” Nationals’ Boadicea likely to shrug off her week from hell ”
That’s the problem perhaps. Collins will simply shrug it off. Assisted in doing so by essentially congratulatory analysis the like of that from Audrey Young.
The O’Sullivan article contains some fresh details:
On Thursday, she confirmed she had another dinner with Xu during the invitation-only Apec Women Leadership Forum last November. Both Collins and Xu were forum speakers. So too were other prominent New Zealand women including Dame Jenny Shipley – the former National Prime Minister who has long been well connected in China – Auckland City Hospital’s Dr Emma Parry and entrepreneur Dame Wendy Pye.
Collins could have mentioned (but didn’t) that Oravida was also a key sponsor of the leadership forum. The company was one of two Platinum sponsors.
She should now reflect how her lapses have cost Oravida and her friends.
Oravida is a New Zealand based-company that promotes premium products for the Chinese market through direct online sales.
MS, I don’t know what Collins stated at the APEC conference, but I found this TVNZ video report on the connections between National and Oravida particularly enlightening.
Was Slippery the Prime Minister really as angry at the actions of Judith Collins during Her trip as Minister of Justice, along with the drip drip of revelations of what is best described as an incestuous relationship between Oravida and the Minister, as we all have been lead to believe,
My opinion says No, what angered the Prime Minister so was the fact that His Bullshit, usually so glibbly passed by the media into the public domain was within hours proven to be the Lies it actually was,
Slippery doesn’t give a ‘rats’ about Collin’s behavior or lack of it, that’s glaringly apparent with His initial approach to the accusations against Collins, it was only when caught out Lying about the Cabinet Office having obtained a translation of the Oravida literature showing Collins ‘endorsing’ Oravida’s products, a translation that never occurred, that our PM lost His rag….
b12 That is what I think as well. Considering he came out firing to shut things down knowing that he was going to lie to do so he deserves to sink in the bog as far and as quick as he can.
He also changed his rhetoric quite quickly from ‘UNEQUIVOCALLY NO CONFLICT!!!’ from ‘the ministry of guidelines’ or whatever they call themselves, to a hushed ‘no conflict to see here’ you can all go home now. What? No, sorry, I can’t show you the written advice I was given. Why? Because it doesn’t exist, how can I show you something that never existed. Moron.
Yes the final retreat of the compulsive Liar is to be found in the sudden appearance of ’emotion’ in their dialogue where no emotion has thus far been previously perceived,
Collins in what can only be described as ‘bizarre’ acting resorted to ‘Crocodile Tears’ seeking sympathy from the gathered media,
Slippery the Prime Minister not having the option of a public display ‘cry me a river’ in defence of being caught red handed lying to the press and public had only anger as the last refuge,
D grade acting from the pair of them, should the media continue to catch either of them using glib lies in the discourse in coming months i would expect such displays of anger to be directed at the media, a real Muldoonish scrape of the bottom of the barrell…
Gusher Collins is like many bullies who bash others and laugh at their tears but will break down when the truth of their actions is outed.
I don’t know why some MSM think she can come back from this. Her ‘Crusher’ brand is now too damaged and she’s too hard headed to reinvent herself. Justice for the Minister of it.
While news on The Internet Party has been very quiet for some time, this short report on Radio NZ news back on 3 March indicated that it had not died before launch.
The Internet Party of Kim Dotcom is waiting for Electoral Commission approval to gather membership data via online applications, including allowing a member to sign directly on to a computer screen with a finger or using a mouse.
IIRC Dunne and UF had no success in persuading the Electoral Commission to allow them to accept membership applications for the purposes of reregistration of UF.
So, it would seem from the Stuff article in your link that the Internet Party may have had some success in persuading the Commission to allow online membership applications.
KDC has said very little on his Twitter site about the IP of late, but on March 10 tweeted that:
” I welcome the Sept 20 election date. We’re doing our own polls now & the numbers look good. Get ready for our ‘Call for Members’. #InternetParty”
and
“Launching #InternetParty website, mobile apps, call for members and funny short film about my opponents next week. Its on!”
Re my comment re UF’s reregistration, here are a couple of links confirming that the Electoral Commission initially would not accept online/spreadsheet registrations, but then decded to allow this.
‘With a finger or using a mouse’ is delightfully phrased. Yes, Radio NZ, these days people can do things online! Using fingers! It’s like living in the future.
As I said before, Dotcom needs to boot the internet party pretty quickly before people start realising that his C: drive has no operating system loaded.
The IP intrigues me. Depending on its fleshed out form I might vote for it, given that Labour are slow and sluggish and need a good defragging — perhaps a reformat and clean install.
Putting Out The Fire With Gasoline, are interest rate rises a cause of inflation in the economy, my opinion says Yes, raising interest rates is a definite inflationary push,
A further opinion would say that to ‘hide’ this inflationary push that has as a direct cause the Reserve Bank’s raising of the Official Cash Rate ‘the rack’ of a continuing series of rises in the OCR is employed by the Reserve Bank where in the ensuing ‘pain’ and ‘noise’ the fact that part of the inflation the bank is ‘stomping’ upon had as its direct cause the initial raising of the OCR by the Reserve Bank,
A Stuff article attempts to translate the numbers surrounding the raising of the official cash rate and subsequent raising of interest rates charged by the trading banks,
”According to the Reserve Bank the Business sector has $79.1 billion of debt with financial institutions while the Agricultural sector has $51.7 billion of debt”,
”Homeowners, Businesses, and Farmers could be paying an extra $6.3 billion a year in interest if mortgage rates rise as the Reserve Bank expects over the next two years”, unquote Stuff.co.nz,
While Stuff.co has to be applauded for at least making the effort to explain the numbers to the public surrounding the interest rates rises there is room for a far more detailed analysis, breakdown, and publication of the numbers and likely effects, so this article while highlighting the costs to the economy in dollar terms also highlights this countries general lack of in depth economic journalism,
The inflation caused by the Reserve Bank’s raising of the OCR???, its hidden in the $6.3 billion cost to the economy,to you,me, them, of raising those interest rates,
i have no means of ‘shaking the actual numbers out of that $6.3 billion dollar cost to the economy, But, lets apportion 60% of that ‘cost’ to Joe Public the average homeowner with a 300 thousand dollar mortgage, thus we are left with the Business sector and Farming sector, both carrying substantial amounts of debt carrying the can of 40% of that $6.3 billion dollar cost of two years of interest rates rising,
When faced with a rising input cost in any area what do Business as a rule use as the first means of maintaining their profit margins, You guessed it, Put Up The Price Of Their Goods Or Services,
So, the initial moves by the Reserve Bank supposedly with the impetus of clamping down on inflation will have in the first instance the creation of inflation as a direct result, supremely unworried by this inflation spike the Reserve Bank will then justify All it’s later OCR rises on the basis of that inflation spike that it initiated with its initial raising of the OCR,
Putting out the fires with gasoline???, you bet, its the monetary system of a tribe of primitive chimp like people who upon seeing a non-venomous snake enter their territory come down from the trees using heavy blunt clubs to beat the harmless snake to a pulp, only to realize belatedly that such a carcass has called predators of a far more dangerous nature onto their turf…
Anyone or party that rests it’s reputation of inflation rates is only IMO selling its succes based on the lack of our illeracy of economics. Success of inflation is how our non tradables trend. Nz has imported low inflation for all this century whilst paying for this with the exporting of employment and our high dollar.
The OCR rise this week was widely tipped and swap rates had already had most of the 25 pt rise already priced onto it, and we are incessantly being told that the 2 yr swap is the driving force for mortgage rates.
A note that banks make their greatest margins from floating mortgages , not fixed term.
The plethora of links you have supplied make the non-sensical statement originally made just as abstruse as it was,
What exactly are you trying to impart as information here, that the trading banks have already raised their interest rates in anticipation of the movement of the Official Cash Rate,???…
That’s it and that many heres fascination with using inflation as a guide to the failure or success of govts policies is naive at best as this to me just displays how out of touch such comments are with how real households are coping or not.
i would suggest you are being more than a little less than honest then as 3 of the Trading banks have signaled that they will be lifting their interest rates in line with the OCR rise,
ANZ, ASB, and KiwiBank are all raising their rates,
The heavy blunt instrument of the OCR has long been criticized for it’s detrimental effects to the economy and if the current Government continues to rely on taking the wrecking ball to an economy which has not fully recovered from the effects of the GFC by continuing to support use of the OCR when such use is arguably of negative benefit to the economy then that Government deserves all the criticism it gets…
“Labour would also have to distance themselves from the Greens, or give an indication of what Green policy positions they would adopt, and what they would rule out. I like how Cunliffe is talking centrist economic policy, but I have no time for the Greens and would not vote to enable them.”
Without knowing either parties’ policies extensively (have only been through some of each) -I view that Greens and Labour have a lot of compatibility. I find it a bit difficult to know what is so wrong with the Greens that you would take such a stance.
The Greens emphasis on a healthy environment stands to benefit everyone health and ultimately wealth wise. (Taking care today saves a lot of costs in the future).
The Greens have proven themselves to be very disciplined and focused and have good principles when it comes to their party’s organisation, their politicians’ conduct and on aligning their policies and reactions to contemporary issues on research.
Can you please tell me what it is that you find so off putting about the Greens that you would take such a stance?
Would they support bright Kiwi innovation that lead to more productive fracking? How about better oil drilling technology? Somehow, I doubt it. Yet they would, in all likelihood, back some clean-tech farce, even if we have no comparative advantage in such areas. I doubt they even know what that term means.
Fine if we have some advantage in such areas, but if we did, we’d probably already be doing it.
The article you link contains a fair concern – governments investing into trends that then turn out to not be trends. Callaghan, however appears to justify the industries that are big now in NZ by the same logical error that he fears the Greens are falling for. i.e. milk products are big now and therefore we should continue expanding – this despite there are serious problems being caused to our water due to this industry. This despite there are increasing numbers of people moving away from using milk products (another trend that may or may not continue).
The question needs to be asked – considering sourcing drinking water is an increasing and serious problem occurring in many places throughout the world – does the money coming in from selling more and more raw milk products really balance with the risk this is posing to our water system? You can’t buy water once it is ruined throughout the world. Is this the smartest solution for NZ? Could we ‘add value’ to products prior to selling them and therefore require less expansion of cow farming – and all the environment costs this is creating?
Again, fracking is a process that threatens our water systems. What is the priority here? How useful is profit when we haven’t any water to drink? Do you think that wouldn’t happen? There are plenty of documentaries around about this world wide water issue. Specifically fracking – have you seen ‘Gaslands’?
Finally, how likely is it that ‘clean tech’ is a flash in the pan trend – given our universal and absolute human need for a healthy environment and our historic and ongoing use of energy?
He specifically states we cannot scale dairy indefinitely.
Is economic diversification a good idea? Of course. But, like I said, the Greens are bound by their narrow, ideological view that – I feel – is based on a falsehood. They will likely support innovation that is in line with the unproven AGW worst-case scenarios.
It does not follow we’ll have no water to drink if we undertake fracking. Gasland is an activist propaganda movie – possibly worse than “An Inconvenient Truth” – and I’m amazed anyone would take it seriously given court rulings on its depictions.
Clean tech may well be a flash in the pan. It may not. Either way, it doesn’t mean we have a comparative advantage in it. If we did, we’d already be doing it, and I’d be investing in it.
“Denier” is a religious term, not a scientific one. Also a vile attempt to associate someone with holocaust denial.
There is no consensus. Consensus is not science. IPCC are not credible as their guesswork so far has been wrong. They’re also a political organisation, and their politics appears self-serving and alarmist.
The fact is no one knows what is happening with climate long term in terms of warming or cooling. Anyone who claims they do is deluded. Fact.
High degree of complexity, very low degree of certainty.
lol yep the denier denies being a denier – woody is getting quite woolly and all the toys will come out the cot soon – give up justlikewood you are well outgunned and outclassed – too funny and good while waiting for the storm to arrive.
You simply believed what someone told you, like a child believing in Santa Claus. Your position is not evidence based.
Mine is.
The fact is that no one has a clue what is happening with climate. There is no scientific proof that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years.
None.
If you believe otherwise, you hold an irrational belief.
How do you explain the trend in the atmospheric carbon isotope ratio, little wingnut?
How do you explain the fact that winters have warmed more than summers, nights more than days, the Arctic more than the Antarctic? All predictions made in 1896, incidentally.
“There is no scientific proof that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years”
Fact.
All the believers can produce is alarmism, speculation and some really bad guesswork.
Only an idiot looks for scientific “proof”. Science deals in probabilities, but we know that CO2 is a greenhouse gas – this can be shown experimentally and is theoretically explained by Quantum Mechanics. We know that the CO2 content of the atmosphere is rising, by observation, and -also by observation – we know that the extra CO2 is anthropogenic in origin.
We know that Svante Arrhenius’ predictions were all correct – by observation. We know that destructive weather events have increased in magnitude and frequency – cf: Munich re cited below.
The fact that you cite Anthony Watts and congressional testimony, rather than peer-reviewed research, demonstrates that as in statistics, you are out of your depth.
Earth to flat-Earther: the IPCC doesn’t do any “guesswork” – it collates and summarises existing research. If you’re going to criticise something you need to learn what it is first.
…the number of weather-related loss events in North America nearly quintupled in the past three decades, compared with an increase factor of four in Asia, 2.5 in Africa, two in Europe and 1.5 in South America.
Lost your mojo jltw.
How come the largest shareholder and chairman of the board of exxon mobil is fighting tooth and nail to prevent any fracking witin 200 miles of his private ranch in Texas.
“Mr. Tillerson does not object to the tower for its potential use for water and gas operations for fracking,” said Alan Jeffers, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil.
Tillerson’s property is already adjacent to several oil and gas wells and fracking operations, Jeffers added.”
[lprent: Bit pathetic reaching back for a 10 year old link, that has since been proven to be a moronic lie (but still loved by morons like yourself). ]
“Muller: A few years later, McIntyre came out and, indeed, showed that the hockey-stick chart was in fact incorrect. It had been affected by a very serious bug in the way scientists calculated their principal components.”
“Now comes the real shocker. This improper normalization procedure tends to emphasize any data that do have the hockey stick shape, and to suppress all data that do not. To demonstrate this effect, McIntyre and McKitrick created some meaningless test data that had, on average, no trends. This method of generating random data is called Monte Carlo analysis, after the famous casino, and it is widely used in statistical analysis to test procedures. When McIntyre and McKitrick fed these random data into the Mann procedure, out popped a hockey stick shape!”
As for Mann, his court case has reportedly collapsed:
“The fact Mann refused to disclose his ‘hockey stick’ graph metadata in the British Columbia Supreme Court, as he is required to do under Canadian civil rules of procedure, constituted a fatal omission to comply, rendering his lawsuit unwinnable. …….”
Oh, and find a better source of information on Mann vs. National Review et al, you’re being duped, again. The suit has not “collapsed” and will move to discovery unless further appeals are forthcoming. The previous appeal was denied in January of this year.
when fracking companies release detailed information about the chemicals they pump into the ground then you can discuss the pros and cons, till then it is just a con
funny
I always thought the phrase “release detailed information” when discussing something being pumped would involve quantities of the materials being pumped. Guess we have different ideas on what “detailed” means
Interestingly, a Wyoming Supreme Court has recently rejected the fracking industry’s argument to keep what chemicals they use a secret.
JustLikeTigerWoods
Yet they would, in all likelihood, back some clean-tech farce, even if we have no comparative advantage in such areas. I doubt they even know what that term means.
Firstly, the comparative advantage to the government in supporting clean technology instead of outdated polluting industries is easily quantifiable. In financial terms, National’s energy policy states that there is the potential for future royalties from all oil and gas production of $12 billion at the most. In comparison, a PWC reported in 2013 stated that clean technology could be worth $22 billion, plus there is no risk of widespread environmental damage.
It should also be stated that the National Party’s 2011 estimates are likely wrong, being that recent exploration has failed to find any new oil. That means the governments investment and subsidies, amounting to $326.6 million between 2008 and 2012, has been lost. It was in fact a complete waste of taxpayers money that would be better spent on clean technology endeavors that guarantee a return.
You appear to be another right wing idiot JustLikeTigerWoods who just spouts nonsense in the hope that nobody will fact check your gibberish.
Add the half a billion it cost to sell the assets, the various corporate handouts, the loss of dividends from everywhere, mix in plummeting tax takes and that surplus thingy is really starting to get some wonky legs eh! Before long I expect we will hear how the expected surplus was always in the 2015/2016 year and the reporters are just falling for lefty disinfo campaigns and John Key never mentioned a surplus and if Bill did you better ask him as the budget is really an operational matter.
As for the $22b guesswork, will they be advising their clients to invest boots and all? If not, why not? You see, if clean tech was a sure thing, I would already be investing, as would many other people. The reason I don’t is because it is very high risk and the returns, globally, have been abysmal.
It is clear from your response JustLikeTigerWoods that you haven’t bothered to read my comment properly. Nor does it seem that you have read the article you have linked to either.
Here is what the Forbes article states:
There were close to 1,000 companies just in China involved with the solar industry. With crystalline-based module prices dropping by about 35% in 2012 a thinning of the herd had to occur even with increasing demand (partially fueled by the lower prices).
According to the link in the forbes article, last year there were 21 solar company bankruptcies worldwide. However many of those companies listed are mergers or branches of companies not wanting to compete anymore in a very competitive market. They are not actually bankruptcies. In other words the figures the article is based on are incorrect.
Just to make things a bit clearer for you…nobody is arguing that we should be competing to produce solar panels JustLikeTigerWoods. We should however be taking advantage of a competitive solar panel market to future proof our energy requirements.
It’s not either/or.
Unfortunately the current government has refused to help clean tech companies to anywhere near the extent they help the oil and gas industry with our tax dollars.
We’ll take the $12b AS WELL, thanks.
Wrong! The $12 billion was a best case scenario including large finds of new oil. That exploration has failed and it is unlikely that the oil and gas companies will consider further exploration without considerable government funding, investment that has no guarantee of any return at all. That type of investment is therefore not worthwhile, considering there is a viable alternative to simply throwing taxpayers money away on an environmentally damaging sunset industry.
As for the $22b guesswork, will they be advising their clients to invest boots and all?
What makes you think the PWC report is guesswork? Is it simply that their findings don’t fit into your deluded philosophy, so you have dismissed the report out of hand…probably without even reading it?
You see, if clean tech was a sure thing, I would already be investing, as would many other people.
Considering there was approximately $254 billion invested globally last year into clean technologies, it appears that many people thankfully don’t share your defunct viewpoint.
The reason I don’t is because it is very high risk and the returns, globally, have been abysmal.
Do you have any actual figures to show that returns are abysmal? Please don’t link again to your industry driven propaganda.
It is true that investment has been dropping off recently, mainly because of the cost of photovoltaic systems reducing considerably because of competition, and the impact of archaic government policy towards renewable power.
In effect many governments around the world, including New Zealand’s, have failed to hold to any proper CO2 emission reductions because they are corrupted by the oil and gas industry who spend billions on lobbying to try and hold onto their out-dated business models.
Do they perhaps employ you to promote their disinformation JustLikeTigerWoods?
If you’re going to divert money away from areas that do make profits into areas that are pretty much guaranteed to make a loss, as this is the experience globally, then you’re going to harm a lot of people.
Green tech may sound warm, fuzzy and the “right” thing to do, but I would ask you to take a more thorough look at the performance of this sector globally. Keep in mind that areas of performance in this sector are almost entirely reliant on subsidy.
The ironic thing is that white men will now get rich off legal marijuana while whole generations of black men have been criminalised. A cynic might think that the war on drugs had served its purpose of marginalising the most potentially revolutionary force in American society and now it was time to go back to the real business of making a buck.
Thought this was a fucking disgusting depiction of Grant by Aussie Emerson. He has been fantastic in this and this depiction is- he’s gay so he can’t be a serious minister (not like Cunliffe or Key in a suit) but he has to be some kind of pervert…
Angry. Maybe we can role out Shano to get stuck into the almost Aussie monopoly on cartoons in our paper of record?
I don’t think we should regulate cartoonists…craziness. but I’ve never been a big fan of Emmerson’s. He’s an Aussie. You’d think for our one paper we’d manage to find a kiwi. And often he does a cartoon that really offers no insight or opinion it just is some kind of reflection of what’s been going on. There’s no real connection to waterboarding, but it was vaguely topical last year, so it passes for insight into what’s going on. But doesn’t really say anything at all.
And it seems BS that Robertson’s very credible showing in the house over this is turned into this cartoon…it would be interesting to go through (and other than the battle of the babes for Auck Central) it would be interesting to see how sexualised other depictions are. Do we regularly see cartoons of Bennett and Parata as whores or as dominatrixes? No? Because they can be shown a bit of respect, but Grant can’t?
Actually all three cartoons listed by Edwards make intelligent visual points and the Herald cartoon is just a sneaky attack on Grant Robertson.
The others show up Collins hypocrisy, or the persona of her apology. Anyway I guess one bad cartoon doesn’t make the guy a bad cartoonist- he’s had people liking him here before. But as you can guess I really disliked the cartoon. An actually he’s had 2 good cartoons on Oravida this week. Sorry Rod! But this was a shocker
This is beside the point, but it also doesn’t make any sense! If you’re going to make jokes about horrific torture methods shouldn’t you know what you’re talking about?
Over on WhaleOil, that nasty scote is trying to equate Judith Collins’ corruption with a publicly-announced opening of the law office of David Cunliffe’s wife, by PM Helen Clark a few years back. A secret dinner, a forgetting to tell the current PM what went on, an overseas taxpayer funded trip, and an endorsement of the company product your husband is connected with – is hugely different from an office opening which would have been announced publicly beforehand., and is a basic function of the prime ministerial office.
Meanwhile over here at the Standard the usual array of scrotal crabs that regularly appear have all gone into hiding having no defense of their Prime Minister being caught lying along with Justice Minister Collins being seen to have caught the same condition…
my reply to puckish rogue when it was posted here yesterday
an article, six years old no less,
Now the PM opening a NZ business in NZ, even if that business is owned by the wife of a Minister, is not really the same thing as a Minister having a private dinner with the owner of a company her husband is a director of, in the presence of a senior Chinese Government official who has influence over the importation of products supplied by the Minister’s husband’s employer.
Not the same thing at all.
The fact that Helen Clark’s visit was published openly in a legal magazine shows it was a public event and is more than likely clearly on record, as it was an opening of a commercial premises.
Compare this to Collins who despite having vast experience with Cabinet realities, not only decided against all procedural briefs, to consider the dinner not worthy of being recorded in her diaries, the Minister was not forthcoming until pressured by the PM to do so and is now openly stating that she is only allowed to say the words she has been told to say otherwise there may be an issue with China.
oh yeah Puck, I can see how you think they are comparable 🙄 🙄 🙄
wail boil is an expert at disinformation and plainoutright lying which is the national party preferred way of doing things.
they cant lie straight in bed.
But in Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry — using his strongest language to date on the lingering crisis — called for an end to what he called a “terror campaign” by Maduro’s government.
Kerry, speaking before US lawmakers, called on the international community to “focus on Venezuela appropriately.”….
“We are engaged now with trying to find a way to get the Maduro government to engage with their citizens, to treat them respectfully, to end this terror campaign against his own people and to begin to hopefully respect human rights and the appropriate way of treating his people,” he said.
Comment on these insane remarks by Kerry seems unnecessary. I can only attribute them to desperaton on the part of Kerry given the USA’s almost total isolation in the hemiphere as exposed by the rcent OAS resultion on Venezuela…. http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-084/14
having a peep at the succession-jostling within national is interesting..
..you have slater in the collins camp..
..you have joyce-ites with enough reason to give collins that final trip of the ankle..
(..or they leave her there..as a damaged non-opponent..?..easily beatable ‘cos of that hint of corruption..)
..then of course..(as was pointed out to me the other day..)..in the background you have english..
..who may well be looking at these two most unlikable candidates..
..and thinking that he could well be in with a chance..(as a compromise-candidate..for a stalemated party..)
..some are touting bridges and adams..
(but they must be just having a bit of a laff…adams has got upcoming dodgy-dealings/conflict-of-interest allegations of her own..on a slow simmer..and ready to be brought to the boil..)
..and if you were going to have an anti-superhero trio..called the unlikeables..
….you’d have collins/joyce..and bridges as their eager apprentice..
..so english may well be dreaming of a 2nd chance..
..(and if you thought labour leadership battles were ugly..?
..whoar..!..
..those tories get well down and dirty..
..i wd imagine the cabinet-meetings must have some interesting sub-texts/undercurrents going on..
Mr Swain acknow-ledged there was a lot of nostalgia around the network, but said a call had to be made. “They are less reliable overall, and they’re more costly to run.”
An interesting thing to say considering that:
NZ Bus owns the trolley buses, and chief executive Zane Fulljames said it was pointless deciding to get rid of them without deciding what would replace them. “A decision hasn’t been made . . . There needs to be a solid plan in place from trolleys to the next piece of technology.”
They haven’t actually made any comparisons to anything else.
If you like dumping toxic waste so much, then perhaps we should all have it trucked round to your place. Perhaps even pay you for the privilige.
I get sick off all these people who bash the green simply because they want to keep our rivers free of toxic waste. They really need to put their hands up and invite people to dump toxic waste in their own back yard.
Pollution is a crime against humanity and should be treated as such.
Looking at RadioNZ News about David Cunliffe’s speech to NZ Institute.
The heading – ‘Vision for economy short on detail’.
It appears to be inspired by a quote from Mr Key lifted from the last few lines of a 2.46 minute news item. Prime Minister John Key said on Friday that Labour is running out of time to come up with new policies ahead of this year’s election on 20 September.
“The truth is actually, Mr Cunliffe hasn’t said anything new today. The best announcement he’s come out with is he’s gonna make further announcements.
“Well, we are starting to run out of time before we get to an election – so if he had a new idea, it would be interesting to hear it.”
How is it that the heading is negative when there was so much detail in the speech that would have lent itself to a positiveone. Such as, with some hyperbole :
[Labour plans regional industry development with a hint of Think Big.]
from ‘ development of industry in the regions and a focus on more transformative projects’.
But the reporter found it all unsatisfactory because there was no firm detail on other projects!
As if. First Labour would not be releasing these too soon, and secondly it is possible that the reporter wouldn’t understand them anyway, and thirdly that little twist that gets put on (like mine of Think Big) can skew them in people’s minds from the start.
Fourthly, if past elections are anything to go by, Labour will produce detailed and costed policy before the election, National will produce a series of vague press releases, and reporters will apply the double standard.
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Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11219867
” Nationals’ Boadicea likely to shrug off her week from hell ”
That’s the problem perhaps. Collins will simply shrug it off. Assisted in doing so by essentially congratulatory analysis the like of that from Audrey Young.
Such ‘higher standards’ already.
John Armstrong disagrees.
Fran O’Sullivan says Collins is lucky Key needs to save face.
And David Fisher puts John Key more firmly in the Oravida picture.
So all is not looking that rosy for Collins.
The O’Sullivan article contains some fresh details:
The website for the event is at http://www.apecwomenleadershipforum.com
I would love to see a video of Collins’ comments and what she said about Oravida who were one of the sponsors for the conference.
MS, I don’t know what Collins stated at the APEC conference, but I found this TVNZ video report on the connections between National and Oravida particularly enlightening.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/links-between-oravida-and-video-5863797
And also this TVNZ report which identifies the cost of Collins trip to China at $36,000.
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/key-puts-collins-warning-opposition-calls-sacking-5863577
Robertson mention that women’s leadership forum in Question Time last week.
Julia Xu, director of Oravida and one of the people Collins had dinner with in Beijing, was also a speaker at the leadership forum.
I can’t find any other link between them at the forum.
Steven Joyce was also in China, but I can’t find any link between him and Oravida.
Was Slippery the Prime Minister really as angry at the actions of Judith Collins during Her trip as Minister of Justice, along with the drip drip of revelations of what is best described as an incestuous relationship between Oravida and the Minister, as we all have been lead to believe,
My opinion says No, what angered the Prime Minister so was the fact that His Bullshit, usually so glibbly passed by the media into the public domain was within hours proven to be the Lies it actually was,
Slippery doesn’t give a ‘rats’ about Collin’s behavior or lack of it, that’s glaringly apparent with His initial approach to the accusations against Collins, it was only when caught out Lying about the Cabinet Office having obtained a translation of the Oravida literature showing Collins ‘endorsing’ Oravida’s products, a translation that never occurred, that our PM lost His rag….
b12 That is what I think as well. Considering he came out firing to shut things down knowing that he was going to lie to do so he deserves to sink in the bog as far and as quick as he can.
He also changed his rhetoric quite quickly from ‘UNEQUIVOCALLY NO CONFLICT!!!’ from ‘the ministry of guidelines’ or whatever they call themselves, to a hushed ‘no conflict to see here’ you can all go home now. What? No, sorry, I can’t show you the written advice I was given. Why? Because it doesn’t exist, how can I show you something that never existed. Moron.
Yes the final retreat of the compulsive Liar is to be found in the sudden appearance of ’emotion’ in their dialogue where no emotion has thus far been previously perceived,
Collins in what can only be described as ‘bizarre’ acting resorted to ‘Crocodile Tears’ seeking sympathy from the gathered media,
Slippery the Prime Minister not having the option of a public display ‘cry me a river’ in defence of being caught red handed lying to the press and public had only anger as the last refuge,
D grade acting from the pair of them, should the media continue to catch either of them using glib lies in the discourse in coming months i would expect such displays of anger to be directed at the media, a real Muldoonish scrape of the bottom of the barrell…
Gusher Collins is like many bullies who bash others and laugh at their tears but will break down when the truth of their actions is outed.
I don’t know why some MSM think she can come back from this. Her ‘Crusher’ brand is now too damaged and she’s too hard headed to reinvent herself. Justice for the Minister of it.
lolz @ “Gusher”.
I wonder how Q&A will report on this? Subject it to the same innuendo and digging that Cunliffe got?
I live in hope. Either way we will see how TVNZ is going to behave during this build-up to the election.
I thought the Internet Party had quietly died – it seems not.
that is precisely why anyone making predictions about election outcomes..
..is really just pulling it out of a lower-orifice..
..there are far too many unverifiable/unquantifiable variables..
..for it not to be so..
..and the internet party is one of them..
..and i repeat my claim from before..
..that this elections’ outcomes..more so than any in recent memory..
..will be largely driven by the quality/novelty of the policies on offer..
..this is crucial for labour esp…
..and as for the minnow..this policy-imperative perhaps none more so than for dotcoms’ vehicle..
..their policies will determine how they are viewed..
..and if just a libertarian-wank-fest…(put to a dance-beat..)
..they/the internet party will be largely ignored by most..
..and just seen as a competitor to act/chem-trails-col..
..way out there on the fringe..
..if they come up with big-ideas that grab the publics’ imagination/have broad appeal..
..they could do well..
..and as i say..throw any of the pundits’ current-predictions..
..out the window..
(and confirming the above..)
peters has just jumped-started his vote/support..
..vowing to buy back all the power-companies..
..and to return them under a single authority..
..plus a raft of other populist policies..
..and for those looking at craig/act..with a degree of alarm..
..peters will be looking like a safe pair of hands..
..and of all the leaders’ interviews to date..on the nation..
..peters has pulled one out of his hat..
The Nation was predicting this morning that the chemtrail Conservatives will get 3 MP’s at the next election. I wonder what they’ve been smoking?
While news on The Internet Party has been very quiet for some time, this short report on Radio NZ news back on 3 March indicated that it had not died before launch.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/237705/internet-party-seeks-commission-approval
As it is very short, the report in full
The Internet Party of Kim Dotcom is waiting for Electoral Commission approval to gather membership data via online applications, including allowing a member to sign directly on to a computer screen with a finger or using a mouse.
IIRC Dunne and UF had no success in persuading the Electoral Commission to allow them to accept membership applications for the purposes of reregistration of UF.
So, it would seem from the Stuff article in your link that the Internet Party may have had some success in persuading the Commission to allow online membership applications.
KDC has said very little on his Twitter site about the IP of late, but on March 10 tweeted that:
” I welcome the Sept 20 election date. We’re doing our own polls now & the numbers look good. Get ready for our ‘Call for Members’. #InternetParty”
and
“Launching #InternetParty website, mobile apps, call for members and funny short film about my opponents next week. Its on!”
Re my comment re UF’s reregistration, here are a couple of links confirming that the Electoral Commission initially would not accept online/spreadsheet registrations, but then decded to allow this.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=10891656
http://www.elections.org.nz/news-media/electoral-commission-decision-united-future-request
The Elctoral Commission approved the Internet Party’s logo on 18 February.
http://www.elections.org.nz/news-media/registration-internet-party-logo
‘With a finger or using a mouse’ is delightfully phrased. Yes, Radio NZ, these days people can do things online! Using fingers! It’s like living in the future.
As I said before, Dotcom needs to boot the internet party pretty quickly before people start realising that his C: drive has no operating system loaded.
The IP intrigues me. Depending on its fleshed out form I might vote for it, given that Labour are slow and sluggish and need a good defragging — perhaps a reformat and clean install.
Putting Out The Fire With Gasoline, are interest rate rises a cause of inflation in the economy, my opinion says Yes, raising interest rates is a definite inflationary push,
A further opinion would say that to ‘hide’ this inflationary push that has as a direct cause the Reserve Bank’s raising of the Official Cash Rate ‘the rack’ of a continuing series of rises in the OCR is employed by the Reserve Bank where in the ensuing ‘pain’ and ‘noise’ the fact that part of the inflation the bank is ‘stomping’ upon had as its direct cause the initial raising of the OCR by the Reserve Bank,
A Stuff article attempts to translate the numbers surrounding the raising of the official cash rate and subsequent raising of interest rates charged by the trading banks,
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money…/interest-cost-pain-to-slow-spending
”According to the Reserve Bank the Business sector has $79.1 billion of debt with financial institutions while the Agricultural sector has $51.7 billion of debt”,
”Homeowners, Businesses, and Farmers could be paying an extra $6.3 billion a year in interest if mortgage rates rise as the Reserve Bank expects over the next two years”, unquote Stuff.co.nz,
While Stuff.co has to be applauded for at least making the effort to explain the numbers to the public surrounding the interest rates rises there is room for a far more detailed analysis, breakdown, and publication of the numbers and likely effects, so this article while highlighting the costs to the economy in dollar terms also highlights this countries general lack of in depth economic journalism,
The inflation caused by the Reserve Bank’s raising of the OCR???, its hidden in the $6.3 billion cost to the economy,to you,me, them, of raising those interest rates,
i have no means of ‘shaking the actual numbers out of that $6.3 billion dollar cost to the economy, But, lets apportion 60% of that ‘cost’ to Joe Public the average homeowner with a 300 thousand dollar mortgage, thus we are left with the Business sector and Farming sector, both carrying substantial amounts of debt carrying the can of 40% of that $6.3 billion dollar cost of two years of interest rates rising,
When faced with a rising input cost in any area what do Business as a rule use as the first means of maintaining their profit margins, You guessed it, Put Up The Price Of Their Goods Or Services,
So, the initial moves by the Reserve Bank supposedly with the impetus of clamping down on inflation will have in the first instance the creation of inflation as a direct result, supremely unworried by this inflation spike the Reserve Bank will then justify All it’s later OCR rises on the basis of that inflation spike that it initiated with its initial raising of the OCR,
Putting out the fires with gasoline???, you bet, its the monetary system of a tribe of primitive chimp like people who upon seeing a non-venomous snake enter their territory come down from the trees using heavy blunt clubs to beat the harmless snake to a pulp, only to realize belatedly that such a carcass has called predators of a far more dangerous nature onto their turf…
Anyone or party that rests it’s reputation of inflation rates is only IMO selling its succes based on the lack of our illeracy of economics. Success of inflation is how our non tradables trend. Nz has imported low inflation for all this century whilst paying for this with the exporting of employment and our high dollar.
The OCR rise this week was widely tipped and swap rates had already had most of the 25 pt rise already priced onto it, and we are incessantly being told that the 2 yr swap is the driving force for mortgage rates.
A note that banks make their greatest margins from floating mortgages , not fixed term.
A few links to my earlier post ( as I hate to make unsupported comments )
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/238685/interest-rate-rises-where-to-from-here
http://www.interest.co.nz/property/68951/anz-increase-floating-mortgage-rates-25-basis-points-and-flag-ship-savings-account-ra
“The reality is in the last three to five months funding costs have gone up in anticipation of what the Reserve Bank did today. They’ve increased quite differently depending on the term.”
So if the OCR rate increases at a slower pacer or less aggressively will rates charged also be adjusted and under what time frame ??
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/68613/bank-bill-rates-reach-their-highest-28-months-markets-assume-ocr-about-be-hiked
However, bank margins on floating mortgages are considerably higher than on fixed rate terms.
And how the RBNZ models what impacts mortgages.
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/research_and_publications/analytical_notes/2012/an2012_10.pdf
And support re non-tradables, because through necessity we cannot escape rises in power, rates etc yet we can and in many cases do defer purchasing cheap TV’s that reduce our reported inflation numbers !!
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/55400/opinion-bernard-hickey-argues-rbnz-should-target-non-tradable-inflation-deal-structura
The plethora of links you have supplied make the non-sensical statement originally made just as abstruse as it was,
What exactly are you trying to impart as information here, that the trading banks have already raised their interest rates in anticipation of the movement of the Official Cash Rate,???…
That’s it and that many heres fascination with using inflation as a guide to the failure or success of govts policies is naive at best as this to me just displays how out of touch such comments are with how real households are coping or not.
i would suggest you are being more than a little less than honest then as 3 of the Trading banks have signaled that they will be lifting their interest rates in line with the OCR rise,
ANZ, ASB, and KiwiBank are all raising their rates,
The heavy blunt instrument of the OCR has long been criticized for it’s detrimental effects to the economy and if the current Government continues to rely on taking the wrecking ball to an economy which has not fully recovered from the effects of the GFC by continuing to support use of the OCR when such use is arguably of negative benefit to the economy then that Government deserves all the criticism it gets…
From Cunliffe’s Speech thread
Reply to Just Like Tiger Woods
“Labour would also have to distance themselves from the Greens, or give an indication of what Green policy positions they would adopt, and what they would rule out. I like how Cunliffe is talking centrist economic policy, but I have no time for the Greens and would not vote to enable them.”
Without knowing either parties’ policies extensively (have only been through some of each) -I view that Greens and Labour have a lot of compatibility. I find it a bit difficult to know what is so wrong with the Greens that you would take such a stance.
The Greens emphasis on a healthy environment stands to benefit everyone health and ultimately wealth wise. (Taking care today saves a lot of costs in the future).
The Greens have proven themselves to be very disciplined and focused and have good principles when it comes to their party’s organisation, their politicians’ conduct and on aligning their policies and reactions to contemporary issues on research.
Can you please tell me what it is that you find so off putting about the Greens that you would take such a stance?
There are many reasons, but here’s just one.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10755089
Would they support bright Kiwi innovation that lead to more productive fracking? How about better oil drilling technology? Somehow, I doubt it. Yet they would, in all likelihood, back some clean-tech farce, even if we have no comparative advantage in such areas. I doubt they even know what that term means.
Fine if we have some advantage in such areas, but if we did, we’d probably already be doing it.
Thanks for the response Just Like Tiger Woods
The article you link contains a fair concern – governments investing into trends that then turn out to not be trends. Callaghan, however appears to justify the industries that are big now in NZ by the same logical error that he fears the Greens are falling for. i.e. milk products are big now and therefore we should continue expanding – this despite there are serious problems being caused to our water due to this industry. This despite there are increasing numbers of people moving away from using milk products (another trend that may or may not continue).
The question needs to be asked – considering sourcing drinking water is an increasing and serious problem occurring in many places throughout the world – does the money coming in from selling more and more raw milk products really balance with the risk this is posing to our water system? You can’t buy water once it is ruined throughout the world. Is this the smartest solution for NZ? Could we ‘add value’ to products prior to selling them and therefore require less expansion of cow farming – and all the environment costs this is creating?
Again, fracking is a process that threatens our water systems. What is the priority here? How useful is profit when we haven’t any water to drink? Do you think that wouldn’t happen? There are plenty of documentaries around about this world wide water issue. Specifically fracking – have you seen ‘Gaslands’?
To Gaslands website: http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/
Finally, how likely is it that ‘clean tech’ is a flash in the pan trend – given our universal and absolute human need for a healthy environment and our historic and ongoing use of energy?
He specifically states we cannot scale dairy indefinitely.
Is economic diversification a good idea? Of course. But, like I said, the Greens are bound by their narrow, ideological view that – I feel – is based on a falsehood. They will likely support innovation that is in line with the unproven AGW worst-case scenarios.
It does not follow we’ll have no water to drink if we undertake fracking. Gasland is an activist propaganda movie – possibly worse than “An Inconvenient Truth” – and I’m amazed anyone would take it seriously given court rulings on its depictions.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2013/07/10/fiction-masquerading-as-news-in-the-oil-and-gas-shale-world/
Clean tech may well be a flash in the pan. It may not. Either way, it doesn’t mean we have a comparative advantage in it. If we did, we’d already be doing it, and I’d be investing in it.
No point trying to argue with a climate change denier who rejects scientific consensus.
Even conservative IPCC is now saying 4 deg C warming is possible by the end of the century.
You won’t be around then though so what do you care eh?
“Denier” is a religious term, not a scientific one. Also a vile attempt to associate someone with holocaust denial.
There is no consensus. Consensus is not science. IPCC are not credible as their guesswork so far has been wrong. They’re also a political organisation, and their politics appears self-serving and alarmist.
The fact is no one knows what is happening with climate long term in terms of warming or cooling. Anyone who claims they do is deluded. Fact.
High degree of complexity, very low degree of certainty.
Lol!
Thanks for that……you big ‘ol denier.
Evidence based decision making.
You believe whatever alarmist monster-under-the-bed story you like. Like a child.
Too funny. Are you trying to tick all the wingnut boxes, you innumerate flat-Earther?
I doubt you have any more idea of Climatology than you do of Economics.
lol yep the denier denies being a denier – woody is getting quite woolly and all the toys will come out the cot soon – give up justlikewood you are well outgunned and outclassed – too funny and good while waiting for the storm to arrive.
You simply believed what someone told you, like a child believing in Santa Claus. Your position is not evidence based.
Mine is.
The fact is that no one has a clue what is happening with climate. There is no scientific proof that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years.
None.
If you believe otherwise, you hold an irrational belief.
How do you explain the trend in the atmospheric carbon isotope ratio, little wingnut?
How do you explain the fact that winters have warmed more than summers, nights more than days, the Arctic more than the Antarctic? All predictions made in 1896, incidentally.
Hey don’t get snotty with me just because you can’t accept scientific facts.
Talk about childish…
Moore’s evidence to the senate committee.
http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=415b9cde-e664-4628-8fb5-ae3951197d03
“There is no scientific proof that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years”
Fact.
All the believers can produce is alarmism, speculation and some really bad guesswork.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/05/05/benchmarking-ipccs-warming-predictions/
The sceptics were right. The believers were wrong.
Only an idiot looks for scientific “proof”. Science deals in probabilities, but we know that CO2 is a greenhouse gas – this can be shown experimentally and is theoretically explained by Quantum Mechanics. We know that the CO2 content of the atmosphere is rising, by observation, and -also by observation – we know that the extra CO2 is anthropogenic in origin.
We know that Svante Arrhenius’ predictions were all correct – by observation. We know that destructive weather events have increased in magnitude and frequency – cf: Munich re cited below.
The fact that you cite Anthony Watts and congressional testimony, rather than peer-reviewed research, demonstrates that as in statistics, you are out of your depth.
Even nuttier than I had suspected…
Then produce the proof.
There’s a Nobel prize awaiting the first person to do so.
The proof? Prove things is what Mathematicians do.
Physicists, not so much. Quantum Mechanics is a branch of Physics, not Mathematics.
Before we go any further, please indicate that you understand these simple concepts.
@JLTW Perhaps I’m being too complicated. An example:
How many possible series (n1-nx), with a mean, m, are there where all n>0.6m?
Multiple choice answers:
a. 0
b. ∞
The fact that (in the context of a discussion of the minimum wage) you answered (a) is proof of your innumeracy.
However, it is impossible to prove Quantum Mechanical principles because they rely on probabilities – cf Heisenberg’s Uncertainty.
Do you see the difference?
Earth to flat-Earther: the IPCC doesn’t do any “guesswork” – it collates and summarises existing research. If you’re going to criticise something you need to learn what it is first.
Climate change forecasts vs Treasury forecasts
http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/entry/climate-forecasts-setting-the-record-straight
One set of probabilities seems believable.
unproven AGW worst-case scenarios
In strict scientific terms all AGW scenarios are unproven. However all the most probable ones commit us to a greater than 2degC global average rise.
What is most probable is that we are within natural variation. It is a non-problem, although prudent to keep asking questions.
Numerate capitalists disagree.
Please everyone DNFTT
Right on, Paul
Lost your mojo jltw.
How come the largest shareholder and chairman of the board of exxon mobil is fighting tooth and nail to prevent any fracking witin 200 miles of his private ranch in Texas.
Because he doesn’t like the height of a proposed water tower.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/26/us-usa-fracking-tillerson-idUSBREA1P24O20140226
“Mr. Tillerson does not object to the tower for its potential use for water and gas operations for fracking,” said Alan Jeffers, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil.
Tillerson’s property is already adjacent to several oil and gas wells and fracking operations, Jeffers added.”
And you just proved that you’re not worth listening to as you obviously just parrot the BS that conforms to your inbuilt bias.
Don’t tell me you fell for that as well?
What happened to your hurricanes? And your melted icecaps? And your silly hockey stick? All now proven wrong.
You lack the intellectual honesty to admit you were had by Al “Mansion By The Sea” Gore.
Which hockey stick? Mann et al? Or Huang et al? Or Oerlemans et al? Or Muller et al? Or Smith?
You are out of your depth little wingnut.
PS: and yes, you idiot, the ice is melting.
You just keep believin’ in the c02 scare story. Like a religious nut. Pray for your soul, brother else y’all burn in hell, I tells ya!
I’ll stick to evidence-based decisions.
Each to their own….
That would be rather difficult to do when you’re denying the evidence.
Nah ya see, DTB, evidence is just the sentence that precedes Tiger writing “FACT”
Which hockey stick do you believe is wrong, little wingnut?
Or are you lying when you say you’re all about evidence?
I think you’re lying, and you had no idea that hockey sticks were so abundant, and all from independent lines of evidence, too.
I don’t need to “believe” anything.
Tell me what it means if a Monte Carlo analysis produces a hockey stick shape, too?
On which data set?
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/403256/global-warming-bombshell/
[lprent: Bit pathetic reaching back for a 10 year old link, that has since been proven to be a moronic lie (but still loved by morons like yourself). ]
Show me the Monte Carlo analysis on Muller’s data set.
I suspect Tiger’s meal ticket is tied to the petroleum/gas industry. Which would explain his fringe perspective.
I suspect your “argument” is ad hominem.
I have nothing to do with the oil industry.
“Muller: A few years later, McIntyre came out and, indeed, showed that the hockey-stick chart was in fact incorrect. It had been affected by a very serious bug in the way scientists calculated their principal components.”
Which journal was McIntyre’s rebuttal of the BEST analysis published in?
The hockey stick has been shown to be more or less correct and Mann is now taking people to court over the defamation that he’s received over it.
Incorrect.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/403256/global-warming-bombshell/
“Now comes the real shocker. This improper normalization procedure tends to emphasize any data that do have the hockey stick shape, and to suppress all data that do not. To demonstrate this effect, McIntyre and McKitrick created some meaningless test data that had, on average, no trends. This method of generating random data is called Monte Carlo analysis, after the famous casino, and it is widely used in statistical analysis to test procedures. When McIntyre and McKitrick fed these random data into the Mann procedure, out popped a hockey stick shape!”
As for Mann, his court case has reportedly collapsed:
http://www.principia-scientific.org/michael-mann-faces-bankruptcy-as-his-courtroom-climate-capers-collapse.html
“The fact Mann refused to disclose his ‘hockey stick’ graph metadata in the British Columbia Supreme Court, as he is required to do under Canadian civil rules of procedure, constituted a fatal omission to comply, rendering his lawsuit unwinnable. …….”
What about Huang, Oerlemans, Smith and Muller?
Muller’s the one I like best. Fuckwits like you had him convinced it was all a hoax until his own study confirmed the facts.
Oh, and find a better source of information on Mann vs. National Review et al, you’re being duped, again. The suit has not “collapsed” and will move to discovery unless further appeals are forthcoming. The previous appeal was denied in January of this year.
You really do spout a load of bullshit man!
http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/2014/02/25/setting-the-record-straight-on-misleading-claims-against-michael-mann/
Read the last paragraph at least..
when fracking companies release detailed information about the chemicals they pump into the ground then you can discuss the pros and cons, till then it is just a con
There you go:
http://fracfocus.org/chemical-use/what-chemicals-are-used
funny
I always thought the phrase “release detailed information” when discussing something being pumped would involve quantities of the materials being pumped. Guess we have different ideas on what “detailed” means
I guess you didn’t specify quantities. So, you have no issue with the chemicals unless they exceed quantity X?
The fact that you think that would be an unusual position to take on chemicals just shows how utterly illiterate you are.
Interestingly, a Wyoming Supreme Court has recently rejected the fracking industry’s argument to keep what chemicals they use a secret.
JustLikeTigerWoods
Firstly, the comparative advantage to the government in supporting clean technology instead of outdated polluting industries is easily quantifiable. In financial terms, National’s energy policy states that there is the potential for future royalties from all oil and gas production of $12 billion at the most. In comparison, a PWC reported in 2013 stated that clean technology could be worth $22 billion, plus there is no risk of widespread environmental damage.
It should also be stated that the National Party’s 2011 estimates are likely wrong, being that recent exploration has failed to find any new oil. That means the governments investment and subsidies, amounting to $326.6 million between 2008 and 2012, has been lost. It was in fact a complete waste of taxpayers money that would be better spent on clean technology endeavors that guarantee a return.
You appear to be another right wing idiot JustLikeTigerWoods who just spouts nonsense in the hope that nobody will fact check your gibberish.
Add the half a billion it cost to sell the assets, the various corporate handouts, the loss of dividends from everywhere, mix in plummeting tax takes and that surplus thingy is really starting to get some wonky legs eh! Before long I expect we will hear how the expected surplus was always in the 2015/2016 year and the reporters are just falling for lefty disinfo campaigns and John Key never mentioned a surplus and if Bill did you better ask him as the budget is really an operational matter.
It’s not either/or.
We’ll take the $12b AS WELL, thanks.
As for the $22b guesswork, will they be advising their clients to invest boots and all? If not, why not? You see, if clean tech was a sure thing, I would already be investing, as would many other people. The reason I don’t is because it is very high risk and the returns, globally, have been abysmal.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2013/04/09/solar-companies-continue-to-go-bankrupt/
http://live.wsj.com/video/economics-clean-tech-funds-yielding-poor-returns/B80B7F56-55C8-467C-B45F-00DD08817FEF.html#!B80B7F56-55C8-467C-B45F-00DD08817FEF
This is the last thing we should be “investing” in. If the US can’t even do it, after pouring billions into it, then what makes you think we can?
It is clear from your response JustLikeTigerWoods that you haven’t bothered to read my comment properly. Nor does it seem that you have read the article you have linked to either.
Here is what the Forbes article states:
According to the link in the forbes article, last year there were 21 solar company bankruptcies worldwide. However many of those companies listed are mergers or branches of companies not wanting to compete anymore in a very competitive market. They are not actually bankruptcies. In other words the figures the article is based on are incorrect.
Just to make things a bit clearer for you…nobody is arguing that we should be competing to produce solar panels JustLikeTigerWoods. We should however be taking advantage of a competitive solar panel market to future proof our energy requirements.
Unfortunately the current government has refused to help clean tech companies to anywhere near the extent they help the oil and gas industry with our tax dollars.
Wrong! The $12 billion was a best case scenario including large finds of new oil. That exploration has failed and it is unlikely that the oil and gas companies will consider further exploration without considerable government funding, investment that has no guarantee of any return at all. That type of investment is therefore not worthwhile, considering there is a viable alternative to simply throwing taxpayers money away on an environmentally damaging sunset industry.
What makes you think the PWC report is guesswork? Is it simply that their findings don’t fit into your deluded philosophy, so you have dismissed the report out of hand…probably without even reading it?
Considering there was approximately $254 billion invested globally last year into clean technologies, it appears that many people thankfully don’t share your defunct viewpoint.
Do you have any actual figures to show that returns are abysmal? Please don’t link again to your industry driven propaganda.
It is true that investment has been dropping off recently, mainly because of the cost of photovoltaic systems reducing considerably because of competition, and the impact of archaic government policy towards renewable power.
In effect many governments around the world, including New Zealand’s, have failed to hold to any proper CO2 emission reductions because they are corrupted by the oil and gas industry who spend billions on lobbying to try and hold onto their out-dated business models.
Do they perhaps employ you to promote their disinformation JustLikeTigerWoods?
Comparative advantage is a load of bollocks.
No we wouldn’t because the free-market paradigm has worked to destroy our economy.
It’s pretty simple, Draco.
If you’re going to divert money away from areas that do make profits into areas that are pretty much guaranteed to make a loss, as this is the experience globally, then you’re going to harm a lot of people.
Green tech may sound warm, fuzzy and the “right” thing to do, but I would ask you to take a more thorough look at the performance of this sector globally. Keep in mind that areas of performance in this sector are almost entirely reliant on subsidy.
And you can back up this statement with facts?
“..Colbert on Colorado: ‘The Market Has Spoken – and the Market Is Toking’..” (video..)
http://www.alternet.org/colbert-colorado-market-has-spoken-and-market-toking
The ironic thing is that white men will now get rich off legal marijuana while whole generations of black men have been criminalised. A cynic might think that the war on drugs had served its purpose of marginalising the most potentially revolutionary force in American society and now it was time to go back to the real business of making a buck.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11220184
Thought this was a fucking disgusting depiction of Grant by Aussie Emerson. He has been fantastic in this and this depiction is- he’s gay so he can’t be a serious minister (not like Cunliffe or Key in a suit) but he has to be some kind of pervert…
Angry. Maybe we can role out Shano to get stuck into the almost Aussie monopoly on cartoons in our paper of record?
Ick. That’s very off.
Definitely over the very loose line we give cartoonists.
The castle clown is given license no-one else would get away with; but every now and then one of them finishes up feeding the moat-monsters.
I don’t think we should regulate cartoonists…craziness. but I’ve never been a big fan of Emmerson’s. He’s an Aussie. You’d think for our one paper we’d manage to find a kiwi. And often he does a cartoon that really offers no insight or opinion it just is some kind of reflection of what’s been going on. There’s no real connection to waterboarding, but it was vaguely topical last year, so it passes for insight into what’s going on. But doesn’t really say anything at all.
And it seems BS that Robertson’s very credible showing in the house over this is turned into this cartoon…it would be interesting to go through (and other than the battle of the babes for Auck Central) it would be interesting to see how sexualised other depictions are. Do we regularly see cartoons of Bennett and Parata as whores or as dominatrixes? No? Because they can be shown a bit of respect, but Grant can’t?
Send him back to Aussie. Wanker. Grrrr.
like this cartoon mentioned above actually making a point and bringing an actual relevant quote in:
https://twitter.com/bryce_edwards/status/444198339349708800/photo/1/large
Actually all three cartoons listed by Edwards make intelligent visual points and the Herald cartoon is just a sneaky attack on Grant Robertson.
The others show up Collins hypocrisy, or the persona of her apology. Anyway I guess one bad cartoon doesn’t make the guy a bad cartoonist- he’s had people liking him here before. But as you can guess I really disliked the cartoon. An actually he’s had 2 good cartoons on Oravida this week. Sorry Rod! But this was a shocker
This is beside the point, but it also doesn’t make any sense! If you’re going to make jokes about horrific torture methods shouldn’t you know what you’re talking about?
yep – disgusting and sick – tells us more about the cartoonist than most would want to know. Jokes about waterboarding? What a scum.
Over on WhaleOil, that nasty scote is trying to equate Judith Collins’ corruption with a publicly-announced opening of the law office of David Cunliffe’s wife, by PM Helen Clark a few years back. A secret dinner, a forgetting to tell the current PM what went on, an overseas taxpayer funded trip, and an endorsement of the company product your husband is connected with – is hugely different from an office opening which would have been announced publicly beforehand., and is a basic function of the prime ministerial office.
Meanwhile over here at the Standard the usual array of scrotal crabs that regularly appear have all gone into hiding having no defense of their Prime Minister being caught lying along with Justice Minister Collins being seen to have caught the same condition…
my reply to puckish rogue when it was posted here yesterday
wail boil is an expert at disinformation and plainoutright lying which is the national party preferred way of doing things.
they cant lie straight in bed.
John Kerry calls on Venezuela to call off “terror campaign”
from Joe Emersberger, Media Lens, 14 March 2014
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1394797682.html
http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-cracks-down-protests-rage-000008363.html?.tsrc=appleww
excerpt:
But in Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry — using his strongest language to date on the lingering crisis — called for an end to what he called a “terror campaign” by Maduro’s government.
Kerry, speaking before US lawmakers, called on the international community to “focus on Venezuela appropriately.”….
“We are engaged now with trying to find a way to get the Maduro government to engage with their citizens, to treat them respectfully, to end this terror campaign against his own people and to begin to hopefully respect human rights and the appropriate way of treating his people,” he said.
Comment on these insane remarks by Kerry seems unnecessary. I can only attribute them to desperaton on the part of Kerry given the USA’s almost total isolation in the hemiphere as exposed by the rcent OAS resultion on Venezuela….
http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-084/14
having a peep at the succession-jostling within national is interesting..
..you have slater in the collins camp..
..you have joyce-ites with enough reason to give collins that final trip of the ankle..
(..or they leave her there..as a damaged non-opponent..?..easily beatable ‘cos of that hint of corruption..)
..then of course..(as was pointed out to me the other day..)..in the background you have english..
..who may well be looking at these two most unlikable candidates..
..and thinking that he could well be in with a chance..(as a compromise-candidate..for a stalemated party..)
..some are touting bridges and adams..
(but they must be just having a bit of a laff…adams has got upcoming dodgy-dealings/conflict-of-interest allegations of her own..on a slow simmer..and ready to be brought to the boil..)
..and if you were going to have an anti-superhero trio..called the unlikeables..
….you’d have collins/joyce..and bridges as their eager apprentice..
..so english may well be dreaming of a 2nd chance..
..(and if you thought labour leadership battles were ugly..?
..whoar..!..
..those tories get well down and dirty..
..i wd imagine the cabinet-meetings must have some interesting sub-texts/undercurrents going on..
..making things maybe not quite so ‘relaxed’…
..(darting/narrowed eyes to the fore..)
The Stupid, it hurts:
An interesting thing to say considering that:
They haven’t actually made any comparisons to anything else.
Of course Nicky Wagner CHCH MP wasnt in CHCH to help out after the floods….
Her piss ass sad excuse
Her vote was needed in Wgtn hahahahahah
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/9832173/Talkbacks-Chris-Lynch
I think Wagner is in for a whitewash in Sept 2014 election….
bye bye wont be missed…..
I think National as a whole have given up on any ideas they might once have had at holding Chch Central.
what was she supposed to do in CHCH. Heat Jerry Brownlies pies for him.
You are a tugger dude.
“..How to unhook all those apps with access to your data..
..how to kick forgotten corporate eyes out of your Twitter – Facebook – and Google accounts:
‘it’s time to start deleting’..”
http://boingboing.net/2014/03/14/how-to-unhook-all-those-apps-w.html
Hi JustLikeTigerWoods,
If you like dumping toxic waste so much, then perhaps we should all have it trucked round to your place. Perhaps even pay you for the privilige.
I get sick off all these people who bash the green simply because they want to keep our rivers free of toxic waste. They really need to put their hands up and invite people to dump toxic waste in their own back yard.
Pollution is a crime against humanity and should be treated as such.
+1 Millsy
Looking at RadioNZ News about David Cunliffe’s speech to NZ Institute.
The heading – ‘Vision for economy short on detail’.
It appears to be inspired by a quote from Mr Key lifted from the last few lines of a 2.46 minute news item.
Prime Minister John Key said on Friday that Labour is running out of time to come up with new policies ahead of this year’s election on 20 September.
“The truth is actually, Mr Cunliffe hasn’t said anything new today. The best announcement he’s come out with is he’s gonna make further announcements.
“Well, we are starting to run out of time before we get to an election – so if he had a new idea, it would be interesting to hear it.”
How is it that the heading is negative when there was so much detail in the speech that would have lent itself to a positiveone. Such as, with some hyperbole :
[Labour plans regional industry development with a hint of Think Big.]
from ‘ development of industry in the regions and a focus on more transformative projects’.
But the reporter found it all unsatisfactory because there was no firm detail on other projects!
As if. First Labour would not be releasing these too soon, and secondly it is possible that the reporter wouldn’t understand them anyway, and thirdly that little twist that gets put on (like mine of Think Big) can skew them in people’s minds from the start.
+1
Fourthly, if past elections are anything to go by, Labour will produce detailed and costed policy before the election, National will produce a series of vague press releases, and reporters will apply the double standard.
+1 One Anonymous Bloke