Presumably Collins will have to have some sort of reshuffle? If only because her and Brownlees’ responsibilities will need to change. Does she leave Woodhouse in Health? And risk the Heron Inquiry blowing up in their faces? Will Brownlee want Foreign Affairs back? Does she need to placate any other leadership aspirant, maybe Mitchell, especially if the contest was tight? Does she take Education off Kaye?
If Woodhouse had kept his leader informed that he was getting emails from Boag about those in quarantine
Muller would have
1. said nothing about the leak to media, but simply asked Boag who else she had sent information to.
3. then contacted Walker to confirm he had done what he did, taken his roles off him and asked the Party to end his candidacy and publicly called on Boag to resign her membership.
4. there would have been no inquiry. Because Muller would have had it all dealt with.
Instead Woodhouse effectively undermined the party leader.
What sort of leadership carelessness would it take to trust him with Health, or any Cabinet position after this?
Spot on. I expect she will deselect him. He may escape with demotion to a less-important position, if he can justify his behaviour to her on a semi-plausible basis. Unlikely. A lapdog presenting as paper tiger, not a good look for the Nats.
Collins may have been working with Walker, Woodhouse and Boag to humiliate Muller. Muller did not resign for nothing. I cannot prove what I said and if what I say is the case Muller's job became untenable due to the play of dirty politics from within his own caucas.
Yeah right no more dirty politics from the new National leader.
Having a Samoan husband does not make her statements a whit less problematic. Some particularly nasty racists, including Don Brash, the late Paul Holmes and Cameron "Whaleoil" Slater, have all had non-European wives.
I also know some non-European people in prominent positions who utter racist comments day after day, but it seems that racism is a one-way street. Time for what I believe are called the "woke" to realise that until they espouse equality they are themselves inherently racist.
I'm sure that googling WOKE is not beyond your capability Morrissey. As for your assumption re Winston Peters and Duncan Garner, you assume incorrectly.
Marsden Point is being reduced to a shell and they are going to fire hundreds of people.
We are now seeing the second massive loss of very high paying heavy industry jobs in a vulnerable region within a month.
New Zealand's Marsden Point is going to strip away hundreds of jobs, and turn itself from being a full catalytic converter, into something which is just importing bulk fuel straight in to the country.
Marsden Point was opened in 1964 and significantly expanded under the Think Big policy of the late 1970s.
Recently it hasn't been able to compete against the massive refineries in Singapore, Korea and Indonesia.
This means in the worst ever year for job losses in New Zealand since 1929, two of the last heavy-industry high-salary and high-wage businesses are going to leave hundreds of workers on the scrapheap. That's Marsden Point Refinery and Tiwai Point smelter.
When the big salaries go, towns just don't recover. That's our pattern.
Now, it was great to see the government yesterday put in $19.5 million into the long-gestating Ngapha Industrial Park. That's on top of the massive new funding for a dam in Kaikohe. Top work Shane Jones.
But on top of a tourism and travel and airport calamity, we are seeing the last of our heavy industry just die. With that goes much of the remaining power of our only private union with any heft – E Tu.
If NZFirst goes out the back door this election, I sure hope Labour has some plan and some muscular Minister for rebuilding our shattered regions in the next government.
Recently it hasn't been able to compete against the massive refineries in Singapore, Korea and Indonesia.
Those who live by neoliberalism die by the market. However Nat/Labs are extremely thick, so both major parties will campaign on business as usual.
The world has been changed by the pandemic so economic policy must shift in response. Rational political strategy requires that. Shhh! Don't tell National or Labour! They want to promise more neoliberalism, believing that voters will be traumatised by the prospect of `adapt or die'. Cloud-cuckoo land will win.
Labour has generated the strongest regional economc development programme since Muldoon. But top marks for the horseshit false equivalence between National and Labour there.
Thanks Ad, your commentary is more than welcome and you get to the issue in your razor-sharp manner without big words or any other distractions. Keep it up
When I logged in after 10 am there were five comments of yours pending in Pre-Moderation. It helps with the flow if you could do something to avoid this from happening and reoccurring 😉
You miderators should stop my default into pre-mod. Can't be hard to fix.
[lprent: You have a login tagged to that ’email’. It is the one that is used for your posts. Because it is used for posts that requires that you are an author. Authors are required to login.
This is a standing policy to prevent trolls from hijacking logged in identities and is part of the standard security system.
I’m certainly not wasting my precious time to code an special one person rule simply because you don’t seem to want to login despite the number of times that i have tried to point out this issue to you over the lest few years. You’ve been squandering a lot of moderator time.
I’d be more likely to write one that says if there is a conflict with a author login – that the comment goes immediately to trash. That would be simpler for me to do, and would stop you wasting moderator time.
I’m scheduling now for that to happen this weekend. That means you can just pick another ’email’, get the email on the Advantage login changed, or get us to send you a password update to the email you’re using. ]
Us Moderators have no control over that. If we had, I’d done this ages ago, you can take my word for that. I’m trying to help here, if that’s not clear to you; I could leave your comments pending but what good is that? Sort it out with Lprent. Have a nice day, Ad.
Ad, the problem, as I understand it, is that you rarely get your email address correct when you post. The system thinks you are a new commenter and holds your comment until it's manually released. Its a pain for all concerned and it's something only you can fix.
Idiot: Please read my note and respond before the weekend. Otherwise you will find that I will have completely blocked your ability to leave comments using your current handle / email combo.
Good framing. If it were true they'd tell the electorate, I presume. Not having done that so far suggests either they don't believe it is true – or else they have put the truth aside temporarily to use later as a campaign bombshell.
If the latter, I will applaud when they drop that bomb! What I'm getting at is the longer Labour continues to foster the business as usual delusion, the harder it will become for swing voters to discern a difference between National and Labour on the policy front. I agree that the election outcome can be secured via positive framing – and it is also true that the timing for introducing that may not yet be nigh.
True or false? The truth? Labour=//=National? So-called ‘if’ and similar conditional statements are often a portal to binary thinking. It takes years of practice to avoid minimise these traps that are inherent to our language and thinking.
Indeed. Jacinda could tell the media that the truth about whether her govt is maintaining neoliberalism or reinventing socialism is attainable via both/and logic. Which she would then have to explain, of course.
"Well, back when I was studying politics 1.01, the tutor defined the truth as depending on your point of view. So if I'm doing a speech to a business audience, I explain that the truth is that we support business as usual. If I'm talking to social justice warriors, I explain that the truth is that my government is transformational. Simple."
“So if I'm doing a speech to a business audience and if I'm talking to social justice warriors, I say “simple” at lot, because life is simple or it is not, and that’s the truth, as I see it.”
Yeah, to audiences of the simple-minded, she needs to send the right signal. Always pitch to the level they operate at!
In life situations that are not simple (such as climate change), best to use complicated. Labour spent too many years avoiding that necessity (and the entire topic) but have moved on, to our eternal relief…
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
Who/what are “audiences of the simple-minded”? Are you saying she should aim for the lowest denominator, like MSM do, and dumb down and turn off the vast majority of people who hang for non-binary analysis and thinking? Is that what you do here?
I’d like to think that JA knows how to do communications but I find her aspirational platitudes wanting. Labour’s slogan doesn’t do it for me but I guess I’m too simple-minded to appreciate its message.
She's a natural communicator. I was riffing off the handicap imposed on her by her group belief system & the constraints of representative democracy. You've observed how an ideology will warp a group of adherents toward simple-mindedness, eh?
Coalition-building requires different messaging for different groups, so the trick then is to strike a balance between authenticity and diplomacy. Diplomats make peace by developing a sense of common ground that competing groups can then share. MMP takes that old political praxis into a more sophisticated cultural context. So a successful political leader has to transcend the partisan stance acquired via adherence to the group belief system.
Venturing outside the comfort zone is a challenge, but is the path towards states(wo)manship for a politician. To win (ie get the numbers on board) the leader must talk to the out-group in a language they understand. Works better when the emotional sub-text is inclusive. Then an inclusive framing is easier to articulate.
Now to any true believer in any group, such transcendent sophistication looks deeply suspicious! I see her as having the innate ability to do it well – while moving up the learning curve on the job. Some situations get finessed easily, others not. Some she can't finesse for a while, so we wait…
Closing down Marsden Point will also prove a strategic blunder.
Right now we are seeing China deepening it's relationship with Iran, with view to replacing the USA as the dominant force within the Middle East. At some point within the next five years a proxy war between Saudi and Iran is highly likely. That of course will disrupt oil supply to this part of the world, and throwing away operational flexibility at this stage is unthinking and dumb.
The further down the petro-chem supply chain we are, the fewer options we have in the face of disruption. Which directly translates into strategic vulnerability.
I know it would be nice not to be importing oil at all, but that's not going to be our reality for several more decades.
Much harder to get critical products such as plastics and tar for roads.
Also we are such a tiny market. Anyone can say we've got contracts that enable security of supply … but OMG if the petrochemical supply lines start to fracture through further anti-China and anti-Iran trade actions those contracts could get tested.
All fine talking about the evils of globalisation until the alternative swings around. We are one of the most oil-reliant and oil-vulnerable countries in the entire planet.
Marsden Point was a critical part of Think Big – which was a response to the oil supply and oil price crisis of the late 1970s. It could easily come around again.
Much harder to get critical products such as plastics and tar for roads.
QFT
Most people only think of car fuel and seldom of the myriads of petrochemicals and derived products (derivatives) from oil. Of course, chemicals = bad too.
But is there anyone converting raw feedstocks into plastics in New Zealand? All the plastics material supply chains I've had anything to do with sourced everything from overseas in a state at least one stage beyond oil or gas feedstocks.
A simple crushing process is a long way removed from the sophisticated tightly controlled reactors and catalysts needed to turn oils and gases into usable plastics.
So, a bunch of chemists and engineers to research, develop and produce the machinery to carry it out. After that, some skilled techs to maintain that machinery.
Someone who knows what they're dealing with can pin where the process went wrong, and why. An operator or maintenance technician is on the back foot.
Or as a story I read recently put it: a firm's engineer retired after thirty years. A few years later their line was screwing up, and their technicians couldn't fix it or even figure out what the problem was. So they brought back the old tech, who sat in the plant for a day just watching the machines. at the end of the day, he put a chalk "X" on a particular unit, and said "replace that". Line worked fine after that. Billed them $50k. The accounts department saw $50k for a day's work, and demanded an itemised invoice. he supplied "Chalk to make an X: $1. Knowing where to put the X: $49,999". they paid the bill.
Obviously badly designed hardware that hadn't been upgraded in thirty years resulting in specialised knowledge that shouldn't have been necessary
The old geezer failed to pass on that knowledge including helping get the part redesigned as part of his job
The management, being cheapskates, failed to have the part redesigned and replaced in thirty years because we can guarantee that they knew about it being sub par
We also can no longer make the engines for the Saturn V first stage. The skills necessary simply do not exist any more. But we can build a better engine. This is the nature of progress – it gets rid of the kinks and foibles that old, inefficient methods used.
You tale is a story about the woes of failing to develop further.
It’s called tacit knowledge for a reason. Doctors have it in spades, for example.
It involves the processing of numerous data into information, interpretation, and conclusion that informs targeted and effective action.
A process plant (or manned rocket) can only have so many sensors and data points feeding data into a central processor unit that models its performance (indicators) but not necessarily the process as such.
@DTB: Don't know if the part was 30 years old. Just that the engineer knew the system comprehensively, how it was supposed to all work together, anhd could pick the point in the process where the fail was originating.
Funny you were talking about rocket engines. Saturn V had one job, and each item was used once. A better example would be the space shuttle: that was largely automated. Would you like your trip to space refurbished by technicians maintaining parts, or would you like actual rocket scientists participating in the process?
Just that the engineer knew the system comprehensively, how it was supposed to all work together, anhd could pick the point in the process where the fail was originating.
And he could do that because it had happened before. As I said, he was called back because he failed to do his job properly in the first place by passing on his knowledge to both his replacements and the developers who would be looking to make improvements. Of course, that would probably have something to do with management cutting costs by cutting training as well.
Would you like your trip to space refurbished by technicians maintaining parts, or would you like actual rocket scientists participating in the process?
The rocket scientists wouldn't go anywhere near maintaining the parts. Same as they didn't go anywhere near building the Saturn V rocket engines. If they had we may still be able to produce them because they would have known all the tweaks the welders used.
Once the prototype is made and working then building and maintaining is what technicians do, not the researchers.
It wasn't the engineer's job to train technicians into being engineers.
You can design field-expedient tests for welds, etc. The half-coffee-cup is a classic for concrete.
But even then, you need someone more than a "technician" to figure out what's wrong if it fails the test.
If welders were materially-altering saturnV with undocumented tweaks, that means the design was flawed.
The real reason we can't duplicate a Saturn V is that nobody wants to pay billions of dollars to crochet-code obsolete ROM databanks out of copper wire and magnets.
And I'd want rocket scientists looking at why components failed, rather than just replacing them. And knowing when the tile-shedding was at an anomalous level.
It wasn't the engineer's job to train technicians into being engineers.
Yes it is and the engineer spent thirty years acting as a technician then. Because that's all he was doing from you said in story – looking after the machinery. Its where he got his knowledge of what was wrong.
If welders were materially-altering saturnV with undocumented tweaks, that means the design was flawed.
The real reason we can't duplicate a Saturn V is that nobody wants to pay billions of dollars to crochet-code obsolete ROM databanks out of copper wire and magnets.
Watch the video. It's about the Saturn V engines. My mistake for thinking that you'd watch the true story while relying on hearsay.
And I'd want rocket scientists looking at why components failed, rather than just replacing them.
But how are they supposed to do that if the techs don't tell them or the management fails to have the scientists work on it as what happened in your story?
Your story isn't about how we need highly skilled techs (which we do) but how the whole system failed because they became reliant upon a single technician.
lol your video is better titled "rocket scientists didn't want to learn welding".
If they threw billions at it like they did in the 1960s, they'd have F1s. The idea that the skills don't exist anywhere on the planet currently, and can't be relearned, is farcical. They just didn't want to spend that much on a scoping project for one option.
Sure, the company was overly reliant on one engineer. That's not the engineer's fault. But more specifically, the technicians knew how to change and service parts, but they didn't have the deeper knowledge their jobs required.
The idea that when designing is done, only technicians are required to service an automated plant is naive in the extreme.
We were originally talking about a full refinery, with cracking and all that other crap going on. If the plant is running at nominal levels but is producing junk, you need materials scientists and chemists to figure out why the process is going bung. It might not even be the machinery at all – maybe a source material is melamined to make it look spec when it isn't, like milk powder. Your automated plant technicians wouldn't detect that, or be able to document exactly how and why it's fucked, would they.
a great story and something that occurs more often than realised at many levels.
The questions it demands however include, what if that retired engineer had died or emigrated …..how often is the line made functional but not optimal by lesser staff?….can we function while the required skills are developed?
Or even "are we replacing this guy with someone of equivalent abilities?"
Many militaries are bloody good at those questions – the basics of having clear training paths so that people can step in and the step up isn't usually too high. Waiting until the skills need to be developed is too late to develop the skills.
If the engineer had died or emigrated, that line would have been a rusty suck on the company's operations and resources until they spent probably millions to upgrade facilities. Because the problem was a subtle one to diagnose, and people who didn't know the system and production process inside and out were merely maintaining it to someone else's service list.
Yes, We will lose some corporate players who are shrinking their bases in reaction to the world scene. This Government has been proactive in redirection training and support. That will continue as it is policy.
The whole world is being impacted badly with failing business models in the face of covid, and a test of leadership strength and community cohesion.
We will do better in a cooperative community, this is a war on an invisible strengthening virus with requires working together to overcome the problems it causes.
If we let the virus back in, we will not be able to direct our resources to problems like Marsden Point and Tiwai. Working with the communities to find a way forward is a strength of this government, and they have the confidence of the community.
So I would be interested to hear what you think of the "new" Leadership of National, and what they could do better.
I read your "worries" you express here with interest and see them as flags of possible or real problems.
if we follow that to its logical extension then we need fossil fuels too and we're basically saying that we can't be arsed saving the world because we think we should have a certain standard of living that's considerably above what we need. Whoops, sorry grandkids.
Ad, when I lived in Australia, the Govt there decided on importing pre refined fuel from Singapore, several of the refineries were closed, some were at the end of their life from zero investment over a long period anyway. but not long before I left, the Govt suddenly realised the country only had around 7 days supply at any one time, any interuption to shipping deliveries would bring the country to stand still.
There is a lot value in being self sufficient, even if the cost is slightly higher.
So Collins is going to "crush " Jacinda and the Labour Party, don't anyone remind her that the last time she set out to crush something she and that other Mastermind of the Century Tolley were out-thought by a 17 year old Southland bogan with his cap on back to front who simply swapped the plates from his car onto a stripped wreck and sold the original to a mate.
Collins is now the proud possessor of a stripped wreck.
Or has act mobilized the fringe nutters from the gun toting, 5g anti 1080 fb pages.
The competition is fierce in that corner and they’re not just fighting over crumbs either. A cunning charismatic leader could magnify this and use it to gain considerable political power. It has happened in many other (Western) countries and NZ is not immune to it despite the fact that we think we are. The naivety in/of NZ is breath taking sometimes and we’re way too laid back (i.e. not vigilant enough) to see what could be happening in our own backyards and do something about it in a constructive and pre-emptive way. Race relations could be a trigger point, it often is.
Channel One breakfast show had a slew of emails in and all were praising Collins and saying about time National got its act together. What surprised me was most of the emails were from females. My goodness me we have a lot of red neck rwnj's in NZ. It sent a cold shiver down my spine. If this is going to be the types rolling up to the polling booths then our future is not looking good.
I can see borders relaxed, community transmission occurring and business as usual if National win this next election. The elderly and immunity compromised folk will be anxious. I feel quite depressed really this morning. What a duo they make – a nightmare scenario.
Channel One breakfast show had a slew of emails in and all were praising Collins…
National – or a group inside it – have always been very good at organising mass responses to events concerning themselves. In the good old days (?) it used to be by talk-back phone calls but now its emails.
Well the Nats have set a high standard of expectation re keeping Covid out (through criticism of Labour), and there is overwhelming support of our Covid free status, National/Collins & Act thrive on fear and paranoia. Just got to trust Adern is up to the task, and our fellow NZrs aren't as short sighted as the RW would like us to believe.It's a smart move by National, but they've shown they're accident prone, watch this space.
We do forget there's a pandemic going on, USA is just beginning to take it seriously, and clearly there health service here still fear it will re emerge here.
Isn't Ardern wonderful the way she almost ignores Collins saying she is not focussed on facing off with her, just the Covid 19 response. way to go Jacinda.
Anyone else bother by Collins "we'll take the country back" rhetoric. Anyone told them the country doesn't belong to them.
BTW I know James comes here to troll. I am proposing we all adopt a one word one line response to him and rinse and repeat. Any thoughts my friends on the Standard
BTW I know James comes here to troll. I am proposing we all adopt a one word one line response to him and rinse and repeat. Any thoughts my friends on the Standard
Deal with his comments in a proper way or ignore them. When he becomes too much of a frustrating troll who disrupts the flow too much, he’ll get a warning from the Moderators. In my perspective, James is not a big issue here on TS.
No reason to apologise, you did nothing wrong. You and I have different opinions on how to call out and/or deal with trolls, which is fine. Insults are not the most constructive way, if there’s one at all 😉
I was surprised we didn't have regional lockdowns in the first wave tbh, but I guess we were on top of things enough that we didn't need to. Seems a fairly straight forward thing to manage in much of NZ (SI at least), but agree we should be preparing.
Did you get a sense of whether this is because they're planning for community outbreaks due to opening borders a bit at some point? They're saying they want to keep the borders tight, so maybe the regional lockdown plan is just the next step in the long term plan now that they've got space to think about that.
what's going to happen? That we open our borders sufficiently wide to whatever, accept community transmission and thus need to adapt to ongoing regional and local lockdowns?
Community transmission is going to happen. Inevitable, as it only takes one slip up. No border protection system can ever be 100% foolproof or be adhered to 100% of the time.
Sooner or later we have to open the border door a little, and the longer the pandemic goes on, the wider that opening will need to be to ensure our economic survival.
Even when a vaccine appears (and it will) or effective antibody therapy is available (which it will, and before the vaccine), there inevitably will be outbreaks as vaccinating the entire population can only ever be a long term strategy, and antibody therapy and vaccines will only target the most at risk groups initially.
So yes, of course the government is planning for inevitable community outbreaks, and that is good.
I think it was Chris T who said that we were still covid-free just down to luck. I disagree: we do actually have some effect over the odds.
It's not like a sensitive explosive, where dropping it once all but guarantees a massive detonation. Some slips are more likely to result in a transmission than others, and quite a few slips would be required for an untracable "community transmission".
Perfection is the goal, but is not essential. As long as we keep logging our contacts, keep the isolation breaches low and short, and wear masks if we have a cold, then we can keep pushing that inevitable failure further down the road. And when it finally hits, hopefully by then there will be a vaccine or effective treatments.
But that's life: pushing the inevitable as far off as possible, so hopefully we're ready for it when death finally comes 🙂
Sooner or later we have to open the border door a little, and the longer the pandemic goes on, the wider that opening will need to be to ensure our economic survival.
We don't need trade to ensure our economic survival but we may need to develop our economy rather than remain dependent upon a few categories.
Not enough of us are engaging with the contact tracing app. (Guilty). Ardern not happy about that. The message I got is that if/when there are further instances of community transmission then Lockdown of varying levels/locations. If the App was being used by more people more widely then more localised lockdowns more likely. Or sign ins, diary keeping etc. I guess we've got a little casual.
We were told to 'go and see the country', and I know our whanau is one of many who have engaged with this. Time will tell if we were all a little premature. A neighbour's moko, visiting from Auckland, gave me a spontaneous hug yesterday…only later did I question the wisdom of not treating the wee one as a plague carrier.
When they sort out the various privacy issues with the app contact tracing, I'll get behind it. So far the message I've received is 'trust us we know what we are doing'. Yeah, nah.
I did start a system on my laptop for manually tracing where I have been. Something I would feel ok handing over to the MoH. I live in the rural SI though, so it feels remote cognitively despite my telling myself it's important.
Unless we get really unlucky, I assume our next wave will be small clusters that don't spread very far because we get on top of them quickly, even with our clunky system.
It is scenario modelling,with what policy do we need if there is a breach of cordon,and subsequent community transmission.
Risk management 101.
Opening border controls is a self harm problem,both increasing risk to the general population and those politicians who desire to become extinct at the next election cycle.
Makes sense now that things are settling down to signal this future proofing. Still don't have a good sense of what the govt is intending with the border though, lots of opinions on that one.
In a better world he would have the level of prominence that the boofhead school of presenters, reporters (no longer journalists in the true sense), and Nat mouths for hire have.
Actually it is, and I hope that the current government has the same intention. Growing earnings to pay off debt is business 101. That's why business is usually heavily leveraged upon debt.
Whether that can be achieved of course is another story.
Chinas rapid growth over the last 30 years was based on the same principle: low taxes, increasing social services, and debt being swallowed up by increasing earnings. It worked well for them.
On the face of it that is logical but a bit simplistic issn't it? There are variables and consequences for people by ignoring the effects on single minded pursuits.
they have learned nothing from either the great depression nor the EU response to the GFC…..and should be the biggest single warning to anyone considering where to place their vote in mere weeks time
Rowling better keep her gob shut. In books you might be able to have a discussion, even an argument and some light may be shed on the matter. Enter reality and facts and discussion are about as welcome as Voldemoort.
… facts and discussion are about as welcome as Voldemoort.
They certainly are as far as J.K. Rowling is concerned—as shown by her decision to join in the Blairite rump's defamation campaign against Jeremy Corbyn.
Morrissey’s doing an awesome job with his tweets from two years ago. It is also completely irrelevant to the OP or discussion thread and one of his many diversions down the Breen rabbit hole.
Sorry to disappoint you, my friend, but reading Dan Brown is not on this writer's To Do list. Mind you, it's more likely than my attempting to read anything by that moral reprobate J.K. Rowling.
Perhaps "If Judith and Jerry are the answer …" where feijoa at comment 44 implied a comparison of JuDarth to Umbridge? I think that's where I originally saw it.
He can say that with a straight face? After what they've been through? Muller was the best guy for the job a couple days ago. Let them nail their stripes to the wall, they might be going more rightward than Act.
When you have little diversity in your ranks, and similarly a problem with competence in the ranks, then Brownlee is right- they're hard to balance…… with anything. As for diversity in thought- yep, as that can mean anything from belief in flying saucers and one world government to some semblance of reality, I'm sure the National caucus has that in spades.
There's a story doing the rounds which, if true, does bring more sense to Muller's sudden resignation. No. I'm not saying anything further unless it is confirmed, but it might have a bearing on the kid glove handling of Woodhouse.
I also note Collins couldn't wait 24 hrs before twisting the knife in Boag's back. Not a defence of Boag but there's been bad blood between Boag and Collins dating back to Dirty Politics at the least.
I honestly thought (and predicted on here) she would sack him, no messing around.
Instead she's given Woodhouse a non-demotion, simply shuffling portfolios. Then she sings his praises at the media conference.
It will be spun as "leadership", just like Muller dealing with Walker. But in both cases it was the bare minimum, it is what you do when you have no option but to act.
She did offer up some foolish hostages to fortune, though. Confident no other MPs involved (we'll see) and – stupidly – described the fake homeless guy as "a legitimate story".
Got to feel for Puckish Rogue. His dreams come true while he's banned from talking about it. Nerve wracking though, will St Jude perform well or be the next Nat leader to jump in the dumpster fire?
My guess is that PR won’t remember why he was banned and that he had a choice between apologising and being banned. An apology counts for nothing if the behaviour hasn’t changed. Let me have a go:
edit
The tendering system for transport is just an attack wreaked on ordinary micro to small business by well-paid denizens of the neolib economic system. The Wellington city example is a shocking example.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/421243/new-school-bus-tendering-a-phenomenal-cock-up-bus-and-coach-association-boss-says
This about school buses is one of the bad examples of the cruel though supposedly wise system that is meant to create maximum efficiency at the lowest cost but which is wasteful of assets such as in this bus owner compliant with the demands made for school transport, being replaced by another bus which had to be fitted out similarly. Two buses, two entities competing on the West Coast SI. The bus owner-operator who had brought the bus to standard, was doing the job well, lived in the district, was dropped because some big company could undercut her/him for the mainly school run.
I am sick at the economic system that politicians and mindless Treasury and right-wing economists have got us into. We have opened up our doors to the world inviting the buggers in with open arms, not even trying to make exclusive deals that could have saved something of our nation's enterprise and keep profits here. Why when we are small and the world population is measured in billions?
If we can find a knight on a white horse or any other colour, to do something let him/her come forward. Even a mock attack on Parliament would be publicity – Don Quixotes we would be no doubt, with Sancho Panzas along. But to continue being walked on only encourages the twisted misters and sisters. Let's have a hollow laugh at the Black Knight Who Never Gives Up; are we stuck with this role? Put Treasury in King Arthur's position, and you can see they aren't 'armless.
You're a funny one to talk about code Gabby with your little messages. They read the opposite to mine rather longer ones, you leave out about every two words. It's very sporting of you to get Ad's brain working so well these days.
Hi,I wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing.This is perhaps a selfish act, of attempting to find others feeling a similar way to me — that is to say, a little hopeless at the moment.Misery loves company, that sort of deal.Some context.I wish I could say I got ...
I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
“The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...
Buzz from the Beehive It’s been a momentous few days for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which blocked a summons order from the Waitangi Tribunal for her. And today she has announced the Government is putting children first by introducing to ...
In 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – According to the respected Pew Research Centre, “In seven of eight [European] countries surveyed, the most trusted news outlet asked about is the public news organization in each country”. For example, “in Sweden, an overwhelming majority (90%) say they trust the public broadcaster SVT”. ...
David Farrar writes – Kata MacNamara reports: Details of Tony Blakely’s involvement in the New Zealand Government’s response to the pandemic raise serious questions about the work of the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry over which he presides. It has long been clear that Blakely, a ...
Chris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...
RNZ reports – It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...
To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...
Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
Back in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...
Buzz from the BeehiveTolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ report: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the Electoral Commission should make sure the system ran smoothly and “taking away the right of thousands of people to vote” was not the answer. “Thousands of people enroled and voted on the day. If ...
Don Brash writes – There was a rather revealing headline in the Herald on Sunday today (12 May). It read “One in 8 Auckland homes on market were bought during boom, may now sell for loss”. The first line of text noted that “New data shows one in ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – At a time when universities are understandably nervous regarding the establishment of the University Advisory Group (UAG) and the Science System Advisory Group (SSAG) it may seem strange – or even fool-hardy – to state that there are long-standing issues in the tertiary sector ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – A lack of perspective can make something quite large or important seem small or irrelevant. Against a backdrop of high-profile, negative statistics it is easy to overlook the positive. For instance, the fact that 64 percent of Maori are employed is rarely reported. For ...
Earlier this year, the Herald ran a series of articles amounting to a sustained campaign against raised pedestrian crossings, by reporter Bernard Orsman. A key part of that campaign concerned the raised crossings being installed as part of the Pt Chevalier to Westmere project, with at least 10 articles over ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 19 include:PM Christopher Luxon is expected to hold his weekly post-cabinet news conference at 4:00pm on Monday.Parliament is not sitting this week. It resumes next week for a two-week sitting session up to and ...
Hi,Thanks to all the beautiful Worms who came to the LA Webworm popup on Saturday.It was a way to celebrate the online store we launched last week — and it was super special.As I talk about a lot, I really value our community here — and it was a BLAST ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 5, 2024 thru Sat, May 11, 2024. (Unfortunate) Story of the week "Grief that stops at despair is an ending that I and many others, most notably ...
Last night the largest solar storm in decades resulted in Aurorae being seen across Aotearoa, causing many to ask why?Why was the sky pink? What was all this stuff about the power grid? Have we, as so many have wondered since the election, reached the end of days?I had a ...
We have been on the road in England, squeezing down narrow lanes, flying up the M6, loving hedgerows and villages and cathedrals, liking the 21st century less.There have been moments when it’s felt like a movie trope. The pub in Exford, lovely seventeenth century bar, almost more dogs than people, ...
There’s a solar-storm on at the moment, and since the South Island is having a day and night with clear skies, that means Aurorae. I have just got back from a midnight visit to Tunnel Beach – southwards-looking over the Sea, and without the light pollution. Quite a few others ...
Michael Bassett writes – I’m not sure that it’s much comfort to anyone to know that the post-Covid surge in violent crimes, gang activity, ram raids, random shootings, thuggery and stabbings is occurring in other countries as well as New Zealand. These days, wagging school, out-of-control welfare and ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – Cast your mind back to mid-December. A new Prime Minister had just been sworn in, the new Government started its 100-day programme, and Christmas was only days away.Amid all the haste, a report landed that would have deserved our attention.I am talking about the ...
TL;DR: An unseasonally early icy blast at the same time as some long-overdue maintenance almost caused Aotearoa-NZ’s electricity system to black out this week. That’s because a quadropoly of gentailers1 have prioritised paying dividends from their rising profits and adding debt over investing in 1.5 GigaWatts of new wind farms ...
Hi,Before we crack into today’s Webworm, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that Israel is pushing into Rafah. Over 100,000 Palestinians are now attempting to flee the one place that was deemed “safe”.Trouble is, the place they’re fleeing to is already destroyed. Total annihilation is the end goal here.“Israel is ...
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
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What happens when cash is king – and then your bank leaves. A businessman in a town that hasn’t had a bank for three years says the Reserve Bank’s plans to put more cash in the hands of its people and introduce digital cash could save hours of time. John ...
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Presumably Collins will have to have some sort of reshuffle? If only because her and Brownlees’ responsibilities will need to change. Does she leave Woodhouse in Health? And risk the Heron Inquiry blowing up in their faces? Will Brownlee want Foreign Affairs back? Does she need to placate any other leadership aspirant, maybe Mitchell, especially if the contest was tight? Does she take Education off Kaye?
My thoughts exactly Scott.
Now the Nastys have this strong leader they desire, will she have the courage to move Woodhouse on?
If Woodhouse had kept his leader informed that he was getting emails from Boag about those in quarantine
Muller would have
1. said nothing about the leak to media, but simply asked Boag who else she had sent information to.
3. then contacted Walker to confirm he had done what he did, taken his roles off him and asked the Party to end his candidacy and publicly called on Boag to resign her membership.
4. there would have been no inquiry. Because Muller would have had it all dealt with.
Instead Woodhouse effectively undermined the party leader.
What sort of leadership carelessness would it take to trust him with Health, or any Cabinet position after this?
Spot on. I expect she will deselect him. He may escape with demotion to a less-important position, if he can justify his behaviour to her on a semi-plausible basis. Unlikely. A lapdog presenting as paper tiger, not a good look for the Nats.
What you say is clear.
But
Collins may have been working with Walker, Woodhouse and Boag to humiliate Muller. Muller did not resign for nothing. I cannot prove what I said and if what I say is the case Muller's job became untenable due to the play of dirty politics from within his own caucas.
Yeah right no more dirty politics from the new National leader.
unstated
2. Why nothing from Boag to him to keep Muller informed, he was the last to know anything.
Woodhouse was team Bridges. Boag supported Kaye part of the Muller ticket.
While the enemy of your enemy is a stepping stone along the path of dirty politics, for mine Boag made an error of judgment, Woodhouse …
Irrelevant now, which team was Walker on?
Hopefully Heron will interview Muller and Muller could disclose why he did not disclose Woodhouse telling him earlier on.
Judith said she is done with Dirty Politics, and the band played, believe it if you like.
Jane Patterson on Morning Report saying just now that she wouldn’t commit to keeping Woodhouse in Health.
Imagine the industrial scale loathing between Collins and Bridges after she betrayed him against Muller as she maneuvered her way to this point?
Collins not particularly good on radio at no
Doubling down on "Is there something wrong with being white?"
And "my husband's a Samoan" as if that absolves her of having a very white front bench
Having a Samoan husband does not make her statements a whit less problematic. Some particularly nasty racists, including Don Brash, the late Paul Holmes and Cameron "Whaleoil" Slater, have all had non-European wives.
I also know some non-European people in prominent positions who utter racist comments day after day, but it seems that racism is a one-way street. Time for what I believe are called the "woke" to realise that until they espouse equality they are themselves inherently racist.
I also know some non-European people in prominent positions who utter racist comments day after day,
You're thinking of Winston Peters and Duncan Garner, I take it.
… but it seems that racism is a one-way street.
Who suggests that?
Time for what I believe are called the "woke" to realise that until they espouse equality they are themselves inherently racist.
Could you elaborate, please? What do you mean by "the woke"?
I'm sure that googling WOKE is not beyond your capability Morrissey. As for your assumption re Winston Peters and Duncan Garner, you assume incorrectly.
Next question: what is “googling”?
Marsden Point is being reduced to a shell and they are going to fire hundreds of people.
We are now seeing the second massive loss of very high paying heavy industry jobs in a vulnerable region within a month.
New Zealand's Marsden Point is going to strip away hundreds of jobs, and turn itself from being a full catalytic converter, into something which is just importing bulk fuel straight in to the country.
Marsden Point was opened in 1964 and significantly expanded under the Think Big policy of the late 1970s.
Recently it hasn't been able to compete against the massive refineries in Singapore, Korea and Indonesia.
This means in the worst ever year for job losses in New Zealand since 1929, two of the last heavy-industry high-salary and high-wage businesses are going to leave hundreds of workers on the scrapheap. That's Marsden Point Refinery and Tiwai Point smelter.
When the big salaries go, towns just don't recover. That's our pattern.
Now, it was great to see the government yesterday put in $19.5 million into the long-gestating Ngapha Industrial Park. That's on top of the massive new funding for a dam in Kaikohe. Top work Shane Jones.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2007/S00117/government-backs-northland-innovation-and-enterprise-park.htm
Here's the kind of business they are seeking to attract there.
https://ngawhapark.nz/
But on top of a tourism and travel and airport calamity, we are seeing the last of our heavy industry just die. With that goes much of the remaining power of our only private union with any heft – E Tu.
If NZFirst goes out the back door this election, I sure hope Labour has some plan and some muscular Minister for rebuilding our shattered regions in the next government.
Recently it hasn't been able to compete against the massive refineries in Singapore, Korea and Indonesia.
Those who live by neoliberalism die by the market. However Nat/Labs are extremely thick, so both major parties will campaign on business as usual.
The world has been changed by the pandemic so economic policy must shift in response. Rational political strategy requires that. Shhh! Don't tell National or Labour! They want to promise more neoliberalism, believing that voters will be traumatised by the prospect of `adapt or die'. Cloud-cuckoo land will win.
This government has pursued regional economic development more aggressively than any government since Muldoon.
They are full Keynesians.
Their projects are smaller than the Think Big ones, but there's hundreds of them, ticketing multiple billions of dollars.
But sure, go full false equivalence on National and Labour. It's simply not supportable.
Labour has generated the strongest regional economc development programme since Muldoon. But top marks for the horseshit false equivalence between National and Labour there.
Thanks Ad, your commentary is more than welcome and you get to the issue in your razor-sharp manner without big words or any other distractions. Keep it up
When I logged in after 10 am there were five comments of yours pending in Pre-Moderation. It helps with the flow if you could do something to avoid this from happening and reoccurring 😉
You miderators should stop my default into pre-mod. Can't be hard to fix.
[lprent: You have a login tagged to that ’email’. It is the one that is used for your posts. Because it is used for posts that requires that you are an author. Authors are required to login.
This is a standing policy to prevent trolls from hijacking logged in identities and is part of the standard security system.
I’m certainly not wasting my precious time to code an special one person rule simply because you don’t seem to want to login despite the number of times that i have tried to point out this issue to you over the lest few years. You’ve been squandering a lot of moderator time.
I’d be more likely to write one that says if there is a conflict with a author login – that the comment goes immediately to trash. That would be simpler for me to do, and would stop you wasting moderator time.
I’m scheduling now for that to happen this weekend. That means you can just pick another ’email’, get the email on the Advantage login changed, or get us to send you a password update to the email you’re using. ]
Us Moderators have no control over that. If we had, I’d done this ages ago, you can take my word for that. I’m trying to help here, if that’s not clear to you; I could leave your comments pending but what good is that? Sort it out with Lprent. Have a nice day, Ad.
Us Moderators have no control over that…
CORRECTION: We Moderators have no control over that…
You've just been served by the Grammar Police ©, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
get a life
get a life
The Grammar Police © might take issue with your rather cavalier approach to capitalization and punctuation, but I've been told to go easy on you this time.
Ad, the problem, as I understand it, is that you rarely get your email address correct when you post. The system thinks you are a new commenter and holds your comment until it's manually released. Its a pain for all concerned and it's something only you can fix.
But it's the same automated email pops in.
Can't be that.
I suspect its the same incorrect automated email, Ad. Might be the hyphen?
It is the same email as your author login.
You either have use a different 'email', or you have to login.
if you don't want to log in, you can make up an email address.
ad@gmail.com would work for instance.
Idiot: Please read my note and respond before the weekend. Otherwise you will find that I will have completely blocked your ability to leave comments using your current handle / email combo.
Good framing. If it were true they'd tell the electorate, I presume. Not having done that so far suggests either they don't believe it is true – or else they have put the truth aside temporarily to use later as a campaign bombshell.
If the latter, I will applaud when they drop that bomb! What I'm getting at is the longer Labour continues to foster the business as usual delusion, the harder it will become for swing voters to discern a difference between National and Labour on the policy front. I agree that the election outcome can be secured via positive framing – and it is also true that the timing for introducing that may not yet be nigh.
True or false? The truth? Labour=//=National? So-called ‘if’ and similar conditional statements are often a portal to binary thinking. It takes years of practice to
avoidminimise these traps that are inherent to our language and thinking.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_opposition
Indeed. Jacinda could tell the media that the truth about whether her govt is maintaining neoliberalism or reinventing socialism is attainable via both/and logic. Which she would then have to explain, of course.
"Well, back when I was studying politics 1.01, the tutor defined the truth as depending on your point of view. So if I'm doing a speech to a business audience, I explain that the truth is that we support business as usual. If I'm talking to social justice warriors, I explain that the truth is that my government is transformational. Simple."
“So if I'm doing a speech to a business audience and if I'm talking to social justice warriors, I say “simple” at lot, because life is simple or it is not, and that’s the truth, as I see it.”
Yeah, to audiences of the simple-minded, she needs to send the right signal. Always pitch to the level they operate at!
In life situations that are not simple (such as climate change), best to use complicated. Labour spent too many years avoiding that necessity (and the entire topic) but have moved on, to our eternal relief…
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
Who/what are “audiences of the simple-minded”? Are you saying she should aim for the lowest denominator, like MSM do, and dumb down and turn off the vast majority of people who hang for non-binary analysis and thinking? Is that what you do here?
I’d like to think that JA knows how to do communications but I find her aspirational platitudes wanting. Labour’s slogan doesn’t do it for me but I guess I’m too simple-minded to appreciate its message.
She's a natural communicator. I was riffing off the handicap imposed on her by her group belief system & the constraints of representative democracy. You've observed how an ideology will warp a group of adherents toward simple-mindedness, eh?
Coalition-building requires different messaging for different groups, so the trick then is to strike a balance between authenticity and diplomacy. Diplomats make peace by developing a sense of common ground that competing groups can then share. MMP takes that old political praxis into a more sophisticated cultural context. So a successful political leader has to transcend the partisan stance acquired via adherence to the group belief system.
Venturing outside the comfort zone is a challenge, but is the path towards states(wo)manship for a politician. To win (ie get the numbers on board) the leader must talk to the out-group in a language they understand. Works better when the emotional sub-text is inclusive. Then an inclusive framing is easier to articulate.
Now to any true believer in any group, such transcendent sophistication looks deeply suspicious! I see her as having the innate ability to do it well – while moving up the learning curve on the job. Some situations get finessed easily, others not. Some she can't finesse for a while, so we wait…
That explains it well.
Closing down Marsden Point will also prove a strategic blunder.
Right now we are seeing China deepening it's relationship with Iran, with view to replacing the USA as the dominant force within the Middle East. At some point within the next five years a proxy war between Saudi and Iran is highly likely. That of course will disrupt oil supply to this part of the world, and throwing away operational flexibility at this stage is unthinking and dumb.
How would taking in refined oil, rather than unrefined oil make us more vulnerable?
A local manufacturer only sells to NZ.
international refiners don't have to supply us.
Also the heavy products like plastics and tar for roads will be harder to source.
As the world rapidly decouples out of globalisation, local control of key resource is going to magnify all our security issues.
The further down the petro-chem supply chain we are, the fewer options we have in the face of disruption. Which directly translates into strategic vulnerability.
I know it would be nice not to be importing oil at all, but that's not going to be our reality for several more decades.
Much harder to get critical products such as plastics and tar for roads.
Also we are such a tiny market. Anyone can say we've got contracts that enable security of supply … but OMG if the petrochemical supply lines start to fracture through further anti-China and anti-Iran trade actions those contracts could get tested.
All fine talking about the evils of globalisation until the alternative swings around. We are one of the most oil-reliant and oil-vulnerable countries in the entire planet.
Marsden Point was a critical part of Think Big – which was a response to the oil supply and oil price crisis of the late 1970s. It could easily come around again.
QFT
Most people only think of car fuel and seldom of the myriads of petrochemicals and derived products (derivatives) from oil. Of course, chemicals = bad too.
For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrochemical
Bitumen for roading for sure.
But is there anyone converting raw feedstocks into plastics in New Zealand? All the plastics material supply chains I've had anything to do with sourced everything from overseas in a state at least one stage beyond oil or gas feedstocks.
I know a bloke who set up his factory to crunch waste glass as mixture for roading. Still need tar I guess but a direction to take.
A simple crushing process is a long way removed from the sophisticated tightly controlled reactors and catalysts needed to turn oils and gases into usable plastics.
And the people with the lifetime of experience and skills capable of doing it.
Wouldn't it be automated?
So, a bunch of chemists and engineers to research, develop and produce the machinery to carry it out. After that, some skilled techs to maintain that machinery.
So a bit of bung plastic comes out the end.
Someone who knows what they're dealing with can pin where the process went wrong, and why. An operator or maintenance technician is on the back foot.
Or as a story I read recently put it: a firm's engineer retired after thirty years. A few years later their line was screwing up, and their technicians couldn't fix it or even figure out what the problem was. So they brought back the old tech, who sat in the plant for a day just watching the machines. at the end of the day, he put a chalk "X" on a particular unit, and said "replace that". Line worked fine after that. Billed them $50k. The accounts department saw $50k for a day's work, and demanded an itemised invoice. he supplied "Chalk to make an X: $1. Knowing where to put the X: $49,999". they paid the bill.
And the problems there are:
We also can no longer make the engines for the Saturn V first stage. The skills necessary simply do not exist any more. But we can build a better engine. This is the nature of progress – it gets rid of the kinks and foibles that old, inefficient methods used.
You tale is a story about the woes of failing to develop further.
It’s called tacit knowledge for a reason. Doctors have it in spades, for example.
It involves the processing of numerous data into information, interpretation, and conclusion that informs targeted and effective action.
A process plant (or manned rocket) can only have so many sensors and data points feeding data into a central processor unit that models its performance (indicators) but not necessarily the process as such.
Machines are stupid.
@DTB: Don't know if the part was 30 years old. Just that the engineer knew the system comprehensively, how it was supposed to all work together, anhd could pick the point in the process where the fail was originating.
Funny you were talking about rocket engines. Saturn V had one job, and each item was used once. A better example would be the space shuttle: that was largely automated. Would you like your trip to space refurbished by technicians maintaining parts, or would you like actual rocket scientists participating in the process?
Although better powerpoint skills would also have been useful
And he could do that because it had happened before. As I said, he was called back because he failed to do his job properly in the first place by passing on his knowledge to both his replacements and the developers who would be looking to make improvements. Of course, that would probably have something to do with management cutting costs by cutting training as well.
The rocket scientists wouldn't go anywhere near maintaining the parts. Same as they didn't go anywhere near building the Saturn V rocket engines. If they had we may still be able to produce them because they would have known all the tweaks the welders used.
Once the prototype is made and working then building and maintaining is what technicians do, not the researchers.
It wasn't the engineer's job to train technicians into being engineers.
You can design field-expedient tests for welds, etc. The half-coffee-cup is a classic for concrete.
But even then, you need someone more than a "technician" to figure out what's wrong if it fails the test.
If welders were materially-altering saturnV with undocumented tweaks, that means the design was flawed.
The real reason we can't duplicate a Saturn V is that nobody wants to pay billions of dollars to crochet-code obsolete ROM databanks out of copper wire and magnets.
And I'd want rocket scientists looking at why components failed, rather than just replacing them. And knowing when the tile-shedding was at an anomalous level.
Yes it is and the engineer spent thirty years acting as a technician then. Because that's all he was doing from you said in story – looking after the machinery. Its where he got his knowledge of what was wrong.
Watch the video. It's about the Saturn V engines. My mistake for thinking that you'd watch the true story while relying on hearsay.
But how are they supposed to do that if the techs don't tell them or the management fails to have the scientists work on it as what happened in your story?
Your story isn't about how we need highly skilled techs (which we do) but how the whole system failed because they became reliant upon a single technician.
lol your video is better titled "rocket scientists didn't want to learn welding".
If they threw billions at it like they did in the 1960s, they'd have F1s. The idea that the skills don't exist anywhere on the planet currently, and can't be relearned, is farcical. They just didn't want to spend that much on a scoping project for one option.
Sure, the company was overly reliant on one engineer. That's not the engineer's fault. But more specifically, the technicians knew how to change and service parts, but they didn't have the deeper knowledge their jobs required.
The idea that when designing is done, only technicians are required to service an automated plant is naive in the extreme.
We were originally talking about a full refinery, with cracking and all that other crap going on. If the plant is running at nominal levels but is producing junk, you need materials scientists and chemists to figure out why the process is going bung. It might not even be the machinery at all – maybe a source material is melamined to make it look spec when it isn't, like milk powder. Your automated plant technicians wouldn't detect that, or be able to document exactly how and why it's fucked, would they.
a great story and something that occurs more often than realised at many levels.
The questions it demands however include, what if that retired engineer had died or emigrated …..how often is the line made functional but not optimal by lesser staff?….can we function while the required skills are developed?
Or even "are we replacing this guy with someone of equivalent abilities?"
Many militaries are bloody good at those questions – the basics of having clear training paths so that people can step in and the step up isn't usually too high. Waiting until the skills need to be developed is too late to develop the skills.
If the engineer had died or emigrated, that line would have been a rusty suck on the company's operations and resources until they spent probably millions to upgrade facilities. Because the problem was a subtle one to diagnose, and people who didn't know the system and production process inside and out were merely maintaining it to someone else's service list.
There are several feedstocks that can produce plastics many of which are plant based. So, we certainly could do it but if we are is another question.
bitumen yes…plastics no
Ad, your thought on the National Leadership?
Yes, We will lose some corporate players who are shrinking their bases in reaction to the world scene. This Government has been proactive in redirection training and support. That will continue as it is policy.
The whole world is being impacted badly with failing business models in the face of covid, and a test of leadership strength and community cohesion.
We will do better in a cooperative community, this is a war on an invisible strengthening virus with requires working together to overcome the problems it causes.
If we let the virus back in, we will not be able to direct our resources to problems like Marsden Point and Tiwai. Working with the communities to find a way forward is a strength of this government, and they have the confidence of the community.
So I would be interested to hear what you think of the "new" Leadership of National, and what they could do better.
I read your "worries" you express here with interest and see them as flags of possible or real problems.
"When the big salaries go, towns just don't recover. That's our pattern."
Maybe we should learn from that then and not create new jobs with the same vulnerabilities.
No one gets paid a hundred k growing permaculture kale.
And that's what you need for a house.
if we follow that to its logical extension then we need fossil fuels too and we're basically saying that we can't be arsed saving the world because we think we should have a certain standard of living that's considerably above what we need. Whoops, sorry grandkids.
My fragile sense of manhood demands a V8 ute. Everyone else's grandchildren can pay for my refusal to get some basic counselling instead.
You sure about that?
Nice on. Lots of examples around. Ad thinks you have to have $100,000 income to be able to afford to live 😉
Ad, when I lived in Australia, the Govt there decided on importing pre refined fuel from Singapore, several of the refineries were closed, some were at the end of their life from zero investment over a long period anyway. but not long before I left, the Govt suddenly realised the country only had around 7 days supply at any one time, any interuption to shipping deliveries would bring the country to stand still.
There is a lot value in being self sufficient, even if the cost is slightly higher.
+100 J.I.
Whoa! She’s doing a kind of mea culpa on Dirty Politics on Morning Report just now. Will that work? Also possibly Shane Reti for Health?
Judy Collins sings, Send in the Clowns.
The Joker card.
So Collins is going to "crush " Jacinda and the Labour Party, don't anyone remind her that the last time she set out to crush something she and that other Mastermind of the Century Tolley were out-thought by a 17 year old Southland bogan with his cap on back to front who simply swapped the plates from his car onto a stripped wreck and sold the original to a mate.
Collins is now the proud possessor of a stripped wreck.
A Collins-Brownlee combined with Act bringing 5% is a potential government.
But 56 days to gain 20% share? Sorry been there in 2014.
Surely the act rise of late is far right nat voters who will come home to the mothership now collins is leader.
Or has act mobilized the fringe nutters from the gun toting, 5g anti 1080 fb pages.
The competition is fierce in that corner and they’re not just fighting over crumbs either. A cunning charismatic leader could magnify this and use it to gain considerable political power. It has happened in many other (Western) countries and NZ is not immune to it despite the fact that we think we are. The naivety in/of NZ is breath taking sometimes and we’re way too laid back (i.e. not vigilant enough) to see what could be happening in our own backyards and do something about it in a constructive and pre-emptive way. Race relations could be a trigger point, it often is.
Channel One breakfast show had a slew of emails in and all were praising Collins and saying about time National got its act together. What surprised me was most of the emails were from females. My goodness me we have a lot of red neck rwnj's in NZ. It sent a cold shiver down my spine. If this is going to be the types rolling up to the polling booths then our future is not looking good.
I can see borders relaxed, community transmission occurring and business as usual if National win this next election. The elderly and immunity compromised folk will be anxious. I feel quite depressed really this morning. What a duo they make – a nightmare scenario.
Wouldn't mind betting Collins would have a few of her pals lined up to flood the website with approving emails
National – or a group inside it – have always been very good at organising mass responses to events concerning themselves. In the good old days (?) it used to be by talk-back phone calls but now its emails.
Well the Nats have set a high standard of expectation re keeping Covid out (through criticism of Labour), and there is overwhelming support of our Covid free status, National/Collins & Act thrive on fear and paranoia. Just got to trust Adern is up to the task, and our fellow NZrs aren't as short sighted as the RW would like us to believe.It's a smart move by National, but they've shown they're accident prone, watch this space.
Ardern outlines the Future Plan…just in case Collins claims there isn't one.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300057225/live-pm-jacinda-ardern-outlines-next-stage-in-covid19-response
We do forget there's a pandemic going on, USA is just beginning to take it seriously, and clearly there health service here still fear it will re emerge here.
Isn't Ardern wonderful the way she almost ignores Collins saying she is not focussed on facing off with her, just the Covid 19 response. way to go Jacinda.
Anyone else bother by Collins "we'll take the country back" rhetoric. Anyone told them the country doesn't belong to them.
BTW I know James comes here to troll. I am proposing we all adopt a one word one line response to him and rinse and repeat. Any thoughts my friends on the Standard
Deal with his comments in a proper way or ignore them. When he becomes too much of a frustrating troll who disrupts the flow too much, he’ll get a warning from the Moderators. In my perspective, James is not a big issue here on TS.
James is fairly transparent, obvious, rarely surprises, easily ignored.
I find outrageous sarcasm usually shuts him up
From your perspective, what are the big issues here on TS?
Yep, in regards to these shit stirrers – DNFTT
Do not feed the troll.
Scum..?
Apologies Incognito.
No reason to apologise, you did nothing wrong. You and I have different opinions on how to call out and/or deal with trolls, which is fine. Insults are not the most constructive way, if there’s one at all 😉
James is holding the ladder steady again.
Hopefully we are all getting ready for regional outbreak quarantines. PM is saying we should.
Who'da thought the breakdown of globalization would be so deep, so fast, so personal.
I was surprised we didn't have regional lockdowns in the first wave tbh, but I guess we were on top of things enough that we didn't need to. Seems a fairly straight forward thing to manage in much of NZ (SI at least), but agree we should be preparing.
Did you get a sense of whether this is because they're planning for community outbreaks due to opening borders a bit at some point? They're saying they want to keep the borders tight, so maybe the regional lockdown plan is just the next step in the long term plan now that they've got space to think about that.
WHO head says it's going to happen.
Bloomfield and PM says prepare.
This is way real.
what's going to happen? That we open our borders sufficiently wide to whatever, accept community transmission and thus need to adapt to ongoing regional and local lockdowns?
Community transmission is going to happen. Inevitable, as it only takes one slip up. No border protection system can ever be 100% foolproof or be adhered to 100% of the time.
Sooner or later we have to open the border door a little, and the longer the pandemic goes on, the wider that opening will need to be to ensure our economic survival.
Even when a vaccine appears (and it will) or effective antibody therapy is available (which it will, and before the vaccine), there inevitably will be outbreaks as vaccinating the entire population can only ever be a long term strategy, and antibody therapy and vaccines will only target the most at risk groups initially.
So yes, of course the government is planning for inevitable community outbreaks, and that is good.
To a degree, yes, but also no.
I think it was Chris T who said that we were still covid-free just down to luck. I disagree: we do actually have some effect over the odds.
It's not like a sensitive explosive, where dropping it once all but guarantees a massive detonation. Some slips are more likely to result in a transmission than others, and quite a few slips would be required for an untracable "community transmission".
Perfection is the goal, but is not essential. As long as we keep logging our contacts, keep the isolation breaches low and short, and wear masks if we have a cold, then we can keep pushing that inevitable failure further down the road. And when it finally hits, hopefully by then there will be a vaccine or effective treatments.
But that's life: pushing the inevitable as far off as possible, so hopefully we're ready for it when death finally comes 🙂
We don't need trade to ensure our economic survival but we may need to develop our economy rather than remain dependent upon a few categories.
A bold government might even invest heavily in building up our non-infectious industries instead. #gasp
That we open our …..borders…
Not enough of us are engaging with the contact tracing app. (Guilty). Ardern not happy about that. The message I got is that if/when there are further instances of community transmission then Lockdown of varying levels/locations. If the App was being used by more people more widely then more localised lockdowns more likely. Or sign ins, diary keeping etc. I guess we've got a little casual.
We were told to 'go and see the country', and I know our whanau is one of many who have engaged with this. Time will tell if we were all a little premature. A neighbour's moko, visiting from Auckland, gave me a spontaneous hug yesterday…only later did I question the wisdom of not treating the wee one as a plague carrier.
I guess we're all prepared for lockdown again?
When they sort out the various privacy issues with the app contact tracing, I'll get behind it. So far the message I've received is 'trust us we know what we are doing'. Yeah, nah.
I did start a system on my laptop for manually tracing where I have been. Something I would feel ok handing over to the MoH. I live in the rural SI though, so it feels remote cognitively despite my telling myself it's important.
Unless we get really unlucky, I assume our next wave will be small clusters that don't spread very far because we get on top of them quickly, even with our clunky system.
It is scenario modelling,with what policy do we need if there is a breach of cordon,and subsequent community transmission.
Risk management 101.
Opening border controls is a self harm problem,both increasing risk to the general population and those politicians who desire to become extinct at the next election cycle.
Makes sense now that things are settling down to signal this future proofing. Still don't have a good sense of what the govt is intending with the border though, lots of opinions on that one.
Notice how quickly and easily Jacinda took control of the news cycle
Notice how quickly and easily Jacinda took control of the news cycle
That's what I was meaning up at 11. Very deft. Very certain. Very definite, almost defiant…'All's good, we've got this.'
haven't caught up yet, but it would be so good to see Labour performing really well politically.
$50 million buys a lot of control!
Care to elaborate, love a good laugh.
Yep, I admit viewing the PM live, when I got an alert on my phone!
First thought was (as Judith Collins was on RNZ) that Jacinda has got this tactically.
Jeff Sessions losing the Republican Alabama Senate seat nomination to Trump-backed Tommy Tuberville gives Doug Jones a sniff at survival.
Though it would be like regaining New Plymouth for Labour: not easy on the rednecks or Labour either.
Trump just truly fucked Hong Kong.
He's revoked special trade status.
Plenty of our exports and imports go through there.
Some big China access headaches for MFAT coming.
Well, China slammed that door shut didn't they.
Gordon Campbell pens an excellent piece on Nationals latest fiasco
http://werewolf.co.nz/2020/07/gordon-campbell-on-nationals-great-leap-backwards/
Gordon is great and always well researched.
In a better world he would have the level of prominence that the boofhead school of presenters, reporters (no longer journalists in the true sense), and Nat mouths for hire have.
If only he would learn to publish three different posts rather than merge topics into a single unwieldy one.
So good! Collins said National would not increase taxes and would reduce social spending. Boy. That is a good plan -isn't it?
Actually it is, and I hope that the current government has the same intention. Growing earnings to pay off debt is business 101. That's why business is usually heavily leveraged upon debt.
Whether that can be achieved of course is another story.
Chinas rapid growth over the last 30 years was based on the same principle: low taxes, increasing social services, and debt being swallowed up by increasing earnings. It worked well for them.
On the face of it that is logical but a bit simplistic issn't it? There are variables and consequences for people by ignoring the effects on single minded pursuits.
Perfect time to reduce social spending too. Long live St Jude!
they have learned nothing from either the great depression nor the EU response to the GFC…..and should be the biggest single warning to anyone considering where to place their vote in mere weeks time
Dolores Umbridge might well be J.K. Rowling herself. She's a vicious defamer and false accuser of the very worst kind.
https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1028299586459369472?lang=en
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Rowling better keep her gob shut. In books you might be able to have a discussion, even an argument and some light may be shed on the matter. Enter reality and facts and discussion are about as welcome as Voldemoort.
… facts and discussion are about as welcome as Voldemoort.
They certainly are as far as J.K. Rowling is concerned—as shown by her decision to join in the Blairite rump's defamation campaign against Jeremy Corbyn.
Cancelled!
Morrissey’s doing an awesome job with his tweets from two years ago. It is also completely irrelevant to the OP or discussion thread and one of his many diversions down the Breen rabbit hole.
Just wait for his Dan Brown critiques. Those crusaders better not say anything mean about saint Julian of Ecuador. #SecretHandshake
I can’t wait!
Sorry to disappoint you, my friend, but reading Dan Brown is not on this writer's To Do list. Mind you, it's more likely than my attempting to read anything by that moral reprobate J.K. Rowling.
For an intellectual and moral heavy hitter like you, I’d suggest reading Miffy.
or Buffy
Thanks, Sacha. You're the best!
Thanks for the advice, Incognito!
https://i.imgflip.com/1cx5fe.jpg
You disappoint again; no male torso 🙁
what post was it under? We've not had anything but Nat dramas for days (and the RM).
Perhaps "If Judith and Jerry are the answer …" where feijoa at comment 44 implied a comparison of JuDarth to Umbridge? I think that's where I originally saw it.
Haven't read HP so that one went right over my head.
This one: https://thestandard.org.nz/if-judith-and-gerry-are-the-answer-it-must-have-been-a-desperate-question/#comment-1730373.
ah. Classic Morrissey.
Time to contemporise, I’d say. The same old, same old is wearing off.
Why not shut down Morrissey's one.
Yow! Talk about cancel culture!
Yikes:
"Deputy National leader Gerry Brownlee has doubled down on leader Judith Collins' unapologetic stance on diversity, saying it can be hard to balance with competence."
Competence not possible with diversity? I.e. we, the rich old whites, are simply more competent. That's a "bit off" as they say.
He can say that with a straight face? After what they've been through? Muller was the best guy for the job a couple days ago. Let them nail their stripes to the wall, they might be going more rightward than Act.
When you have little diversity in your ranks, and similarly a problem with competence in the ranks, then Brownlee is right- they're hard to balance…… with anything. As for diversity in thought- yep, as that can mean anything from belief in flying saucers and one world government to some semblance of reality, I'm sure the National caucus has that in spades.
Funny to see Mike Hosking money going to help fund the Maori Party with their election campaign. Ya gotta laugh!
And an apology.
What did I hear on 3 pm news? Woodhouse demoted, Reti on the front bench? Both tolerable moves by Collins.
Yes. But Woodhouse been given other portfolios
Judith Collins must have taken Kathryn's advice this morning. Dr Rheti now Shadow Health.
That's one tick in the diversity box.
Two if you count the new leader too…
Woodhouse picks up regional development and pike river portfolios and keeps assistant finance and deputy leader of the house. No punishment there.
Smokescreen to hide his other guilty colleagues that hopefully Heron can flush out. Nothing to see here says St Jude.
Collins crushes Woodhouse with kid gloves.
He knows things..
There's a story doing the rounds which, if true, does bring more sense to Muller's sudden resignation. No. I'm not saying anything further unless it is confirmed, but it might have a bearing on the kid glove handling of Woodhouse.
I also note Collins couldn't wait 24 hrs before twisting the knife in Boag's back. Not a defence of Boag but there's been bad blood between Boag and Collins dating back to Dirty Politics at the least.
Would this story (which I know nothing about) be uncovered during the Heron inquiry?
No.
I honestly thought (and predicted on here) she would sack him, no messing around.
Instead she's given Woodhouse a non-demotion, simply shuffling portfolios. Then she sings his praises at the media conference.
It will be spun as "leadership", just like Muller dealing with Walker. But in both cases it was the bare minimum, it is what you do when you have no option but to act.
She did offer up some foolish hostages to fortune, though. Confident no other MPs involved (we'll see) and – stupidly – described the fake homeless guy as "a legitimate story".
Yep. Move on, nothing to see here..
https://twitter.com/PouTepou/status/1283194615835709440
My take is that nothing she does is done for ethical reasons, it's all about the play.
Got to feel for Puckish Rogue. His dreams come true while he's banned from talking about it. Nerve wracking though, will St Jude perform well or be the next Nat leader to jump in the dumpster fire?
PR, if you want back in you need to do a grovelling apology to Lynn. Let me know if you want the link.
Why would that gum want to be anywhere but stuck to the sole of Judith's shoe?
I get to see the comments from banned people that end up in trash. Sometimes it's quite amusing.
better class of troll and all that.
I guess now that Collins is head honcho, the election will be boringly fractious.
Bollocks, we don't need the tory troll back.
you'd prefer an echo chamber?
Tis not a binary choice between troll or vanilla.
If Pucky's too proud to write one, think it might work if I cooked up a grovelling apology on his behalf? It'll be totes worth it.
lol, we could have a competition. Not sure Lynn would appreciate it (it was his moderation).
Give a few days and we'll see if Pucky plucks up the courage.
My guess is that PR won’t remember why he was banned and that he had a choice between apologising and being banned. An apology counts for nothing if the behaviour hasn’t changed. Let me have a go:
😉
edit
The tendering system for transport is just an attack wreaked on ordinary micro to small business by well-paid denizens of the neolib economic system. The Wellington city example is a shocking example.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/421243/new-school-bus-tendering-a-phenomenal-cock-up-bus-and-coach-association-boss-says
This about school buses is one of the bad examples of the cruel though supposedly wise system that is meant to create maximum efficiency at the lowest cost but which is wasteful of assets such as in this bus owner compliant with the demands made for school transport, being replaced by another bus which had to be fitted out similarly. Two buses, two entities competing on the West Coast SI. The bus owner-operator who had brought the bus to standard, was doing the job well, lived in the district, was dropped because some big company could undercut her/him for the mainly school run.
I am sick at the economic system that politicians and mindless Treasury and right-wing economists have got us into. We have opened up our doors to the world inviting the buggers in with open arms, not even trying to make exclusive deals that could have saved something of our nation's enterprise and keep profits here. Why when we are small and the world population is measured in billions?
If we can find a knight on a white horse or any other colour, to do something let him/her come forward. Even a mock attack on Parliament would be publicity – Don Quixotes we would be no doubt, with Sancho Panzas along. But to continue being walked on only encourages the twisted misters and sisters. Let's have a hollow laugh at the Black Knight Who Never Gives Up; are we stuck with this role? Put Treasury in King Arthur's position, and you can see they aren't 'armless.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs
Is that last para in code?
Take 1/4 tab of acid.
It helped.
Ad, I changed your email address. If you leave it as the default on your next comment then we will see if the filter trap issue is resolved.
You're a funny one to talk about code Gabby with your little messages. They read the opposite to mine rather longer ones, you leave out about every two words. It's very sporting of you to get Ad's brain working so well these days.
It’s called micro-dosing.
https://highalert.org.nz/articles/whats-the-deal-with-microdosing/
Team National.
https://www.twitter.com/kaiviti_cam/status/1282971527495905280
An endorsement from that bloke = the kiss of death.
Just as well that WO is no longer. Oh, wait …
Is Slug Cambo claiming Crutcher is competent? She couldn't download the tracking app apparently.
Mind you, it would be a tad embarrassing if Hipkins is put on the spot and can't use it.
Before there is too much more urging app wise, all government MPs should be able to demonstrate how to use it.
Aw, come on! Setting the bar so impossibly high would be viewed as bullying. A woke behaviour inspector may come knocking… 😉
NOBODY expects the woke inspectors. Their chief praxis is fear and surprise
Kia Ora
Newshub
That's good more funding for the maturity sector.
There is a reason aluminum production is not feasible now that would be like buying a lemon.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora
Te Ao Maori Marama.
Its good to see the captions on I made a mistake yesterday.
It good to see putea being invested to plant trees and repair the waterways in Rotorua.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora
The Am Show.
Te Ra is a powerful force we need to use more of the clean energy that is gifted to us from Ra.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora
Newshub.
The card tracking device seems like a good tool to track people's with out compromising there data.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora
Te Ao Maori Marama.
Flooding in Te Tairawhiti.
I say don't touch the Maori seats as they do give Maori Mana.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora
Newshub
That's all part of Global Warming sea level rising the flooding housing by the beach being eroded into the sea.
That is a great waiata.
Ka kite Ano.
https://youtu.be/qQfetkoGrpU
Kia Ora
Newshub.
We do need to farm the whenua Wisely.
Pest need to be controled.
Ka kite Ano