ACT candidate and agriculture spokesman Don Nicolson said communities needed to make themselves resilient against the variety of problems natural variations in climate could bring. “No-one can give me conclusive proof that mankind is actually having an effect on the weather.”
And no one will you moron but when the probability of it being so is 95% or better I’d say that it’s beyond reasonable doubt.
Ha ha, stupid Don Nicolson sounds like fool Key and his Hardtalk “scientists only offer opinions, they are just like lawyers” idiocy.
Here is a statement of similar usefulness..
“No-one can give me conclusive proof that the sun is in fact real.”
Don Nicolson is a shallow moron, as you so eloquently put it DtB. Just like Key. Shallow shallow shallow.
You watch, Nicolson will soon say something so ridiculous you will all fall about in laughter and his credibility will be shot. There is no way on earth that this moron will get through a parliamentary term without such a showing. He is a different same David Garrett. I guarantee it.
“This is a disappointing development and it is completely at odds with the recent views of other rating agencies. Just last week, Fitch & DBRS noted our economy’s return to growth in the first quarter, the progress in reducing our budget deficit and said that there was no reason to alter their views on Ireland at this time,” said a spokesman for the department of finance
Not really bizarre. Max Keiser on you tube sums it up pretty well.
These ratings agencies are the same ones which gave AAA ratings on billions worth of toxic investments sold to retirement funds and small time investors. The credit rating agencies were paid to help the big investment banks sell these toxic products by giving them a strong rating.
Now the credit rating agencies are helping the same big investment banks pick up for cents on the dollar, the sovereign hard assets in these at-risk-of deafult countries by giving them a miserable rating and creating a self fulfiling prophecy.
And just ask, how are the big investment banks going to pay for all these sovereign hard assets, even at firesale prices?
Using the bail out money that those bankrupt countries’ governments gave the banks originally.
It goes like this – in an age of currency debasement and devaluation, the only real financial investment left is in vital hard assets. Euros and USD are becoming increasingly worthless as they are no longer a reliable store of value. Hydrodams, roads and ports are, however.
By helping to bankrupt countries like Ireland and forcing firesale prices of those public assets, international investors can pick them up for cents in the dollar, but paying for them using the public money that those governments handed to them in the original bail outs.
It’s not genius. It is the normal actions of bankers over the centuries. It is the same old trick – lend someone money and when they default pick up the asset.
It is in fact EXACTLY the same trick that drug dealers play. Get the client hooked and over their head then move in on the assets.
Bankers and drug dealers play the same game.
It is the world’s biggest rort playing out as we speak. The protestors are the only ones onto it.
Well, I thought the smart part was getting governments to pay over the bailout money first, which got the governments into crippling debt, thereafter allowing the banks to swoop in and buy government assets up using the government’s own money.
But yeah, the general formula is a big rerun.
So…debt is like the crack cocaine that drug dealers hand out…
On the subject of CGT…headline in todays Herald Landlord: ‘Nasty tax won’t get a cent of my property gains’.
Mr Whitburn provides a case study in inequity, avarice, and gambling, nothing less. He has got “wealthy” courtesy of the not clever but quite brave punting on property prices increasing forever, and leveraging his investment to the max. Nothing unusual here, it is standard human behavoir under our current casino regime, Whitburn merely provides a microcosm of what our middle classes have been doing within every bubble, be it property or shares.
From where I am sitting Whitburn like many others who have leveraged previous bubbles looks to be in a very precarious position. No prudent investor currently will give him another cent to leverage, and when market conditions make cash flow and interest rates problematic it will all become a house of cards. Note Serepeisos.
The sad thing about Whitburns attitude in the article is not his complaint about the “inequity”, lets face it the rest of us are currently subsidising his tax bill and that really is inequitable. It is his belief that what he is doing is just and fair. Shylock could do no better, but this minor Randian Atlas may end up as the tragic comic hero who loses the lot, then laments he wont ever be lucky enough to pay capital gains taxes.
I wonder how often he raises his rent, how he treats his tenants and what the state of his rental properties are?
I would also like him to front up to the people of Hawera and explain why he is willing to see those people lose their hospital so he can pay less tax.
My daughter and son-in-law rent a basic three bedroom house in Ranui and pay a relatively high rental. I did wonder after reading this article whether he just maybe their landlord as he boasted about owing several properties in the West Auckland area, Massey, Ranui etc. The house is nothing to write home about and to my thinking is pretty damp – no insulation as far as I am aware. They had to ask several times to have the bathroom repaired – the floor was rotting under the shower and the waste under the kitchen sink leaked and set up a mouldy smell throughout the area. It is a roof over their heads but they are looking for something better.
And it looks like as usual he did not read the whole thing.
“I’ve got all the places in trusts and have no plans to sell,” said the multimillionaire. “I’m getting an income and using that to pay down the debt on my own home. In two years I’ll be debt-free with lovely views of Rangitoto and the Sky Tower.
I did see it said CGT on trusts, just the thing to deal with these parasites on our economy.
Had to laugh a little when he was described as a multi millionaire after the article said he had a million in equity, spread on 6 houses and 5 other rental units. Lets speculate on this a little….maybe a total capital value of $5 million…equity now $1 million (20%)…market falls 20% equity 0%, or conversely / concurrently interest rises faster than rents can rise by 2.5% = $100K cash shortfall to come out of equity or earnings (if the bank is prepared to extend)….its all a bit like having the stakes raise in a game of Poker.
Typical response from the RWNJ’s is “…how can we know if the retailers have reduced their prices accordingly?”
I would have thought that the whole essence of a free market and capitalism would answer that one – Competition FFS! Don’t they trust their own mantra.
Of course, capitalism acts to remove true competition where possible since actual monopolies, effective monopolies, duopolies and shadow cartels are always way way more profitable. They want to move such governmental set ups into the private sector where possible as well.
In the US, the country of ‘free choice’, they have a free choice of the capitalist Democrats and the capitalist Republicans.
You’d probably call me a RWNJ………. my typical response to the proposed GST off fruit and veg is twofold.
1. It will likely lead to a lot of confusion initially, first six months or so which is a minor incovenience.
2. Fruit and vege prices fluctuate enormously during the year as the seasons change and the removal of GST is pretty much insignificant compared to these fluctuations, if people are ‘scottish’ grocery shoppers like me they’ll go for what’s in season in the first instance.
I think the word you are looking for regarding meanness should be ‘Jewish’ they are well known to hoard money, in fact pro-rata the Scottish are actually one of the most generous charitable societies. The Scottish are known as ‘thrifty’ – thought you would like that seeing as the government has opted to buy trains from the cheapest (thriftiest source) rather than keep jobs for an established staff in Dunedin!
‘As a proportion of their income, the wealthiest people in this country (the UK) give far less than those who are less well-off,’
And three-fifths of Britain’s biggest donors – those giving more than £100 a month – have incomes of less than £26,000 per year.’
Wealthy people can adjust their apparent incomes so they appear lower, using company cars, renting a house from a trust or whatever. 26,000 pounds doesn’t sound much, about $60,000 here?
IanupN . I thought that old ant -semitic insult racist propogander went out with the death of Hitler. If you believe Jewish people are mean you are a bigoted ignoramous. Most of the charitable organizations in the East End London are run by Yiddish organizations .Like wise most USA charitable organizations are run by Jewish families . Even the Great Met Opera Company is by Jewish families. The biggest percentage of philanthropist’ in the world are overwhelmingly Jewish people .
The first free hospital ever in the world was completly financed by Barny Barnato Jew.London hospital still standing but now under NHS .
Our own Jewish Mayor Robbie was know for his generosity . Aotearoa has enough bigots in the ACT party we don’t want them here . Mazel Tov!
PS . The other old chestnut is that all Jews are rich . Dont get me on that .
I guess they’re tied to the price of electricity and gas to heat hothouses. The price of transportation would also determine the cost of imported tomatoes, but not to the degree we’re seeing.
even the local discount greengrocer has $8.99 kg. normally $5 this time of year.
In Wellington last week i was a bit shocked to see $18.99kg at New World, these are tomatoes, not Bluff oysters. (Then again $18.99kg for bluff Oysters would be nice to see)
Small tomato growers using glasshouses in winter may have been forced out of the market by pollution reduction policies. One I know of used to burn coal to raise the temperature but can’t now. Had to close down.
Also I think the Queensland floods are being cited as the reason that some things have gone up and I guess this would definitely apply to tomatoes from Oz.
The floods in Australia at the start of the year wiped out many crops that would become ripe now. Low supply = high prices. Doesn’t have anything to do with transportation or electricity costs.
Not sure how this thread disappeared into a discussion about misers but my first assertion was that the open market was supposed to determine the price of everything.
Surely the retail market has its margin and then adds the 15 %. To say that the price to the shopper will remain the same beggars belief.
Perhaps it is incumbent on the government to publish a daily (vegetable and growers) wholesale market price (auctions) to determine the price the grocer is buying at.
I am astonished that people appear to be happy to pay 15% GST anywhere and everywhere. WTF. It’s there so we should pay it?
What if the government was to load vegetables with a 45 % GST?
Would the attitude be, well it ain’t gonna make any difference. All grocers will still charge the same price as each other.
Am I missing something here? Is there not a “market” after all, but simply a massive cartel?
I think the mental disconnect/doublethink is slightly more embedded than what you portray.
And that’s “prices are seasonal anyway, so if you take 15% off now, once the seasons change the price will go back up anyway”.
This entirely misses the point that once the seasons change and the prices go up, they’ll still be less (by the rate of GST) than they would have been if GST hadn’t been removed.
Am I missing something here? Is there not a “market” after all, but simply a massive cartel?
Yes there certainly is a market, but the market is dominated by a shadow cartel which controls pricing absolutely and which structurally prevents producers from selling their goods directly to the retail customer.
Just been told that in the CNI town where I live there have been 5 suicides in two weeks, the second to last a 12 year old girl, the latest a 51 y.o. man.
That is pretty scary; I know there have been a spate in Kawerau of late too. Maybe someone can quote the statistics but seriously this is not a record to be envious of.
Just been told that in the CNI town where I live there have been 5 suicides in two weeks, the second to last a 12 year old girl, the latest a 51 y.o. man.
Start talking to anyone who works in an acute psych ward, and it becomes obvious that our society has a lot of deeply rooted issues that we are not talking about or dealing with.
The organization of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan provides, and its principle of government demands, that there shall always be one individual, senior in rank to all other Klansmen of whatever rank, on whom shall rest the responsibility of command, and whose leadership will be recognized and accepted by all other loyal Klansmen.
That’s a very, very good question. King-Ansell was given to making idiotic public statements, and then trying to defend them in a most incoherent manner. In the early 1970s, Brian Edwards interviewed King-Ansell for twenty minutes and reduced him to a distressed, blithering heap of perplexedness.
Then, to his horror, Edwards was informed by the cameraman that due to an equipment malfunction, the entire interview had been lost. There was only one thing that could possibly be done: shoot the entire thing all over again. Edwards asked King-Ansell if he would mind, and King-Ansell obliged.
Edwards feared that the element of surprise had been lost, however, and that King-Ansell would not be trapped so easily the second time around. But Edwards asked exactly the same questions again, and King-Ansell blundered into the same traps again, and the whole humiliation was repeated almost identically.
Sheer, purblind stupidity, in other words. John Ansell seems to be cut from the same cloth. He could even be his son.
A bit of further investigation might be useful here.
I once knew Colin King-Ansell’s ex wife, she was a head-case and no mistake! He was doing his Nazi thing when they married, and as she told me “I’d always wanted to marry a German, and he was the closest I could find”. (All I can say my having been in relationships with 2 Germans over the decades, is, she didn’t look very hard! 😀 )
puzzled observer – Maori set great store in their tribe. John Ansell sets great store in his diatribe. Good eh. And his diatribe goes on and on and on, filled with such intelligent, novel ideas and bon mots?
At the time of near financial collapse during the Global Financial Crisis, our government introduced a Deposit Guarantee Scheme to support the insolvent banks and finance companies. This included the darling South Canterbury Finance.
That allowed the CEO Lachie McLeod, against all wisdom, to go out and make heaps more unworthy loans and considerably up the related party loans to an hystrerical level, includiong one to himself for about $15million (yes, that right, $15,000,000.00) to buy a stake in South Canterbury Finance. This all made the situation far worse for South Cantebury Finance and consequently far worse for we taxpayers when we had to bail the junk out.
Then Lachie gets the blame for it all going pear-shaped (which was correct, but one has to wonder what the board were thinking in letting it happen. What they were thinking was ‘lets abandon ship’) so Lachie has to leave.
So his departure gift is $20million (yes, that’s right $20,000,000.00) signed off by Hubbard alone and without Board approval. The $20,000,000.00 iincludes forgiveness (yes, that’s right f o r g i v e n e s s) of the $15,000,000.00 loan.
What fucking planet are these gorms on. The South Canterbury Finance mess just keeps getting stinkier. That arrangement must be near criminal in the circumstances.
I am absolutely gobsmacked.
So, all you lucky taxpayers out there, when you bailed out Lachie McLeod’s shonky work via the Deposit Guarantee Scheme you also paid off Lachie McLeod’s $15,000,000.00 loan.
Probably a few places mr prism. You could start with the receiver for SCF. Check out the companies office. Then all sorts of countless media articles which may have various sources.
And yes those numbers are eye-watering.
Lachie McLeod undoubtedly did a terrible job which led to SCG going bust. And yet he gets a $20,000,000.00 golden handshake??????????? Seriously, how does that work?
It is a fucking bullshit crock.
Both he and Hubbard need to stand up and account given we taxpayers paid for that to the tune of $1,500,000,000.00.
The zeroes are rather dazzling in that piece on SCF. It may have seemed to be a holding move for the CEO to borrow $15m and put that into SCF. When you get into ponzi style finances that could seem quite appropriate! Then when the CEO left, the loan money which had probably gone into the SCF black hole, was written off and he was actually given a $5m redundancy package/
What was that about free speech in “the land of the free”?
“There’s a culture of silence and fear in the Jewish community against speaking out…”
Watch the following clip, and bear it in mind next time you hear somebody like Hillary Clinton admonishing some third world country for being totalitarian and undemocratic….
Fine for ‘quite distinct from strictly objective news reporting’ Campbell Live
Current affairs show Campbell Live, it’s a good thing something like this exists. Close Ups counterpart has been a part of many tv-nights of uninformed populists. But what has now been revealed by Stuff.co.nz? There isn’t always extensive and broad research done for all the items presented. Campbell aired an item about Paper Reclaim in Auckland, alleging their plant was unsanitary and rat-infested. Workers were asking for a 1 dollar raise because of the working conditions and for their hard work and loyalty. Awful, horrible. These people deserve more than that. Oh hold on, let’s first take a look at the evidence presented. Some shots of a heap of rats (not at the plant itself), a cartoon of hundreds of rats (uhm yeah a cartoon) and statements made by the disgruntled employees (very objective). Not very reliable or even acceptable evidence. Of course Paper Reclaim agreed and filed a complaint, stating: ‘Campbell Live had relied on the unsubstantiated claims of a small number of workers and had “over-dramatised a pay dispute, by references to a rodent health problem, when no such problem existed”. TVWorks disagreed, replying: ‘’There was no doubt the item was sympathetic to the workers and presented in a manner that was ‘entertaining and informing’”. A word from the union: ‘acknowledged in a signed joint statement that there was no rat problem’. And lastly the final word comes from the Broadcasting Standards Authority: ‘numerous references to rats, “coupled with sensationalist clips of masses of rats and audio of rats squealing, created the clear impression for viewers that Paper Reclaim had a serious rat problem”’. Result: the show was fined $16,000. A little less sensationalism, a bit more investigative reporting. Oh sorry TVWorks what is that now? “Viewers understand the genre (which is quite distinct from strictly objective news reporting) and would take those ‘entertaining’ elements for what they were”. At least you’re honest.
Yeah VTO, somethings not right here. In april 2010 I sold my crop to a company on the agreement that I would get paid when they were sold and processed. In the meantime SCF went under, and the processing company had the recievers ( aka White-Collar-Looters) demand repayment of the loan, even tho no payments had been missed, this happened to about 120 other borrowers I think. When the company said piss off not possible, the Whitecollarlooters virtually took over, stole my 50k ( only income ) and got the company to pay me only $50 a week, this happened to all of the creditors of this company. I believe that this is happening to all of the 120 approx who couldn’t pay back their loans. What stinks is that when Hubbard was sprung he stated that it wouldn’t have happened to him if Key was in the country,(or answering his phone to hubbard). The intimation is that it was Key himself who personally intervened on behalf of Hubbard when against the Treasury warnings the guarantee was renewed FOUR times. I wish I had the resources to make the connection between Key and Hubbard and get the bastard.
Yes, and National signed SCF up to an extension of the scheme despite knowing, immediately after being elected, that SCF was in serious trouble.
SCF was also operating in a way that could have had them thrown out of the scheme for failing to comply with the requirements of good governance and transparency. We can’t know for sure if Labour would have kicked them out of the scheme, had they been in power, but we certainly know that National did absolutely nothing.
Surely with the FBI now on the case, James Murdoch and (more importantly) the reptile who generated him several decades ago must now be condidering what the rest of his life will be like—in prison.
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New Zealand’s economic performance and the PM’s vision Michael Reddell writes – When I wrote yesterday morning’s post, highlighting how poorly both New Zealand and its Anglo peer countries have been doing in respect of productivity in recent times (ie, in the case of New ...
Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...
Half of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd’s directors and its chair resigned en masse last night in protest at Christchurch City Council’s demand to front-load dividends File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The chair of Christchurch City Council’s investment company and four of its independent directors resigned in protest last ...
The University of Waikato has reworded an advertisement that begins the tender process for its new $300 million-plus medical school even though the Government still needs to approve it. However, even the reworded ad contains an architect’s visualisations of what the school might look like. ACT leader David Seymour told ...
As a follow-up to the Rings of Power trailer discussion, I thought I needed to add something. There has been some online mockery about the use of the same actor for both the Halbrand and Annatar incarnations of Sauron. The reasoning is that Halbrand with a shave and a new ...
This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...
Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...
Yesterday de facto Prime Minister David Seymour announced that his glove puppet government would be re-introducing charter schools, throwing $150 million at his pet quacks, donors and cronies and introducing an entire new government agency to oversee them (the existing Education Review Office, which actually knows how to review schools, ...
Seeing that, in order to discredit the figures and achieve moral superiority while attempting to deflect attention away from the military assault on Rafa, Israel supporters in NZ have seized on reports that casualty numbers in Gaza may be inflated … Continue reading → ...
David Farrar writes – Newstalk ZB report: The man responsible for a horror hit and run in central Wellington last year was on a suspended licence and was so drunk he later asked police, “Did I kill someone?” Jason Tuitama injured two women when he ran a red ...
Muriel Newman writes – Former US President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.” The fight for ...
Why Courts should have said Waitangi Tribunal could not summons Karen Chhour Gary Judd writes – In the High Court, Justice Isacs declined to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal to compel Minister for Children, Karen Chhour, to appear before it to be ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The number of voices raising concerns about the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill is rapidly growing. This is especially apparent now that Parliament’s select committee is listening to submissions from the public to evaluate the proposed legislation. Twenty-seven thousand submissions have been made to Parliament ...
An average of 166 New Zealand citizens left the country every day during the March quarter, up 54% from a year ago.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy and housing market is sinking into a longer recession through the winter after a slump in business and consumer confidence in ...
The government has made it abundantly clear they’re addicted to the smell of new asphalt. On Tuesday they introduced a new term to the country’s roading lexicon, the Roads of Regional Significance (RoRS), a little brother for the Roads of National (Party) Significance (RoNS). Driving ahead with Roads of Regional ...
School is outAnd I walk the empty hallwaysI walk aloneAlone as alwaysThere's so many lucky penniesLying on the floorBut where the hell are all the lucky peopleI can't see them any moreYesterday morning, I’d just sent out my newsletter on Tama Potaka, and I was struggling to make the coffee. ...
Hi,I wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing.This is perhaps a selfish act, of attempting to find others feeling a similar way to me — that is to say, a little hopeless at the moment.Misery loves company, that sort of deal.Some context.I wish I could say I got ...
I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
“The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...
Buzz from the Beehive It’s been a momentous few days for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which blocked a summons order from the Waitangi Tribunal for her. And today she has announced the Government is putting children first by introducing to ...
In 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – According to the respected Pew Research Centre, “In seven of eight [European] countries surveyed, the most trusted news outlet asked about is the public news organization in each country”. For example, “in Sweden, an overwhelming majority (90%) say they trust the public broadcaster SVT”. ...
Treasury officials have outlined many ways in which the Fast Track Approvals Bill is deeply flawed, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking says. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick used this year's State of the Planet to call on the Government to prioritise people and planet as the delivery of the Budget approaches. A full transcript of their speeches can be found below. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have used their State of the Planet speeches to challenge the Government to prioritise people and planet over profit as the delivery of the Budget approaches. ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The Coalition Government will introduce legislation this year that will enable roadside drug testing as part of our commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Alcohol and drugs are the number one contributing factor in fatal road crashes in New Zealand. In ...
The Government has announced a series of immediate actions in response to the independent review of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “Kāinga Ora is a large and important Crown entity, with assets of $45 billion and over $2.5 billion of expenditure each year. It ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour is pleased that Pseudoephedrine can now be purchased by the general public to protect them from winter illness, after the coalition government worked swiftly to change the law and oversaw a fast approval process by Medsafe. “Pharmacies are now putting the medicines back on their ...
Tēnā koutou katoa. Da jia hao. Good morning everyone. Prime Minister Luxon, your excellency, a great friend of New Zealand and my friend Ambassador Wang, Mayor of what he tells me is the best city in New Zealand, Wayne Brown, the highly respected Fran O’Sullivan, Champion of the Auckland business ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
New Caledonia’s Tontouta International Airport remains closed, and Air New Zealand’s next scheduled flight is on Saturday — although it is not ruling out adding extra services. Air NZ’s Captain David Morgan said on Monday evening flights would only resume when they were assured of the security of the airport ...
Asia Pacific Report As Israel drives the Palestinians deeper into another Nakba in Gaza with its assault on Rafah, the Palestine Youth Aotearoa (PYA) and solidarity supporters in Aotearoa New Zealand tonight commemorated the original Nakba — “the Catastrophe” — of 1948. The 1948 Nakba . . . more than ...
Young people on the streets in New Caledonia are saying they will “never give up” pushing back against France’s hold on the Pacific territory, a Kanak journalist in Nouméa says. Pro-independence Radio Djiido’s Andre Qaeze told RNZ Pacific young people had said that “Paris must respect us” and what had ...
This episode of A View from Afar podcast was recorded live from 12:45pm May 20, 2024 (NZST). Political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning examine: The United States and how the world is engaging with it geopolitically.Specifically, Paul and Selwyn analyse what has changed in this regard in ...
Analysis - Power is not being abused, but it is not being well managed either. New Zealand democracy, unique and currently brittle, should be handled with greater care, Alexander Gillespie writes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University Forest Conservation Victoria, CC BY-NC-ND Victoria’s native forest logging industry ended on January 1 this year. The news was met with jubilation from conservationists. But did logging really ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Crosby, Professor, Monash University Rose Marinelli/ShutterstockThis article is part two of The Conversation’s “Business Basics” series where we ask leading experts to discuss key concepts in business, economics and finance. How governments should manage their budgets, and how ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole George, Associate Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies, The University of Queensland On Sunday afternoon, Australian citizens who have been trapped in New Caledonia were called to a meeting at one of the large hotels in the capital, Noumea. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer and Socio-cultural researcher, UniSA Education Futures, University of South Australia International students have come under fire from both sides of federal politics in the past week. The Albanese government introduced legislation to parliament last Thursday to put ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jake Renzella, Lecturer, Director of Studies (Computer Science), UNSW Sydney An example of shrimp Jesus.Shutterstock AI Generator If you search “shrimp Jesus” on Facebook, you might encounter dozens of images of artificial intelligence (AI) generated crustaceans meshed in various forms with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua McLeod, Lecturer in Sport Management, Deakin University Being a sport administrator comes with many perks, so it’s no surprise many want to stay in their positions as long as possible. Recently, a trend has emerged whereby leaders in sport are seeking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland Joyisjoyful/Shutterstock If you buy your olive oil in bulk, you’ve likely been in for a shock in recent weeks. Major supermarkets have been selling olive oil for up to ...
A conversation with artist and home cook Prairie Hatchard-McGill, aka @cacioeprairie. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. A few weeks ago, I spotted Prairie strolling down Ponsonby Road at sunset, a bunch of celery tucked under her arm. She was too far away for me ...
The Haka Challenge invites anyone to learn and record the Ka Mate haka as performed by the All Blacks, to show their support for "the South Pacific's greatest truth teller". ...
At the Christchurch rally in support of Palestine, he started his hunger strike and vowed to continue until the government stops supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. ...
With Nouméa reeling as mainly young, politically active Kanak people take to the streets and protest, a spirit that has been dormant since the 1980s has awoken. Tāmaki Makaurau-based Kanak Joseph Xulué provides some context.As reports continue to emphasise the fires burning through the streets of Nouméa (the capital ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Newspoll, conducted after the May 14 budget from a sample of over 1,200 people, gave Labor a 52–48% lead over ...
A New Zealander studying at the University of New Caledonia says students have been taught to use fire extinguishers as firefighters are unlikely to come help if there is an emergency. It comes as days of unrest followed a controversial proposed constitutional amendment which would allow more French residents of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Getty Images There have been so many submissions on the government’s proposed Fast-track Approvals Bill – 27,000 written, with 2,900 wanting to appear before the select committee in person – that a ballot ...
The LIVE Recording of A View from Afar podcast will begin today at 12:45pm May 20, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, 8:30pm (USEST). Today, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will examine: The United States and how the world is engaging with it geopolitically.Specifically, we will ...
After falling victim to a scam over the phone, Russell Brown spent the day with One NZ’s cyber defence and fraud prevention teams to see the work they do to stop millions of scam attempts every year.The only windows in the Cyber Defence Centre at One NZ’s Auckland headquarters ...
Treasury officials have outlined many ways in which the Fast Track Approvals Bill is deeply flawed, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marika Sosnowski, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Melbourne Ever since armed conflict has existed, ceasefires have been thought of as a bridge between war and peace. Consequently, their success has been measured by their ability to stop violence between warring parties ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antonia Shand, Research Fellow, Obstetrician, University of Sydney Backgroundy/Shutterstock Oral retinoids are a type of medicine used to treat severe acne. They’re sold under the brand name Roaccutane, among others. While oral retinoids are very effective, they can have harmful effects ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Renwick, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Lincoln University, New Zealand This month the federal government announced a plan to ban live sheep exports, set to come into effect from May 1 2028. The announcement coincided with the release of a highly ...
Another technical answer: ‘no one really knows.’ It smells like hot fat and fish. You hug the warm bundle of newspaper, translucent with grease, swaddling it like a newborn babe. Behind the counter is a small child doing her homework, and the grumpiest Chinese lady in the world. Above you, ...
New Zealanders are being called on to give Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones “the finger” in a cheeky new campaign that aims to dramatically boost marine protection in Aotearoa. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nic Rawlence, Senior Lecturer in Ancient DNA, University of Otago Auckland Island merganser. Artistic reconstruction by J. G. Keulemans from Bullers Birds of New Zealand (1888)Bullers Birds of New Zealand, Author provided Ask a bird lover if they have heard of ...
Leaders from three of the biggest political parties addressed party faithful over the weekend, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A weekend ...
Kia ora, welcome to Windbag, The Spinoff’s new Wellington issues column, written by me, Joel MacManus. In this first edition, I take a closer look at the first half of Tory Whanau’s term as mayor. If you want to understand Wellington’s local political landscape, you need to start in 2013 ...
A taonga going under the hammer at an Auckland auction house tonight is expected to fetch thousands. But concerns have been raised about its unclear provenance – and about the law that’s meant to protect it. Eda Tang reports. When Tamatea* received the huia feather they bought from a licensed ...
Uncertainty is an overwhelming theme for two seabed mining projects aiming to use the Government’s controversial fast-track regime The post Seabed miners: What we know and what we don’t appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s the 38th birthday present Jo Aleh never expected to receive. Last Monday, Aleh and her sailing partner, Molly Meech, flew home to Auckland from Marseille, where they’d been training for their Paris Olympics campaign in the 49erFX. Within a couple of hours of touching down, they were out on ...
“It might feel like the country is slogging it up the hill at the moment,” Finance Minister Nicola Willis tells party faithful in Palmerston North on Sunday, “But we’re gonna get to the top of the hill, and it’s downhill on the other side. And the reason it’s downhill is ...
One issue that all the leaders of the coalition Government have agreed on is the expansion of the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme. Established in 2007, the scheme allows workers from participating Pacific countries to come to New Zealand to take up roles on a short-term basis. For the government, it’s ...
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The last person anyone expected to see at last week’s Ockham national book awards was Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. He was made to feel as welcome as a plague. He was mocked, and challenged. But good on him for coming. His presence gave the awards an edge, a tension, which ...
Sir Geoffrey Palmer, author of the seminal book Unbridled Power challenging Muldoon-era decision-making,says the Fast-Track Approvals Bill is a bigger threat to constitutional government The post A fast track to environmental degradation appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NC La Première television reports on the clearing of barricades after a week of protests and rioting in the capital Nouméa. Video: NC 1ère TVBy Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk With New Caledonia about to enter its second week of deadly riots, French authorities have mounted ...
Asia Pacific Report Pacific civil society and solidarity groups today stepped up their pressure on the French government, accusing it of a “heavy-handed” crackdown on indigenous Kanak protest in New Caledonia, comparing it to Indonesian security forces crushing West Papuan dissent. A state of emergency was declared last week, at ...
On May 18, the Taiwanese community in Christchurch came together for the "Health for All, Taiwan Can Help" march, urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to grant Taiwan participation. ...
The instability comes as the party tries to refresh its brand after six years of being part of a right-wing, pro-imperialist government with both the Labour Party and, from 2017-2020, the far-right NZ First Party. ...
Based on the latest Treasury forecasts, New Zealand Government debt will tick above $90,000 per household for the first time ever at 10pm today, Sunday 19 May 2024. The Taxpayers’ Union is calling it “$90k Debt Day”. Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ ...
Arawata Shane Arawata Shane had wandered long In the wild tangled hills of the West Coast. He came to a stop on the mighty range And looked down at the wide river flats. He breathed in the clean air, And he took in the shadows playing across The face of ...
SPECIAL REPORT:Islands Business in Suva Today is the 24th anniversary of renegade and failed businessman George Speight’s coup in 2000 Fiji. The elected coalition government headed by Mahendra Chaudhry, the first and only Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji, was held hostage at gunpoint for 56 days in the country’s ...
‘
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Coal Kills!
Kill Coal!
“We shall fight them on the beaches…. We shall never surrender”
Winston Churchill
In our hour of need…..
Why haven’t we got a Climate Winston Churchill?
Quoting linked article:
And no one will you moron but when the probability of it being so is 95% or better I’d say that it’s beyond reasonable doubt.
Ha ha, stupid Don Nicolson sounds like fool Key and his Hardtalk “scientists only offer opinions, they are just like lawyers” idiocy.
Here is a statement of similar usefulness..
“No-one can give me conclusive proof that the sun is in fact real.”
Don Nicolson is a shallow moron, as you so eloquently put it DtB. Just like Key. Shallow shallow shallow.
You watch, Nicolson will soon say something so ridiculous you will all fall about in laughter and his credibility will be shot. There is no way on earth that this moron will get through a parliamentary term without such a showing. He is a different same David Garrett. I guarantee it.
So the USA – a month away from defaulting on trillions of dollars of debt has a AAA rating and Ireland, having made huge progress in reducing it’s debt has had it’s rating downgraded harming future recovery efforts.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jul/13/ireland-economic-recovery-damaged-downgrade
How bizarre.
Bankster Occupation of Europe
Not really bizarre. Max Keiser on you tube sums it up pretty well.
These ratings agencies are the same ones which gave AAA ratings on billions worth of toxic investments sold to retirement funds and small time investors. The credit rating agencies were paid to help the big investment banks sell these toxic products by giving them a strong rating.
Now the credit rating agencies are helping the same big investment banks pick up for cents on the dollar, the sovereign hard assets in these at-risk-of deafult countries by giving them a miserable rating and creating a self fulfiling prophecy.
And just ask, how are the big investment banks going to pay for all these sovereign hard assets, even at firesale prices?
Using the bail out money that those bankrupt countries’ governments gave the banks originally.
It goes like this – in an age of currency debasement and devaluation, the only real financial investment left is in vital hard assets. Euros and USD are becoming increasingly worthless as they are no longer a reliable store of value. Hydrodams, roads and ports are, however.
By helping to bankrupt countries like Ireland and forcing firesale prices of those public assets, international investors can pick them up for cents in the dollar, but paying for them using the public money that those governments handed to them in the original bail outs.
It’s genius.
It’s not genius. It is the normal actions of bankers over the centuries. It is the same old trick – lend someone money and when they default pick up the asset.
It is in fact EXACTLY the same trick that drug dealers play. Get the client hooked and over their head then move in on the assets.
Bankers and drug dealers play the same game.
It is the world’s biggest rort playing out as we speak. The protestors are the only ones onto it.
Well, I thought the smart part was getting governments to pay over the bailout money first, which got the governments into crippling debt, thereafter allowing the banks to swoop in and buy government assets up using the government’s own money.
But yeah, the general formula is a big rerun.
So…debt is like the crack cocaine that drug dealers hand out…
On the subject of CGT…headline in todays Herald Landlord: ‘Nasty tax won’t get a cent of my property gains’.
Mr Whitburn provides a case study in inequity, avarice, and gambling, nothing less. He has got “wealthy” courtesy of the not clever but quite brave punting on property prices increasing forever, and leveraging his investment to the max. Nothing unusual here, it is standard human behavoir under our current casino regime, Whitburn merely provides a microcosm of what our middle classes have been doing within every bubble, be it property or shares.
From where I am sitting Whitburn like many others who have leveraged previous bubbles looks to be in a very precarious position. No prudent investor currently will give him another cent to leverage, and when market conditions make cash flow and interest rates problematic it will all become a house of cards. Note Serepeisos.
The sad thing about Whitburns attitude in the article is not his complaint about the “inequity”, lets face it the rest of us are currently subsidising his tax bill and that really is inequitable. It is his belief that what he is doing is just and fair. Shylock could do no better, but this minor Randian Atlas may end up as the tragic comic hero who loses the lot, then laments he wont ever be lucky enough to pay capital gains taxes.
I wonder how often he raises his rent, how he treats his tenants and what the state of his rental properties are?
I would also like him to front up to the people of Hawera and explain why he is willing to see those people lose their hospital so he can pay less tax.
My daughter and son-in-law rent a basic three bedroom house in Ranui and pay a relatively high rental. I did wonder after reading this article whether he just maybe their landlord as he boasted about owing several properties in the West Auckland area, Massey, Ranui etc. The house is nothing to write home about and to my thinking is pretty damp – no insulation as far as I am aware. They had to ask several times to have the bathroom repaired – the floor was rotting under the shower and the waste under the kitchen sink leaked and set up a mouldy smell throughout the area. It is a roof over their heads but they are looking for something better.
And it looks like as usual he did not read the whole thing.
“I’ve got all the places in trusts and have no plans to sell,” said the multimillionaire. “I’m getting an income and using that to pay down the debt on my own home. In two years I’ll be debt-free with lovely views of Rangitoto and the Sky Tower.
I did see it said CGT on trusts, just the thing to deal with these parasites on our economy.
Had to laugh a little when he was described as a multi millionaire after the article said he had a million in equity, spread on 6 houses and 5 other rental units. Lets speculate on this a little….maybe a total capital value of $5 million…equity now $1 million (20%)…market falls 20% equity 0%, or conversely / concurrently interest rises faster than rents can rise by 2.5% = $100K cash shortfall to come out of equity or earnings (if the bank is prepared to extend)….its all a bit like having the stakes raise in a game of Poker.
Petricovic comes to mind
GST off Vegetables.
Typical response from the RWNJ’s is “…how can we know if the retailers have reduced their prices accordingly?”
I would have thought that the whole essence of a free market and capitalism would answer that one – Competition FFS! Don’t they trust their own mantra.
Of course, capitalism acts to remove true competition where possible since actual monopolies, effective monopolies, duopolies and shadow cartels are always way way more profitable. They want to move such governmental set ups into the private sector where possible as well.
In the US, the country of ‘free choice’, they have a free choice of the capitalist Democrats and the capitalist Republicans.
You’d probably call me a RWNJ………. my typical response to the proposed GST off fruit and veg is twofold.
1. It will likely lead to a lot of confusion initially, first six months or so which is a minor incovenience.
2. Fruit and vege prices fluctuate enormously during the year as the seasons change and the removal of GST is pretty much insignificant compared to these fluctuations, if people are ‘scottish’ grocery shoppers like me they’ll go for what’s in season in the first instance.
PS seen the price of tomatoes at the moment !
I think the word you are looking for regarding meanness should be ‘Jewish’ they are well known to hoard money, in fact pro-rata the Scottish are actually one of the most generous charitable societies. The Scottish are known as ‘thrifty’ – thought you would like that seeing as the government has opted to buy trains from the cheapest (thriftiest source) rather than keep jobs for an established staff in Dunedin!
See http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/sep/08/charitable-giving-country – at least NZ rates highly!
Also this statement
You’ll like that HS, it’s a Tory paper!
Wealthy people can adjust their apparent incomes so they appear lower, using company cars, renting a house from a trust or whatever. 26,000 pounds doesn’t sound much, about $60,000 here?
IanupN . I thought that old ant -semitic insult racist propogander went out with the death of Hitler. If you believe Jewish people are mean you are a bigoted ignoramous. Most of the charitable organizations in the East End London are run by Yiddish organizations .Like wise most USA charitable organizations are run by Jewish families . Even the Great Met Opera Company is by Jewish families. The biggest percentage of philanthropist’ in the world are overwhelmingly Jewish people .
The first free hospital ever in the world was completly financed by Barny Barnato Jew.London hospital still standing but now under NHS .
Our own Jewish Mayor Robbie was know for his generosity . Aotearoa has enough bigots in the ACT party we don’t want them here . Mazel Tov!
PS . The other old chestnut is that all Jews are rich . Dont get me on that .
My (Scottish) Mum used to say “the Scots aren’t mean, they’re careful”… 😀
Yes wtf is up with tomatoes?
Even for this time of year, wtf.
I guess they’re tied to the price of electricity and gas to heat hothouses. The price of transportation would also determine the cost of imported tomatoes, but not to the degree we’re seeing.
even the local discount greengrocer has $8.99 kg. normally $5 this time of year.
In Wellington last week i was a bit shocked to see $18.99kg at New World, these are tomatoes, not Bluff oysters. (Then again $18.99kg for bluff Oysters would be nice to see)
Small tomato growers using glasshouses in winter may have been forced out of the market by pollution reduction policies. One I know of used to burn coal to raise the temperature but can’t now. Had to close down.
Also I think the Queensland floods are being cited as the reason that some things have gone up and I guess this would definitely apply to tomatoes from Oz.
The floods in Australia at the start of the year wiped out many crops that would become ripe now. Low supply = high prices. Doesn’t have anything to do with transportation or electricity costs.
Gonna have to keep an eye on those extreme weather events.
they b made of gold
Not sure how this thread disappeared into a discussion about misers but my first assertion was that the open market was supposed to determine the price of everything.
Surely the retail market has its margin and then adds the 15 %. To say that the price to the shopper will remain the same beggars belief.
Perhaps it is incumbent on the government to publish a daily (vegetable and growers) wholesale market price (auctions) to determine the price the grocer is buying at.
I am astonished that people appear to be happy to pay 15% GST anywhere and everywhere. WTF. It’s there so we should pay it?
What if the government was to load vegetables with a 45 % GST?
Would the attitude be, well it ain’t gonna make any difference. All grocers will still charge the same price as each other.
Am I missing something here? Is there not a “market” after all, but simply a massive cartel?
I think the mental disconnect/doublethink is slightly more embedded than what you portray.
And that’s “prices are seasonal anyway, so if you take 15% off now, once the seasons change the price will go back up anyway”.
This entirely misses the point that once the seasons change and the prices go up, they’ll still be less (by the rate of GST) than they would have been if GST hadn’t been removed.
Yes there certainly is a market, but the market is dominated by a shadow cartel which controls pricing absolutely and which structurally prevents producers from selling their goods directly to the retail customer.
Go farmers’ markets.
Just been told that in the CNI town where I live there have been 5 suicides in two weeks, the second to last a 12 year old girl, the latest a 51 y.o. man.
That is pretty scary; I know there have been a spate in Kawerau of late too. Maybe someone can quote the statistics but seriously this is not a record to be envious of.
Dunno the specifics, just that we have around 50% or more suicides a month than we have road deaths.
And dare I say it, is there statistical evidence to suggest an increase?
Oh how awful! That’s so sad to hear…
A 12 year old girl. 12.
If 12 year old girls are killing themselves then I think there is something really really wrong with this country.
Start talking to anyone who works in an acute psych ward, and it becomes obvious that our society has a lot of deeply rooted issues that we are not talking about or dealing with.
Lookalikes – Rob Muldoon and Rogernomics fan Owen Glenn…
For a moment there I thought the Nats had resurrected another monster from the past!
Friday Fun with Photos #9
The organization of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan provides, and its principle of government demands, that there shall always be one individual, senior in rank to all other Klansmen of whatever rank, on whom shall rest the responsibility of command, and whose leadership will be recognized and accepted by all other loyal Klansmen.
Ha, zombies just use braindead pack tactics.
What are you talking about?
KKK pack tactics are hierarchical..yet they act as mindlessly as zonmbies…bit like NACT really.
John Ansell further explains the deficiencies of women:
http://johnansell.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/3942/
He is really someone for whom drowning would be too good. An obnoxious racist.
Wow.
Ever get the impression that some of these ACTurds just couldn’t hold their breath for a few more months?
Is it some kind of perverted symbolic status to be too weird (in a white supremacist kind of way) for Act?
Wow, just wow.. I am just reading it now, and Ansell has written a heaping helping of crazy!
Is he related to Colin King-Ansell by any chance?
Is he related to Colin King-Ansell by any chance?
That’s a very, very good question. King-Ansell was given to making idiotic public statements, and then trying to defend them in a most incoherent manner. In the early 1970s, Brian Edwards interviewed King-Ansell for twenty minutes and reduced him to a distressed, blithering heap of perplexedness.
Then, to his horror, Edwards was informed by the cameraman that due to an equipment malfunction, the entire interview had been lost. There was only one thing that could possibly be done: shoot the entire thing all over again. Edwards asked King-Ansell if he would mind, and King-Ansell obliged.
Edwards feared that the element of surprise had been lost, however, and that King-Ansell would not be trapped so easily the second time around. But Edwards asked exactly the same questions again, and King-Ansell blundered into the same traps again, and the whole humiliation was repeated almost identically.
Sheer, purblind stupidity, in other words. John Ansell seems to be cut from the same cloth. He could even be his son.
A bit of further investigation might be useful here.
I once knew Colin King-Ansell’s ex wife, she was a head-case and no mistake! He was doing his Nazi thing when they married, and as she told me “I’d always wanted to marry a German, and he was the closest I could find”. (All I can say my having been in relationships with 2 Germans over the decades, is, she didn’t look very hard! 😀 )
puzzled observer – Maori set great store in their tribe. John Ansell sets great store in his diatribe. Good eh. And his diatribe goes on and on and on, filled with such intelligent, novel ideas and bon mots?
Opinion piece from AlJazeera: Reagan mythology is leading US off a cliff.
Actually, it’s leading the entire friggen world off a cliff.
So.. let me get this straight …
At the time of near financial collapse during the Global Financial Crisis, our government introduced a Deposit Guarantee Scheme to support the insolvent banks and finance companies. This included the darling South Canterbury Finance.
That allowed the CEO Lachie McLeod, against all wisdom, to go out and make heaps more unworthy loans and considerably up the related party loans to an hystrerical level, includiong one to himself for about $15million (yes, that right, $15,000,000.00) to buy a stake in South Canterbury Finance. This all made the situation far worse for South Cantebury Finance and consequently far worse for we taxpayers when we had to bail the junk out.
Then Lachie gets the blame for it all going pear-shaped (which was correct, but one has to wonder what the board were thinking in letting it happen. What they were thinking was ‘lets abandon ship’) so Lachie has to leave.
So his departure gift is $20million (yes, that’s right $20,000,000.00) signed off by Hubbard alone and without Board approval. The $20,000,000.00 iincludes forgiveness (yes, that’s right f o r g i v e n e s s) of the $15,000,000.00 loan.
What fucking planet are these gorms on. The South Canterbury Finance mess just keeps getting stinkier. That arrangement must be near criminal in the circumstances.
I am absolutely gobsmacked.
So, all you lucky taxpayers out there, when you bailed out Lachie McLeod’s shonky work via the Deposit Guarantee Scheme you also paid off Lachie McLeod’s $15,000,000.00 loan.
How does that make you feel?
Not good…….we hope there is more to come out of this.
Where is Karma when you need it?
Where do I look for those details on SCF vto? I think I want to get it into hard copy, so I understand its real.
Probably a few places mr prism. You could start with the receiver for SCF. Check out the companies office. Then all sorts of countless media articles which may have various sources.
And yes those numbers are eye-watering.
Lachie McLeod undoubtedly did a terrible job which led to SCG going bust. And yet he gets a $20,000,000.00 golden handshake??????????? Seriously, how does that work?
It is a fucking bullshit crock.
Both he and Hubbard need to stand up and account given we taxpayers paid for that to the tune of $1,500,000,000.00.
The zeroes are rather dazzling in that piece on SCF. It may have seemed to be a holding move for the CEO to borrow $15m and put that into SCF. When you get into ponzi style finances that could seem quite appropriate! Then when the CEO left, the loan money which had probably gone into the SCF black hole, was written off and he was actually given a $5m redundancy package/
What was that about free speech in “the land of the free”?
“There’s a culture of silence and fear in the Jewish community against speaking out…”
Watch the following clip, and bear it in mind next time you hear somebody like Hillary Clinton admonishing some third world country for being totalitarian and undemocratic….
Fine for ‘quite distinct from strictly objective news reporting’ Campbell Live
Current affairs show Campbell Live, it’s a good thing something like this exists. Close Ups counterpart has been a part of many tv-nights of uninformed populists. But what has now been revealed by Stuff.co.nz? There isn’t always extensive and broad research done for all the items presented. Campbell aired an item about Paper Reclaim in Auckland, alleging their plant was unsanitary and rat-infested. Workers were asking for a 1 dollar raise because of the working conditions and for their hard work and loyalty. Awful, horrible. These people deserve more than that. Oh hold on, let’s first take a look at the evidence presented. Some shots of a heap of rats (not at the plant itself), a cartoon of hundreds of rats (uhm yeah a cartoon) and statements made by the disgruntled employees (very objective). Not very reliable or even acceptable evidence. Of course Paper Reclaim agreed and filed a complaint, stating: ‘Campbell Live had relied on the unsubstantiated claims of a small number of workers and had “over-dramatised a pay dispute, by references to a rodent health problem, when no such problem existed”. TVWorks disagreed, replying: ‘’There was no doubt the item was sympathetic to the workers and presented in a manner that was ‘entertaining and informing’”. A word from the union: ‘acknowledged in a signed joint statement that there was no rat problem’. And lastly the final word comes from the Broadcasting Standards Authority: ‘numerous references to rats, “coupled with sensationalist clips of masses of rats and audio of rats squealing, created the clear impression for viewers that Paper Reclaim had a serious rat problem”’. Result: the show was fined $16,000. A little less sensationalism, a bit more investigative reporting. Oh sorry TVWorks what is that now? “Viewers understand the genre (which is quite distinct from strictly objective news reporting) and would take those ‘entertaining’ elements for what they were”. At least you’re honest.
http://kiwi-linkwhore-simplexity.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/fine-for-%E2%80%98quite-distinct-from-strictly-objective-news-reporting%E2%80%99-campbell-live/
Not surprising – I have always taken Clive with a grain of salt…
Yeah VTO, somethings not right here. In april 2010 I sold my crop to a company on the agreement that I would get paid when they were sold and processed. In the meantime SCF went under, and the processing company had the recievers ( aka White-Collar-Looters) demand repayment of the loan, even tho no payments had been missed, this happened to about 120 other borrowers I think. When the company said piss off not possible, the Whitecollarlooters virtually took over, stole my 50k ( only income ) and got the company to pay me only $50 a week, this happened to all of the creditors of this company. I believe that this is happening to all of the 120 approx who couldn’t pay back their loans. What stinks is that when Hubbard was sprung he stated that it wouldn’t have happened to him if Key was in the country,(or answering his phone to hubbard). The intimation is that it was Key himself who personally intervened on behalf of Hubbard when against the Treasury warnings the guarantee was renewed FOUR times. I wish I had the resources to make the connection between Key and Hubbard and get the bastard.
Very interesting! What have you been able to ascertain until now? I’m also keen to find out.
One in 5 UK households in energy poverty
Bad to worse…and expected to deteriorate further.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jul/14/households-fuel-poverty-energy-prices
The numbers are actually far worse CV.
The 1 in 5 (18%) only refers to England which pulls the overall UK average down to 20%.
In Scotland it’s 1 in 3 (32.7%).
N. Ireland is almost 1 in 2 (43.7%)
http://breakingnews.heraldscotland.com/breaking-news/?mode=article&site=hs&id=N0505401310657442579A
Labour introduced the Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme Bill vto
Yes, and National signed SCF up to an extension of the scheme despite knowing, immediately after being elected, that SCF was in serious trouble.
SCF was also operating in a way that could have had them thrown out of the scheme for failing to comply with the requirements of good governance and transparency. We can’t know for sure if Labour would have kicked them out of the scheme, had they been in power, but we certainly know that National did absolutely nothing.
cannot decide if this Stuff poll is hilarious or terrifyng.
72 % think “No – rules and traditions are final”
Neither. Like every other online poll it’s meaningless.
Rebekah Brooks resigns. Presumably, she’ll be the sacrificial lamb. But James Murdoch will be very, very nervous.
But James Murdoch will be very, very nervous.
Surely with the FBI now on the case, James Murdoch and (more importantly) the reptile who generated him several decades ago must now be condidering what the rest of his life will be like—in prison.
Tim Harford: Trial, error and the God complex
TED Talk about the God Complex that we see from economists and RWNJs.