s court. Plus, didn’t they oppose extending PPL last year?
Well now its Labours turn to have the blowtorch applied but its not a bad idea is it, to have both parents off at the same time
I need to see what National are actually proposing in terms of the law before I could have an opinion. And then opinions from people that are affected and organisations that work in that area.
Yes, that’s right, I don’t trust National. The idea could be a good one, but we have no way of telling because National are dicks.
Classic! 😀 And so true. I looked at this story and thought “that may have some merit” and then reminded myself it was Adams saying it.
So how would you describe Labour about their TPPA dealins, I myself would call them pragmatic
I would call it misleading their voters and parkers statement allowing the view to pervade that Labour negotiated the Oz ISDS change as Keyesque and as appaling as when Nats behaved this way.
Your serve
This too.
this week it looks to me like Labour are being hoisted on their own neoliberal petard. Of course they’re pragmatic as well. Doesn’t mean they’re being pragmatic about the right things.
I feel like this is a real cynical move coming from the party who vetoed extending paid parental leave for financial reasons.
However, I think this should be considered. I am assuming labour are coming from the perspective that creating the most time before bub has to go into childcare has the most benefit. But there are plenty of situations where I think time together as a whole family trumps that. After my first baby I had PND and if my husband been able to take a chunk OK time off at that time it would have made the world of difference I think. Couples who have twins or very sick babies would also benefit.
I hope labour will consider this.
Most National voters prefer to go back to work straight away and put the baby in childcare for 10 hours a day anyway.
They lack empathy.
Puckish Rogue,
Don’t you feel strange now as a national party spinner now seeing national comming out with real “social progams” like giving both parents maternity extended leave now that it was national (yourparty) that railed hard agaist giving the ecxtended leavejust to one parent?
I think this is not real but just a ploy by English to put a wedge between the coalition now eh?
Has National Costed this?
As they are already demading labour cost everyting they do right?
“I think this is not real but just a ploy by English to put a wedge between the coalition now eh?”
Possibly
“Has National Costed this?”
Probably not
“As they are already demading labour cost everyting they do right?”
The joys of being in opposition is that you don’t actually have to cost anything 🙂
So, basically, you’re bunging a smiley face on the thought that a party of liars and hypocrites when they were in government is no longer required to attain even that shonky level.
The Greens costed things in Opposition. And they even had this idea to have a part of Treasury available to all parties to have their policies costed.
https://www.greens.org.nz/policy/fairer-society/policy-costings-unit
Pretty useless having good ideas if you don’t know how to implement them and think someone else should take them on board and do your mahi for you.
New Zealanders deserve more transparency from their politicians so they can better engage in the political system. Having party policies independently costed will help to cut through the noise of political party promises and deliver New Zealanders unbiased information.
And they costed it.
Amy is accusing Labour of maybe doing something her party resisted until election time? For all we know their policy was like no new taxes… only meant to win votes not be implemented.
This newfound social conscience of Nats needs to be pounced upon with some new legislation for them to support.
Troll.
Recent piece from Chris Trotter reviewing TPP and how did we go?
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2017/11/a-very-lucky-escape.html
I thought this was good.
As the leader of a small trading nation, New Zealand’s prime minister simply cannot affect a take-it-or-leave-it attitude to something as big as the TPP. The inescapable truth confronting Ardern (as it has every one of her predecessors) is that this country’s status as a first-world nation is inescapably contingent upon earning sufficient overseas currency to import the sort of lifestyle to which most Kiwis believe themselves entitled.
Bluntly: faced with the choice of announcing whether her government is “in” or “out” of a major trade agreement; no New Zealand prime minister can say “out” with impunity.
Greywarshark;
Not impressed as it must have been his bad day I assume.
Chris does not really have a strong will to fight for our democracy as many others do sorry.
cleangreen
He is a political journalist with a left approach, not an avowed activist, and he tries to view the facts of the situation as they lie, not as you or others would like them to be. Reading him you can assess how likely it would be to get your favourite policy through, and hope he is wrong if it seem impossible. Or you might think of some other way to manage it.
the nats say that paying Teina Pora inflation-adjusted amount “opened floodgates”.
Just how many demonstrably innocent people do they think we’ve imprisoned?!
Mind-boggling. That’s National for you though – “Fuck off, if we give one wrongful-imprisonment victim inflation-adjusted compensation, next thing they’ll all want it!”
It sure is head-shaking stuff. Whenever you think they couldn’t be bigger dicks, they keep surpassing themselves.
Well it was 9 years of a Tory government McFlock – so we should find out in say…. 10 years.
Edit: Was that little thing about not giving people access to legal aid so…
Hah! I just read idiot savant’s response to that from the other day…http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2017/11/opening-floodgates.html
….bloody brilliant.
Amy Adams is now called National’s “justice” spokeswoman.
She used to be their Minister of “Justice.”
She clearly wouldn’t know justice if it turned up and bit her on the arse.
The open floodgates will let through huge numbers of people who will knowingly allow themselves to be bullied and confused into confessing to things they didn’t do, spend 20 years in prison and then claim the money!
Don’t you see McFlock don’t you? It’ll be a flood, a veritable torrent!
Either that – or you shouldn’t expect liars to understand metaphors.
Bloody nora, the size of some of the hail falling in Auckland at the moment – it as big as a 50 cent piece, some pieces bigger. It’s also peeling the paint off the neighbours cars.
Put my arm out in it, very sore.
Count the number of people that talk about climate change there post-hail 😉
That unnamed “Australian newspaper” is a Murdoch rag.
And those “unnamed sources” are no doubt as scurrilous.
I note that Radio New Zealand, among other outlets, has been diligently recycling, without any hint of demur, the Double Dipper’s mad claims about New Zealand becoming a “target for people smugglers.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/343787/pm-s-stance-on-manus-island-could-backfire-national
The Murdoch rag cited as merely “an Australian newspaper” is the hideous Courier-Mail of Brisbane, one of the Dirty Digger’s notorious stable of racist, war-mongering, sex-obsessed but prurient, thoroughly disreputable scandal sheets. It is to RNZ’s discredit that it failed to point this out today.
From the link:
My immediate reaction when I heard the item on the car radio. In fact its such a coincidence that the story should appear at this moment in time, one has to conclude that is precisely what it is.
Correct, Anne. We all know who those “unnamed sources” are.
Oh dear Natz really does need to get over itself. Still sounding very bitter and twisted over election result. Very petulant statements from Finlayson and Collins! Natz termites all slithering out of the woodwork now. Had it too good for too long. Sore losers unable to accept the fact the present coalition government was preferred!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11942559
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11943985
It’s not a good look. They’re acting like spoiled brats in trying to push the idea that Peters is untrustworthy as a means of running interference against his court proceedings.
They must think people are stupid and have very short memories because most Kiwis know that the Nats ran the Super-leak hit job against Peters. What’s that if it’s not untrustworthy!
The more they hate on Peters the more I like him.
Same
Very bitter and twisted alright – they can’t get over their utter uselessness in failing. They want to blame anyone except themselves – both those links show callous lies and a complete spit in the face for voters. I hope they never get in again.
Glad RNZ and Guyon Espiner gave a racist thug like Ian such a platform to air his views on Checkpoint. Anyone will do if it smears Jacinda and the government, eh Guyon?
Followed by a pitbull attack on Carmel Sepuloni.
Guyon – working for the Tories.
Ed that was a shocking display of naked arrogance from espiner that i was heklling at jhim on TV and got bloody so mad that my blood pressure went over the top[.
I will ask the minister of broadcvasting to sack the prick as he has no place in this public broadcasting platfom that is trying to calm the people and be a kinder, gentler way of treating each other.
Espiner was going and going repeatedly at her it was a shocking display of arrogance he showed toward a sitting M.P.
Get rid of him, and take his mate Suzie Ferguson with him please as she is also very agressive at times though maybe not as bad as Espiiner is.
Kim Hill is the very best NZ has and should be uplifted to a Radio NZ Management position to train these half backed Journo’s to act civily and treat everyone with dignity and respect.
I expect the billionaire press to be biased but not RNZ.
Espiner is a Tory hack and should sell his soul to Murdoch or Reinhart or another rich corporate bludger.
Yep get shod of this despot asap would be good as Espiner is a liability to us all now.
I hate these turncoats like Espiner they are just after money so dont belong in public broadcasting.
Bob Geldof has, correctly, described Aung San Suu Kyi
as a “handmaiden to genocide and accomplice to murder”.
HOWEVER: who’s this consorting with another handmaiden to genocide and accomplice to murder?…..
http://www.channel4.com/media/images/Channel4/c4-news/2013/April/11/geldof_thatcher_g_w.jpg
….and who’s this consorting with another bloody monster?
http://www4.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Bill+Clinton+Bob+Geldof+BILD+OSGAR+Award+1eyJ3BAYqkbl.jpg
Neither Geldof or Bono are in a position to lecture.
We also see the USA turning up for a bit of a meddle – again:
https://www.state.gov/j/drl/p/275396.htm
I picked up an anomolly in labour’s cheif negociator today in Parliament during Q+A which a National MP asked David Parker about his claim that he had got changes made to the ISDS wording.
The minister asked if Parker stuck by his words and then said how come when he was involved in April 2016 over the TPPA settling on wording of that ISDS it was actactly the same wording as parker had agreedto, Parker responded by claiming that “his text related to a different agreement to a new free trade agreement called the CPTPP now?????
So is parker saying that te ISDS he agreed to was different from the one in the TPPA that was signed off by nationalm April 2016????
Can anyone clarify this please as someone is playing games here.
Many reports had been formerly comming out including Jane kelsey’s reviews saying the ISDS was the exact wording in both the TPP 11 and the CPTPP, so I am lost here.
maybe Labour knows something we dont yet???
I will find the hansard report wording on this after this day and post it later tomorrow.
Sounds to me like Parker is playing lawyerly word games. The National MP asked about the wording being the same, and Parker essentially replied – the wording you are referring to was in the TPP whereas the CPTPP is a different agreement altogether.
Basically just smartarse evasive BS.
Not a good start. Following National into lying their arse off. Already.
Thanks CV, yes I heard this exactly also.
“Doublespeak” is common place on both sides even though Jacinda is the ‘champion of ‘honesty’ and ‘truth’.
Jacinda needs to do some house cleaning soon?