Henry this morning was bubbling on about the things that make Turnbull unlikeable till the finance guy pointed how similar key is to that , you should’ve seen henry back peddle “priceless”
A sheep and beef farmer on the Silver Farms takeover.
Silver Fern Farms is our biggest sheep and beef exporter.
It is seeking $100m to pay down debt. Farmers aren’t happy with them.
Enter, a Bright Foods subsidiary, waving a cheque.
John McCarthy, the immediate past President of the Meat Industry Excellence Group, sticks it to Bill English in the Otago Daily Times today:
“…Chinese money, with government backing, has cost of capital around 1%. Maybe our Government, if it is serious about our sovereignty, our rural communities and family farm as a regional cornerstone should, in an attempt to level the playing field, provide farmers with an equivalent concessional rate. Similar perhaps to their investment in South Canterbury Finance.
There is a sad irony this Government seems quite comfortable to promote deals with Saudi farmers to the tune of $11m, but it is disinclined to asset or even be involved on the home front.”
$100 million- National Govt can give that much to an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank but not to save our own land for our own people.
“Finance Minister Bill English says New Zealand can play an honest-broker role in the planned Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Finance Minister Bill English says New Zealand can play an honest-broker role in the planned Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Finance Minister Bill English says New Zealand and Singapore have been at the forefront of negotiations with the Chinese Government over the governance of the proposed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Former Treasury Secretary John Whitehead has been conducting the negotiations on New Zealand’s behalf, he said.
“It’s one of these things where New Zealand and Singapore have a comparative advantage as internationally accepted honest brokers negotiating on behalf of a broader range of countries,” English told the Herald in his first interview on the bank.
About 20 countries indicated initial interest in the bank last year, including New Zealand.
When last Tuesday’s deadline passed to apply to become a founding member, 46 countries applied, including Australia and South Korea which had previously been sceptical.
Others include Germany, France, Britain, Brazil, Russia, and Sweden.
The United States, which opposed the bank, and Japan have not signed up.
“Early on, Australia indicated it would not participate at a time when we did step up,” English said. “As it has become a more attractive option, the Australians have become interested again.
“There are a number of other countries who think this now could be a genuine multilateral institution and therefore they see it could be a positive vehicle for investment in a region that is pretty critical to growth for most developed countries.”
English said New Zealand did not want to see the bank completely controlled by the Chinese Government so began talks on governance.
“We got involved early because we saw an opportunity to influence the way the organisation is set up,” he said. “We want to see a genuine multilateral organisation where there are influences alongside the Chinese Government.”
He would not comment on the substance of the negotiations and exactly what the governance structure would look like.
It is not just farms, it is businesses and residential property. Overseas buyers can borrow at 1% interest or less, Kiwis are measured at around 7% and paying 5% in case interest rates rise. It is not a level playing field out there for Kiwis against foreign nationals when it comes to buying (or borrowing) for property.
Yet another major investment of NZ going into offshore control.
I am not so sure that someone can borrow money in a foreign country and use land in nz as security for that loan, maybe someone in the banking industry can clarify that.
Just watched Little on te news ,he’s got key absolutely cornered on this flag thing with his offer to help sort the red peak issue as long as there’s a yes /no vote on the first referendum.
I have only limited sympathy for the farmer shareholders in reality.
They have had plenty of years to unify their farmer vote and merge with the other meat industry players in New Zealand.
They have also elected farmer reps that have watched over the piling debt.
They were also given the opportunity to raise capital to cover at least $100m.
Silver Fern had already paid down $100m in debt over the last financial year.
But it wasn’t enough.
It reminds me strongly of Synlait three years ago.
Here was a New Zealand startup milk producer, going hard against Fonterra in Canterbury.
So they went to the public – particularly farmers – seeking capital to expand.
Not a blip. Nada.
The New Zealand public by and large kept their capital in housing, and farm equity.
So the Chinese stepped in, get over half the company, and there’s no looking back.
Be very interesting to see if the farmers really vote for this: if they shut it down they better have a decent alternative up their sleeves.
Having witnessed Mr. Taylor’s unique relationship with Corrections and its various managers and screws first-hand, one can’t help but think there’s a bit of love-hate on both sides.
Corrections is, generally, a pack of fuckwits, but it is no exaggeration at all to say that Mr. Taylor has a number of people prepared to do his bidding on the outside…
so, if she condemned those who talked about what they were going to do to female young nats in a sexually objectifying way, or condemned comments on another blog, or breached a suppression order which identified victims of crime against their wills, like Whale Oil, you would agree those people need to drag them selves out of the gutter.
Seems the Herald is having problems with accepting comments on the Young article. I tried with this “Just goes to show that Oz has replaced one idiot with another, if the best he is aspire to is emulate John Key – the master obfuscator, the Crosby Textor muppet, the pony tail fetishist, the man is seems to be incapable of telling the truth or even making a decision without the input of David Farrer’s focus groups.”
David Shearer’s recent pronouncements on UK politics and in-depth interview on the Middle East with Dr Larry Williams are building blocks in his campaign to be the next General Secretary of the United Nations.
Both Shearer and Pagani have showed their true colours when commenting on Corbyn’s victory.
They are doing the Tory’s work for them.
Thatcher said her greatest achievement was Tony Blair. And Shearer and Pagani are both the products of him.
Turnbull on Key:
“New Zealand had a leader whose style should be emulated, Turnbull was saying. You have to be able to bring people with you by respecting their intelligence in the way you explain things. “Let me point to just one international leader – John Key, for example”
Key had been able to achieve significant economic reforms by doing just that: “By explaining complex issues and then making the case for them.”
Ho, ho ho, ho, ho, ho ho, ho,ho ho, ho, ho, ho ho, ho.
The lies, the under-the-counter shuffling to avoid the truth becoming public, the abysmal lack of political and personal integrity . . . I could go on, but really the only answer to this example of political stupidity is : Ho, ho ho, ho, ho, ho ho, ho,ho ho, ho, ho, ho ho, ho.
Look forward to a pretty short stint as PM before YOU are rolled, Malc!
Oh yes lying Joh Key and getting the media to be complacent in it. Yep that’s a style, but not sure that is democracy. Wait till he starts selling OZ off at bargain rates, pretty sure the Ozzies will not put up with it.
Turnbull was in such a tearing hurry to fulfill his unshakeable belief that he should lead the Liberals, and the nation, that first term opposition did not daunt him, nor party room defeat, nor the normal parameters of self awareness.
Sounds like Key and other awesome personalities and with the complete lack of depth to go with it.
This BBC interview with veteran MP Denis Skinner is brilliant! You need to keep watching until the very end – after the reporter does her summing up and then misrepresents Skinner’s position. If you are really short of time just go from 3:30 onwards.
Brilliant, a perfect illustration of how those “trustworthy” media orgs aren’t actually telling people the truth at all. Of course it’s the same over here too,
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 7.4.1
FYI – I have speaking rights at today’s meeting of the Auckland Council Audit and Risk Committee, 10am Auckland Council ‘Tower’, 135 Albert St. Auckland City.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Request for Speaking Rights under Public Forum at the upcoming meeting of the Auckland Council Audit and Risk Committee:
Tuesday, 15 September 2015 10.00am Room 1, Level 26 135 Albert S
Subject Matter will include:
1) The Auckland Council Quality Assurance mechanisms which are in place to ensure that Auckland Council Rates Assessment Notices and Rates Invoices are checked for statutory compliance with sections 45 and 46 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002, before they are sent out to Auckland citizens and ratepayers.
2) The Auckland Council Quality Assurance mechanisms which are in place to ensure that s.17 of the Public Records Act 2005, is complied with in a proper (LAWFUL) way, regarding Auckland Council and Auckland CCOs:
(1)Every public office and local authority must create and maintain full and accurate records of its affairs, in accordance with normal, prudent business practice, including the records of any matter that is contracted out to an independent contractor.
(2)Every public office must maintain in an accessible form, so as to be able to be used for subsequent reference, all public records that are in its control, until their disposal is authorised by or under this Act or required by or under another Act.
(3)Every local authority must maintain in an accessible form, so as to be able to be used for subsequent reference, all protected records that are in its control, until their disposal is authorised by or under this Act.
(In particular – the failure of Auckland Transport to provide details of the amount of public subsidies paid to private transport providers of bus, ferry and rail services).
3) The extent of Auckland Council and Auckland CCOs exposure to derivatives.
4) The corruption risk assessment of Auckland Council and Auckland CCOs being members of the private sector lobby group – the Committee for Auckland – whose member companies contract to Auckland Council and Auckland CCOs.
In your LTHO. Read the article , the flag changeit is Key’s idea and he is losing control. Fancy a National Party Leader asking the Labour Party Leader to help him out of the hole he is digging (has dug) for himself.
I thought Andrew Little spoke well this morning. He pointed out that Key could add the extra flag in himself; he does not need to put it before parliament; but if he wants to get Labour to agree too a Bill to do more, he would need to agree to an extra question. I would have preferred him to also ask for the whole vote to be deferred until the election, but that would be a step too far for National, as it would emphasise the poor process put in place by National. The principle here is that it should be a vote by New Zealanders on options that are wide enough to give all a reasonable choice – the bungled process has not made that happen; what flag either Key or Little personally prefer is irrelevant.
Couldn’t the current flag brouhaha be resolved with a single referendum? Have six options. Include red peak and the current flag. If people want to retain the flag, they can rank it as number one.
It didn’t get heavy promotion by the prime minister and his little band of rent-a-celebrities. This was political interference and a case could be made for the entire process to be scrapped.
The petition for its inclusion will reach 50,000 today. Sign here:
Ovid.. Perfectly logical.and sensible…but giving people all that power to choose in one fell swoop could be seen as too democratically overwhelming, a threat to our current strong leadership and it might diminish Mr Key’s carefully nurtured media limelight.
My preference sums up the Key issue of today:
” Cunning leads to knavery. It is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery. Only lying makes the difference; add that to cunning, and it is knavery.”
Ovid
Groser 90% certain TPP will be finalised this year…. and look who he thought needed reassurances?
:Trade Minister Tim Groser says he remains 90 per cent certain that negotiations towards the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will be successfully completed later this year.
“There is no formal timetable, but as I have now been arguing for a long time, the absence of a formal timetable is essentially irrelevant,” Groser told business leaders at a Business Growth Agenda event in Auckland this morning. “Formal timetables are themselves, in my opinion, not worth the paper they are written on.”
What did matter, he said, was the “informal consensus” and the only areas that remained to be resolved were issues around intellectual property in pharmaceuticals, dairy and the automotive industry.
“Everything else is pretty clear where the landing zone is,” Groser said. “When we have the right basis for taking some quite tough political decisions in those three areas … then we will get this [the TPP] over the line.”
In other words it’s no closer to being resolved, the large stumbing blocks that were always there still remain and no one really knows how to resolve them. Countries are going to have be threatened to get it over the line.
“Formal timetables are themselves, in my opinion, not worth the paper they are written on.”
LOL
Try getting a loan down the bank for your business with no formal timetables in the business plan.
What did matter, he said, was the “informal consensus” and the only areas that remained to be resolved were issues around intellectual property in pharmaceuticals, dairy and the automotive industry.
In other words all the bits that the people don’t want to change but the corporates do.
“When we have the right basis for taking some quite tough political decisions in those three areas … then we will get this [the TPP] over the line.”
Translation: When we can do it without the people realising then it will be done whether they like it or not.
Little puts the Fag ball back into John Key’s court….
If key is all about choice, says Little…
“Andrew Little
Opposition Leader
15 September 2015
Labour to table new flag referendum bill
Labour will this week table a bill in Parliament including both Red Peak and a Yes/No question in the first flag referendum, Opposition Leader Andrew Little says.
“John Key has responded to public pressure over the final flags chosen – now it’s time to also hear those who want to vote no in the first referendum.
“Labour’s bill, which we will seek cross party support for this week, will provide a meaningful referendum that all New Zealanders can have confidence in. Whether you want to keep the current flag, vote for Red Peak, a fern or the koru, this bill will allow all views to be heard.
“Then, if more than half the country votes for some kind of change, the second referendum will put the winning new design up against the current New Zealand flag.
“What we don’t want to happen is for two referendums at enormous cost to take place, and for New Zealanders to feel cheated by the whole process. Labour has disagreed with the timing of the flag change and the process was botched from the beginning but there is still time to make this right.
“Come on John Key: you’ve opened the door to more choice. Now let’s make this a referendum where everyone has something to vote for.
“Say yes to adding Red Peak and give New Zealanders the chance to choose the current flag in the first referendum,” Andrew Little says.”
Yeah it’s essentially making them venture capitalists of they want PR. What qualifies as a start up and how can it be circumvented and so on… We haven’t managed to make a reasonably simple process work now.
No, not too late. Just need to change a few policiy setting and NZ will become affordable for NZers again. Stopping wealthy immigrants would such policy change.
At least this way we may be able to create some jobs and new industries, thus boost our wealth.
That would be a big if and it would simply be better if we did it ourselves.
It may not be to late to turn things around (and wealthy immigrants investing can assist this, opposed to not requiring them too) but if you’re implying NZ is affordable then you clearly haven’t seen income ratios to house prices.
The local private sector is currently struggling to turn the economy around and grow our wealth.
Labour and National largely support offshore investment to help fill this void. So who exactly do you think is going to make the policy changes you aspire too?
Sometimes we have to play with the cards we are dealt, thus in that context, it has my support.
I’m not suggesting this (wealthy immigrants investing) is the sole solution, far from it, but seeing as they are already getting in, this is a far better option.
Of course, we are going to have to do far more ourselves, which is fiscally more prudent, thus preferable .
At the end of the day, they will be Kiwis (albeit, new ones) investing in Kiwi businesses.
To be clear, are you advocating closing the borders to all immigrants? Or just the wealthy ones?
I really don’t know how you got that from: Just need to change a few policiy setting and NZ will become affordable for NZers again.
Really? Don’t you read what you’re replying to?
The local private sector is currently struggling to turn the economy around and grow our wealth.
That’s because of our financial system creating money and importation of money that pushes inflation.
To be clear, are you advocating closing the borders to all immigrants?
I’ve been saying that we should put a moratorium on all immigration for awhile now so that we can take care of who’s here first. That said, I figure that we’re going to closing the borders in a few years as climate change continues to wreak havoc and the financial system collapses.
One minute you claim NZ is affordable, next post your claim it’s not, but with a few changes we can make it so
I didn’t claim that NZ was affordable. I said that we should stop immigration of the rich because a) they don’t actually do anything for NZ and b) they push up prices and thus stopping them would help to keep prices down. This would be one of the changes that we need to make to make NZ affordable again.
Really, your problem seems to be your inability to think dynamically and place what’s said within it’s own context.
Of course a debt based money supply is inflationary, but who do you think is going to change that?
Nobody if we don’t inform people of it and the solutions to it.
Well, didn’t a recent Chinese immigrant promise to build an apartment block and hotel with his investment, but no one followed up and enforced it? I would make enforcement and punishable by revocation of PR or Citizenship and confiscation of any funds invested, number 4.
I get that. It is supposed to be evidenced and moved to NZ under current policy but sitting in a bank or other investment fund seems to be all that our recent governments worried about .
except it wasn’t supposed to be going into banks, that’s the point TC, it was, in the case of the Chinese investor, part of a plan which predetermined his application and had no enforcement.
I wrote to quite a few of my rellies in Hawkes Bay and told them what life was like up here in Auckland post amalgamation, rates going sky high annually and folks having to leave Auckland because they couldn’t keep up with the costs of living here, central government meddling where they should keep their noses out, if they don’t want to help financially with public transport and the traffic problem then the council should be allowed to get on with the job without them, we have the high cost of water useage, apartments going up everywhere and blocking out the sun, the city looking unkempt and unloved with weeds everywhere, money spent on really excessive salaries in the council and junkets overseas. It goes on and on. Hopefully they took it all on board and voted a no – anyway I did my bit. Yes, I agree they at least got a vote on the matter.
He was very clear that he admires a bunch of things about Key that Key doesn’t exhibit on Earth. Are you saying he really meant what you reckon and is too incompetent to articulate it for himself?
“He said Mr Key had presided over seven deficits, a growing public debt, and an economy that did not have much to show for seven years of a National Government”
Did you read article or just the head line ? Plenty of reasons not to be like key right there.
Seems that the voting public in Hawke’s Bay HAVE overwhelmingly rejected the amalgamation proposal.
Excellent!
High time for some form of ‘cost-benefit’ analysis of the Auckland ‘Supercity’ – particularly Auckland Council (yeah right) Controlled Organisations (CCOs) – to find out for whom exactly this forced amalgamation has been ‘super’?
Phil Quin excreted the following: “The Standard’s comments section is vile. It makes the average YouTube thread read like correspondence between the Bronte sisters.”
I would bet Bill Clinton’s monthly whoring budget that Quin has not read one novel by any of the Brontës, leave alone any of the letters they wrote to one another.
Fish called Wanda
Wendy – You think you’re an intellectual don’t you ape.
Otto – Apes can’t read philosophy.
Wendy – Yes they can, they just don’t understand it.
More insulting crap on The Panel today:
“Ahhh, the daily update on the flag referendum.”
Radio NZ National, Tuesday 15 September 2015
Jim Mora, Mark Inglis, Ellen Read, Julie Moffett
At 3:45, host Jim Mora runs through the menu for the program, which includes the enticing regular item: “….ahhh, the daily update on the flag referendum. There’s ALWAYS something new about that….”
Mora, or his producers, make a point of avoiding serious topics which people actually care about, such as the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. But he, or his producers, have made a point of talking about the flag referendum every day for months now.
That dedication to triviality perfectly illustrates why The Panel has lost all claims to credibility it might have once had.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 21.1
Thanks for your concern, my friend. I don’t actually listen to it EVERY day, and I only transcribe snatches of it occasionally. I’m not quite as obsessive as it might appear.
Mind you, that’s exactly what an obsessive person would say, isn’t it. Oh my God, LOOK at me….
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 21.1.1.1
Except this bit … “Mr Key is the most brilliant political tactician in a generation ”
Everyone says that about every PM who makes it to three terms. The last PM Helen Clark was called the most brilliant political tactician. It is like every few years it is shouted that the current ABs are the best ever. Like McCaw is the best captain ever. Like our farmers are the best in the world. Like we are the greenest in the world. Like Lydia Ko should become a dame already.
my 2c on the flag says dump all the colonial reference, the crown reference, te tiriti reference, dump all that baggage. Reason being it excludes huge and growing swathes of our communities. The flag should reference the land only and people generally, not specifically. Red peak suits this to an extent – the 4 finalists do not.
further 2c says the silver fern is a feather.
the whole world will see a feather Matthew – why is this reality ignored?
for this reason the silver fern is, or should be, doomed to be dumped. The silver feather is good on the corporate sports organisations uniforms and should remain there, plus on boxes of butter and apples, but that is the extent of it
You read the mood right there.
Rugby World Cup hasn’t generated sufficient momentum for it, and it’s a fleeting moment.
As for “most brilliant political tactician in a generation”, fully agree. Key makes Clark look bubbly, bumbly and frivolous in comparison. And I still prefer her to him.
One young couple went to use KiwiSaver to build their new house and discovered they couldn’t.
It was December 2013 when Peter and Jocelyn Kendrick bought a bare piece of land, but it wasn’t until February 2014 that they could pay for and start building the actual house. It was at that point Peter tried to access his KiwiSaver funds.
That’s a $400k piece of land and a $500k house and they were delayed by a few months by not getting access to the Kiwisaver funds.
Basically, not a story of any significance at all and yet it’s treated as national news.
Saw an item on TV3’s “Story” tonight which fell into the same category. All about an under 5 year old precocious brat child whose ‘yummy mummy’ ordered a fancy dress outfit for a party which never arrived. It turned out the kid had a chestful of fancy dress outfits and viewers were subjected to her swlrling around in them one by one. That was the entire story.
This comment on Greece vs EU from Slavoj Zizek puts the situation clearly. He says that Eu technocrats want to push regulations and rules onto Greece, while Greece wants to discuss the matter as a political problem. Regulations and demands won’t solve the crisis that Greece is in. Yet the technocrats maintain that they are neutral, not ideological.
The comment also speaks to our situation with TPPA and so many other things. This passage from politics proper to neutral expert administration characterises our entire political process: strategic decisions based on power are more and more masked as administrative regulations based on neutral expert knowledge, and they are more and more negotiated in secrecy and enforced without democratic consultation. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/apr/18/heather-brooke-uk-secret-state
I’m just reading the 2010 book The Silent State by Heather Brooke on the surveillance and secretive state. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/apr/18/heather-brooke-uk-secret-state What did your investigation expose about the UK system compared to other countries?
There is a very intense culture of secrecy in Britain that hasn’t yet been dismantled. What passes for transparency here would serve any secret society well. There’s a paranoia about the public knowing anything, even innocuous things like restaurant inspections. There are all these food safety inspectors who go around, paid for by the public, and yet I can’t see the results of this. What an odd country where simple things are hidden away as if they’ll destabilise the country!
Yes well the people have spoken against amalgamation…so that is the victory !
….and if the jonkey nact government wants to override this …then this is a whole new ball game…a flagrant abuse of power and overriding of democracy…the way that happened with the take over of democratically elected Environment Canterbury
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Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Mazza, Director, SPHERE NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health in Primary Care and Professor and Head of the Department of General Practice, Monash University PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Ahead of the government’s response this week ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle It generally ends badly. An old tyrant embarks on an ill-considered project that involves redrawing maps. They are heedless to wise counsel and indifferent to indigenous interests or experience. Before they fail, are killed, deposed or otherwise disposed of, these vicious old men can cause immense ...
The Cook Islands PM is in Beijing to sign an agreement with China - but the government says he failed to consult with NZ on the matter, as is required. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katinka van de Ven, Alcohol and other drug specialist, UNSW Sydney Fewer young Australians are drinking. And when they do drink, they are drinking less and less often than previous generations at the same age. It’s a trend happening all around the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flavio Macau, Associate Dean – School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University Hitra/Shutterstock Coles is reducing its product range by at least 10%, a move that has sparked public backlash and renewed discussions about the role of supermarkets in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacinta Humphrey, Research Fellow in Urban Ecology, RMIT University Golf courses are sometimes seen as harmful to the environment. According to the popular notion, the grass soaks up too much water, is cut too short and sprayed with dangerous chemicals. But in ...
New Zealand has long championed a fair, stable, and resilient global order. As a nation with deep ties to the Pacific and beyond, we cannot afford to be passive in the face of these shifts. ...
Things are going to look a little different this year. Here’s what to expect.Good news, Shortland Street fans: after a well-earned summer holiday, New Zealand’s longest running drama returns to TVNZ2 and TVNZ+ tonight. Ahead of us is a fresh year of living, loving and laughing in the nation’s ...
The poll, conducted between 02 and 04 February, shows National up 2.3 points to 31.9 percent, while Labour has risen 0.4 points from last month to 31.3 percent. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit; Director of Researcher Development Unit, The University of Melbourne New York Public Library Many of us take pleasure in listening to music. Music accompanies important life events and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit; Director of Researcher Development Unit, The University of Melbourne New York Public Library Many of us take pleasure in listening to music. Music accompanies important life events and ...
The Cook Islands finds itself in a precarious dance — one between the promises of foreign investments and the integrity of our own sovereignty. As the country sways between partners China and Aotearoa New Zealand, the Cook Islands News asks: “Do we continue to haka with the Taniwha, our constitutional ...
A diplomatic scuffle with the Cook Islands. Plus: What went down at Waitangi. The Cook Islands prime minister, Mark Brown, has provoked the wrath of the New Zealand foreign minister with his decision to head to China to sign a new strategic deal. By failing to consult on the ...
The deputy chairperson of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Michael Connelly, said simply setting targets without "resourcing" them was a pointless exercise, as the number of patients - and their acuity - continuing to grow. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suvradip Maitra, PhD Student, Australian National University Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock Late last year, ChatGPT was used by a Victorian child protection worker to draft documents. In a glaring error, ChatGPT referred to a “doll” used for sexual purposes as an “age-appropriate toy”. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niven Winchester, Professor of Economics, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Donald Trump has already made good on his threat to impose an additional 10% tax on Chinese goods, and is due to announce a 25% tariff on all steel and ...
Diplomatic tension between the Cook Islands and New Zealand is growing. Here's what it's about about, what China has to do with it, and why it matters. ...
Sick of human reality TV? Alex Casey has found a perfect solution in David Attenborough’s latest. I’m know I’m not alone when I say this: humans are bleaking me out at the moment. Turn on the news for the bleakest updates imaginable. Try to numb the pain with Married at ...
The Director of Public Health is a statutory role providing public health leadership across the Public Health Agency, within the Ministry of Health, and the National Public Health Service within Health NZ. ...
Zachary Forbes, a maths teacher from Whanganui, has started an unusual initiative on videogame streaming service Twitch. Shanti Mathias interviews him. “The people want First Samuel,” says the man who calls himself Brother Zac. Brown hair, headphones on, a wall behind him, he pauses and reflects on the comments he’s ...
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Audrey Young, the article is about the Australian coup, but instead its just a hype piece for Key & English & little Murray, should have an ‘advertorial’ warning. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11513094
The word to describe her is ‘courtesan’, not journalist.
A courtesan was originally a courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.
Young would not have looked out of place at the palace of Versailles.
better to call her a courtier then, courtesan has a different meaning.
lol, it may be more apt however
Henry this morning was bubbling on about the things that make Turnbull unlikeable till the finance guy pointed how similar key is to that , you should’ve seen henry back peddle “priceless”
FFS!
You watch Henry?
A sheep and beef farmer on the Silver Farms takeover.
Silver Fern Farms is our biggest sheep and beef exporter.
It is seeking $100m to pay down debt. Farmers aren’t happy with them.
Enter, a Bright Foods subsidiary, waving a cheque.
John McCarthy, the immediate past President of the Meat Industry Excellence Group, sticks it to Bill English in the Otago Daily Times today:
“…Chinese money, with government backing, has cost of capital around 1%. Maybe our Government, if it is serious about our sovereignty, our rural communities and family farm as a regional cornerstone should, in an attempt to level the playing field, provide farmers with an equivalent concessional rate. Similar perhaps to their investment in South Canterbury Finance.
There is a sad irony this Government seems quite comfortable to promote deals with Saudi farmers to the tune of $11m, but it is disinclined to asset or even be involved on the home front.”
Come on Bill, lift your finger and help.
The cession of land to foreign ownership is nothing less than treason and economic sabotage.
+100 Paul
Keith Woodford , Lincoln University, Honorary Professor Agri Food Systems
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201770754/china-deal-to-turbo-charge-silver-fern-farms-growth
It would be the sort of thing the pension fund could be investing in could it not ?
Yes, and post-Settlement iwi.
There’s loose talk of some last-minute thing being hatched like that.
$100 million- National Govt can give that much to an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank but not to save our own land for our own people.
“Finance Minister Bill English says New Zealand can play an honest-broker role in the planned Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Finance Minister Bill English says New Zealand can play an honest-broker role in the planned Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Finance Minister Bill English says New Zealand and Singapore have been at the forefront of negotiations with the Chinese Government over the governance of the proposed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Former Treasury Secretary John Whitehead has been conducting the negotiations on New Zealand’s behalf, he said.
“It’s one of these things where New Zealand and Singapore have a comparative advantage as internationally accepted honest brokers negotiating on behalf of a broader range of countries,” English told the Herald in his first interview on the bank.
About 20 countries indicated initial interest in the bank last year, including New Zealand.
When last Tuesday’s deadline passed to apply to become a founding member, 46 countries applied, including Australia and South Korea which had previously been sceptical.
Others include Germany, France, Britain, Brazil, Russia, and Sweden.
The United States, which opposed the bank, and Japan have not signed up.
“Early on, Australia indicated it would not participate at a time when we did step up,” English said. “As it has become a more attractive option, the Australians have become interested again.
“There are a number of other countries who think this now could be a genuine multilateral institution and therefore they see it could be a positive vehicle for investment in a region that is pretty critical to growth for most developed countries.”
English said New Zealand did not want to see the bank completely controlled by the Chinese Government so began talks on governance.
“We got involved early because we saw an opportunity to influence the way the organisation is set up,” he said. “We want to see a genuine multilateral organisation where there are influences alongside the Chinese Government.”
He would not comment on the substance of the negotiations and exactly what the governance structure would look like.
Prime Minister John Key last year indicated that New Zealand’s initial capital contribution could be about $100 million – part of an initial subscribed capital value of US$50 billion.”
http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/63300110/Bank-of-China-gets-NZ-registration
It is not just farms, it is businesses and residential property. Overseas buyers can borrow at 1% interest or less, Kiwis are measured at around 7% and paying 5% in case interest rates rise. It is not a level playing field out there for Kiwis against foreign nationals when it comes to buying (or borrowing) for property.
Yet another major investment of NZ going into offshore control.
I am not so sure that someone can borrow money in a foreign country and use land in nz as security for that loan, maybe someone in the banking industry can clarify that.
Are you Google-challenged much?
I think there will be some former Richmonds workers and shareholders having a wee smile to themselves this morning.
@ Ad (2)
BREAKING NEWS Silver Fern Farms signs 50/50 deal with Shanghai Maling
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/72053160/silver-fern-farms-in-5050-deal-with-shanghai-maling
Meanwhile, Little is focused on throwing his support behind the Red Peak flag.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72052281/red-peak-andrew-littles-pick
The way this country is going, we’ll have a Chinese flag soon.
Just watched Little on te news ,he’s got key absolutely cornered on this flag thing with his offer to help sort the red peak issue as long as there’s a yes /no vote on the first referendum.
Once Little stops fueling the flag debate, perhaps he can start dealing with the real problems we face.
The flag debate is the least of our problems.
I realise that but unless Little can start doing some damage to key we’ll have to look at the smug pricks face for another 3 years.
LIttle and team have been doing well in the last 6 months finding stories that can actually win, and which resonate with public sentiment.
Be an effective Opposition. Yes they can.
I hope that was sarcasm. Surely you can’t be serious?
Meanwhile, while Little is fueling the flag debate, Labour’s potential coalition partner, NZ First, is once again on the front line.
http://nzfirst.org.nz/news/pm-called-account-future-silver-fern-farms
Labour’s Grant Robertson put this press release out today:
http://campaign.labour.org.nz/silver_fern_farms_sale_result_of_govt_inaction
And it seems the Greens, another of Labour’s potential coalition partners, has nothing of late to say on the matter.
https://www.greens.org.nz/news/press-releases
Thoughts?
NZF will be taking votes from the Greens…they seem pretty hopeless of late
That’s the red peak bit.
Or just a SOLD sign..
LOL
That’s the one.
I have only limited sympathy for the farmer shareholders in reality.
They have had plenty of years to unify their farmer vote and merge with the other meat industry players in New Zealand.
They have also elected farmer reps that have watched over the piling debt.
They were also given the opportunity to raise capital to cover at least $100m.
Silver Fern had already paid down $100m in debt over the last financial year.
But it wasn’t enough.
It reminds me strongly of Synlait three years ago.
Here was a New Zealand startup milk producer, going hard against Fonterra in Canterbury.
So they went to the public – particularly farmers – seeking capital to expand.
Not a blip. Nada.
The New Zealand public by and large kept their capital in housing, and farm equity.
So the Chinese stepped in, get over half the company, and there’s no looking back.
Be very interesting to see if the farmers really vote for this: if they shut it down they better have a decent alternative up their sleeves.
It’s not the farmers I feel for. It’s the loss of revenue and control, thus the impact it has on the economy.
It will be interesting to see if sff keeps processing animals in nz or if we’re going to see carcasses being shipped whole to China.
+100 Ad
Never miss a chance to smear The Daily Blog.
Good grief.
I’m guessing it’s a reference to TDB publishing Arthur Taylor’s piece here: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/09/08/guest-blog-arthur-taylor-new-zealand-in-breach-of-international-law-again/
Having witnessed Mr. Taylor’s unique relationship with Corrections and its various managers and screws first-hand, one can’t help but think there’s a bit of love-hate on both sides.
Corrections is, generally, a pack of fuckwits, but it is no exaggeration at all to say that Mr. Taylor has a number of people prepared to do his bidding on the outside…
Sexual violence survivors’ advocate Louise Nicholas condemned the blog and said it revictimised and retraumatised Shone’s victims.
Louise Nicholas makes a good point. The Daily Bog needs to drag them selves out of the gutter.
so, if she condemned those who talked about what they were going to do to female young nats in a sexually objectifying way, or condemned comments on another blog, or breached a suppression order which identified victims of crime against their wills, like Whale Oil, you would agree those people need to drag them selves out of the gutter.
yes I would agree.
Ha ha you’re very funny for trash.
Trash pfffft. That from scum that thinks its ok for a paedophile to traumatise their victims on a blog.
[citation needed]
I mean, if TDB has been doing anything of the sort I think we should be told. Louise Nicholas certainly doesn’t accuse them, trash.
Ooops, looks like I misread that.
Situation normal then.
Lol.
Seems the Herald is having problems with accepting comments on the Young article. I tried with this “Just goes to show that Oz has replaced one idiot with another, if the best he is aspire to is emulate John Key – the master obfuscator, the Crosby Textor muppet, the pony tail fetishist, the man is seems to be incapable of telling the truth or even making a decision without the input of David Farrer’s focus groups.”
hard to see why they didn’t let that one through
David Shearer’s recent pronouncements on UK politics and in-depth interview on the Middle East with Dr Larry Williams are building blocks in his campaign to be the next General Secretary of the United Nations.
Both Shearer and Pagani have showed their true colours when commenting on Corbyn’s victory.
They are doing the Tory’s work for them.
Thatcher said her greatest achievement was Tony Blair. And Shearer and Pagani are both the products of him.
What do you mean for them?
They are them!
Exactly. Pagani is a disgrace, a Tory strike breaker.
“a Tory strike breaker.”
how does that work in this case?
And Shearer got worked over pretty good on the Facebook posting he made. I don’t think there was a single comment in support of what he was saying.
Turnbull on Key:
“New Zealand had a leader whose style should be emulated, Turnbull was saying. You have to be able to bring people with you by respecting their intelligence in the way you explain things. “Let me point to just one international leader – John Key, for example”
Key had been able to achieve significant economic reforms by doing just that: “By explaining complex issues and then making the case for them.”
Ho, ho ho, ho, ho, ho ho, ho,ho ho, ho, ho, ho ho, ho.
The lies, the under-the-counter shuffling to avoid the truth becoming public, the abysmal lack of political and personal integrity . . . I could go on, but really the only answer to this example of political stupidity is : Ho, ho ho, ho, ho, ho ho, ho,ho ho, ho, ho, ho ho, ho.
Look forward to a pretty short stint as PM before YOU are rolled, Malc!
Oh yes lying Joh Key and getting the media to be complacent in it. Yep that’s a style, but not sure that is democracy. Wait till he starts selling OZ off at bargain rates, pretty sure the Ozzies will not put up with it.
2 banksta’s running the joint so guess where this is all heading
Yep: Turnbull former Goldman Sachs; Key former Merill Lynch.
If he admires John Key, he can have him over there. Good riddance.
Malcolm Turnbull: three things we need to know about our new prime minister
Sounds like Key and other awesome personalities and with the complete lack of depth to go with it.
This BBC interview with veteran MP Denis Skinner is brilliant! You need to keep watching until the very end – after the reporter does her summing up and then misrepresents Skinner’s position. If you are really short of time just go from 3:30 onwards.
Good on him! The whole thing is worth watching just to see someone with potitical memory going back to post-WW2.
She was patronising and interesting to see she lies when confronted about her spin.
Wow. And she has the cheek to say that she was joking that Dennis would not accept a job from Jeremy. As Dennis called it she was spinning!
Legend.
Brilliant, a perfect illustration of how those “trustworthy” media orgs aren’t actually telling people the truth at all. Of course it’s the same over here too,
There should be more people with duck’s arse haircuts in politics.
FYI – I have speaking rights at today’s meeting of the Auckland Council Audit and Risk Committee, 10am Auckland Council ‘Tower’, 135 Albert St. Auckland City.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Request for Speaking Rights under Public Forum at the upcoming meeting of the Auckland Council Audit and Risk Committee:
Tuesday, 15 September 2015 10.00am Room 1, Level 26 135 Albert S
Subject Matter will include:
1) The Auckland Council Quality Assurance mechanisms which are in place to ensure that Auckland Council Rates Assessment Notices and Rates Invoices are checked for statutory compliance with sections 45 and 46 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002, before they are sent out to Auckland citizens and ratepayers.
45 Contents of rates assessment
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0006/latest/DLM132294.html?search=ts_act_Local+Government+(Rating)+Act+2002_resel&p=1
46 Rates invoice
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0006/latest/DLM132297.html?search=ts_act_Local+Government+(Rating)+Act+2002_resel&p=1
2) The Auckland Council Quality Assurance mechanisms which are in place to ensure that s.17 of the Public Records Act 2005, is complied with in a proper (LAWFUL) way, regarding Auckland Council and Auckland CCOs:
a) Spending
b) Investment
c) Borrowing
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2005/0040/latest/DLM345729.html
17 Requirement to create and maintain records
(1)Every public office and local authority must create and maintain full and accurate records of its affairs, in accordance with normal, prudent business practice, including the records of any matter that is contracted out to an independent contractor.
(2)Every public office must maintain in an accessible form, so as to be able to be used for subsequent reference, all public records that are in its control, until their disposal is authorised by or under this Act or required by or under another Act.
(3)Every local authority must maintain in an accessible form, so as to be able to be used for subsequent reference, all protected records that are in its control, until their disposal is authorised by or under this Act.
(In particular – the failure of Auckland Transport to provide details of the amount of public subsidies paid to private transport providers of bus, ferry and rail services).
OIA to Auckland Transport:
http://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2015/06/GB_20150625_MAT_5792.PDF
OIA reply from Auckland Transport:
http://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2015/08/COU_20150804_MAT_5945.PDF
3) The extent of Auckland Council and Auckland CCOs exposure to derivatives.
4) The corruption risk assessment of Auckland Council and Auckland CCOs being members of the private sector lobby group – the Committee for Auckland – whose member companies contract to Auckland Council and Auckland CCOs.
http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz/membership/members
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
……..
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
Kim Dot Com’s extradiction hearing starts next week. He still has the opportunity to ask for a delay once the hearing starts.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/284198/dotcom's-extradition-hearing-to-go-ahead
Hopefully the courts will stop indulging him in his antics I mean whats the delay count now, double figures at least
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72052281/red-peak-andrew-littles-pick
Really?
This is why National pay so much for advice, so they don’t look look desperate and like they’re jumping on every single bandwagon going
Yeah Labour look petty and pathetic, again
Great opportunity to look the statesman but he blew it, Little really doesn’t have what it takes.
In your LTHO. Read the article , the flag changeit is Key’s idea and he is losing control. Fancy a National Party Leader asking the Labour Party Leader to help him out of the hole he is digging (has dug) for himself.
I thought Andrew Little spoke well this morning. He pointed out that Key could add the extra flag in himself; he does not need to put it before parliament; but if he wants to get Labour to agree too a Bill to do more, he would need to agree to an extra question. I would have preferred him to also ask for the whole vote to be deferred until the election, but that would be a step too far for National, as it would emphasise the poor process put in place by National. The principle here is that it should be a vote by New Zealanders on options that are wide enough to give all a reasonable choice – the bungled process has not made that happen; what flag either Key or Little personally prefer is irrelevant.
Key is on the wrong side of this issue trying to manipulate his fav corporate fern options as the only options.
Oh, so like not jumping on the increasing benefits, increasing refugees, capital gains tax bandwagons?
Couldn’t the current flag brouhaha be resolved with a single referendum? Have six options. Include red peak and the current flag. If people want to retain the flag, they can rank it as number one.
People already had their chance to say what they think of Red Peak and it got virtually nowhere
It didn’t get heavy promotion by the prime minister and his little band of rent-a-celebrities. This was political interference and a case could be made for the entire process to be scrapped.
The petition for its inclusion will reach 50,000 today. Sign here:
https://www.change.org/p/prime-minister-john-key-red-peaks-for-new-zealand-flag
I do admit to bias because I quite like the blue/black silver fern design
“This was political interference and a case could be made for the entire process to be scrapped”.
That is exactly what should happen – scrap the whole thing….
(….. unless of course my preferred option is included. LOL.)
what do you mean? are you talking about the roadshow consultation?
Ovid.. Perfectly logical.and sensible…but giving people all that power to choose in one fell swoop could be seen as too democratically overwhelming, a threat to our current strong leadership and it might diminish Mr Key’s carefully nurtured media limelight.
“Habits change into character.”
Ovid
+1
Been thinking about that morsel of wisdom for some time and seeing your name prompted me to post it. 😉
My preference sums up the Key issue of today:
” Cunning leads to knavery. It is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery. Only lying makes the difference; add that to cunning, and it is knavery.”
Ovid
And now Labour is tabling a bill to include Red Peak (yay). But it will be FPP, not preferential voting (boo).
yup
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15092015/#comment-1070835
Groser 90% certain TPP will be finalised this year…. and look who he thought needed reassurances?
:Trade Minister Tim Groser says he remains 90 per cent certain that negotiations towards the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will be successfully completed later this year.
“There is no formal timetable, but as I have now been arguing for a long time, the absence of a formal timetable is essentially irrelevant,” Groser told business leaders at a Business Growth Agenda event in Auckland this morning. “Formal timetables are themselves, in my opinion, not worth the paper they are written on.”
What did matter, he said, was the “informal consensus” and the only areas that remained to be resolved were issues around intellectual property in pharmaceuticals, dairy and the automotive industry.
“Everything else is pretty clear where the landing zone is,” Groser said. “When we have the right basis for taking some quite tough political decisions in those three areas … then we will get this [the TPP] over the line.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11513173
In other words it’s no closer to being resolved, the large stumbing blocks that were always there still remain and no one really knows how to resolve them. Countries are going to have be threatened to get it over the line.
formal timetables, like National’s Press Releases, are not worth the paper the are written on.
Timmy will hold his breath unless those large nations comply.
Groser’s predictions have no credibility now at all.
LOL
Try getting a loan down the bank for your business with no formal timetables in the business plan.
In other words all the bits that the people don’t want to change but the corporates do.
Translation: When we can do it without the people realising then it will be done whether they like it or not.
Little puts the Fag ball back into John Key’s court….
If key is all about choice, says Little…
“Andrew Little
Opposition Leader
15 September 2015
Labour to table new flag referendum bill
Labour will this week table a bill in Parliament including both Red Peak and a Yes/No question in the first flag referendum, Opposition Leader Andrew Little says.
“John Key has responded to public pressure over the final flags chosen – now it’s time to also hear those who want to vote no in the first referendum.
“Labour’s bill, which we will seek cross party support for this week, will provide a meaningful referendum that all New Zealanders can have confidence in. Whether you want to keep the current flag, vote for Red Peak, a fern or the koru, this bill will allow all views to be heard.
“Then, if more than half the country votes for some kind of change, the second referendum will put the winning new design up against the current New Zealand flag.
“What we don’t want to happen is for two referendums at enormous cost to take place, and for New Zealanders to feel cheated by the whole process. Labour has disagreed with the timing of the flag change and the process was botched from the beginning but there is still time to make this right.
“Come on John Key: you’ve opened the door to more choice. Now let’s make this a referendum where everyone has something to vote for.
“Say yes to adding Red Peak and give New Zealanders the chance to choose the current flag in the first referendum,” Andrew Little says.”
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1509/S00235/labour-to-table-new-flag-referendum-bill.htm
Perhaps we should just be honest and put up a for sale flag?
OH, shit, that is too funny, and sad at the same time
It’s only sad because it’s largely true.
Calls for wealthy migrant investors to put more into local start-ups
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/business/calls-for-wealthy-migrant-investors-to-put-more-into-local-start-ups-2015091409#ixzz3ll9jNqxi
Thoughts?
I think the notion has merit.
One wonders where Labour will position themselves on this?
From what I gather, it might rob them of their thunder. Aren’t Labour considering giving start-ups a taxpayer helping hand?
Start-ups are high risk.
Therefore, it’s effectively a entry fee, as they’d be lucky to get their investment back, let alone a return.
Yeah it’s essentially making them venture capitalists of they want PR. What qualifies as a start up and how can it be circumvented and so on… We haven’t managed to make a reasonably simple process work now.
Once Little stops focusing on the flag, perhaps he might have something to offer us in that regards.
I don’t. Much better idea to tell the wealthy migrant investors to fuck off and thus try to keep NZ affordable for the NZers already here.
Bit late for that, sunshine. NZ hasn’t been affordable for a good number of Kiwis for some time.
At least this way we may be able to create some jobs and new industries, thus boost our wealth.
No, not too late. Just need to change a few policiy setting and NZ will become affordable for NZers again. Stopping wealthy immigrants would such policy change.
That would be a big if and it would simply be better if we did it ourselves.
It may not be to late to turn things around (and wealthy immigrants investing can assist this, opposed to not requiring them too) but if you’re implying NZ is affordable then you clearly haven’t seen income ratios to house prices.
The local private sector is currently struggling to turn the economy around and grow our wealth.
Labour and National largely support offshore investment to help fill this void. So who exactly do you think is going to make the policy changes you aspire too?
Sometimes we have to play with the cards we are dealt, thus in that context, it has my support.
I’m not suggesting this (wealthy immigrants investing) is the sole solution, far from it, but seeing as they are already getting in, this is a far better option.
Of course, we are going to have to do far more ourselves, which is fiscally more prudent, thus preferable .
At the end of the day, they will be Kiwis (albeit, new ones) investing in Kiwi businesses.
To be clear, are you advocating closing the borders to all immigrants? Or just the wealthy ones?
I really don’t know how you got that from: Just need to change a few policiy setting and NZ will become affordable for NZers again.
Really? Don’t you read what you’re replying to?
That’s because of our financial system creating money and importation of money that pushes inflation.
I’ve been saying that we should put a moratorium on all immigration for awhile now so that we can take care of who’s here first. That said, I figure that we’re going to closing the borders in a few years as climate change continues to wreak havoc and the financial system collapses.
You initially stated you wanted to keep NZ affordable. I pointed out you’re a bit late for that. Then you stated, no, it’s not to late.
One minute you claim NZ is affordable, next post your claim it’s not, but with a few changes we can make it so
Some consistency would help strengthen your argument, allowing others to grasp your position.
Of course a debt based money supply is inflationary, but who do you think is going to change that?
Not only are you failing to deal with the cards that have been dealt, you seem to be in a totally different casino.
I didn’t claim that NZ was affordable. I said that we should stop immigration of the rich because a) they don’t actually do anything for NZ and b) they push up prices and thus stopping them would help to keep prices down. This would be one of the changes that we need to make to make NZ affordable again.
Really, your problem seems to be your inability to think dynamically and place what’s said within it’s own context.
Nobody if we don’t inform people of it and the solutions to it.
Do you read what you write? You clearly stated: ‘try to keep NZ affordable.’ Then of course when on to change your position.
Now you’ve gone and changed it again. Compare what you initially wrote to what you just expressed.
A good number already know (especially leading MPs) that our money supply is debt based.
By the way, Draco (or anybody else) you wouldn’t happen to know Labour’s position on the matter?
Well, didn’t a recent Chinese immigrant promise to build an apartment block and hotel with his investment, but no one followed up and enforced it? I would make enforcement and punishable by revocation of PR or Citizenship and confiscation of any funds invested, number 4.
Hence, we better ensure the money is fronted up first.
I get that. It is supposed to be evidenced and moved to NZ under current policy but sitting in a bank or other investment fund seems to be all that our recent governments worried about .
The proposal (investing in start-ups) is far better than the current arrangement, with money going into banks helping fuel property speculation.
except it wasn’t supposed to be going into banks, that’s the point TC, it was, in the case of the Chinese investor, part of a plan which predetermined his application and had no enforcement.
It’s nothing giving it teeth can’t fix.
we agree. we could just sell citizenship up front an dbe really open about it 😉
Why not, we’re selling everything else.
At least this is something that will be sold to NZ citizens (albeit, new ones).
I look forward to a resounding NO amalgamation vote in the Hawke’s Bay.
At least they got a vote.
Aucklanders didn’t.
Penny Bright
Hi Penny
I wrote to quite a few of my rellies in Hawkes Bay and told them what life was like up here in Auckland post amalgamation, rates going sky high annually and folks having to leave Auckland because they couldn’t keep up with the costs of living here, central government meddling where they should keep their noses out, if they don’t want to help financially with public transport and the traffic problem then the council should be allowed to get on with the job without them, we have the high cost of water useage, apartments going up everywhere and blocking out the sun, the city looking unkempt and unloved with weeds everywhere, money spent on really excessive salaries in the council and junkets overseas. It goes on and on. Hopefully they took it all on board and voted a no – anyway I did my bit. Yes, I agree they at least got a vote on the matter.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11513340
I actually thought Little had some potential, seriously though what an utter fuckwit.
Does he not think before he opens his mouth?
He’s not a prime ministers ring piece.
What’s your problem with what he said?
Seriously?, he abuses the new PM of Australia, what a complete dumb arse, did he believe that was funny or clever?, has he no diplomatic skills?.
How does Little think he’d work with Turnbull if he ever got elected NZ PM.
I’d rather have Helen back any day than Little, at least she had a bit of nous.
He only ‘abused’ Turnbull if you think being compared to Key is a slight.
And you wonder why the left continues to rot on the side lines.
No I wonder why you bother with your faux outrage on this blog.
arkie got you good there, BM.
Own it.
Maybe Turnbull was referring to NZs rate of unemployment which is lower than Australias or NZs economic growth which is better than Australias
He was very clear that he admires a bunch of things about Key that Key doesn’t exhibit on Earth. Are you saying he really meant what you reckon and is too incompetent to articulate it for himself?
What’s not to abuse about some delusional Tory trash who prefers John Key?
“He said Mr Key had presided over seven deficits, a growing public debt, and an economy that did not have much to show for seven years of a National Government”
Did you read article or just the head line ? Plenty of reasons not to be like key right there.
Exactly, all facts. Reality is ‘abuse’?
“No one makes me submit”
I say we offer these women solidarity.
Be warned. This gets violent very quickly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM-wxU86v8g
http://www.france24.com/en/20150914-femen-topless-protest-french-islam-conference
Seems that the voting public in Hawke’s Bay HAVE overwhelmingly rejected the amalgamation proposal.
Excellent!
High time for some form of ‘cost-benefit’ analysis of the Auckland ‘Supercity’ – particularly Auckland Council (yeah right) Controlled Organisations (CCOs) – to find out for whom exactly this forced amalgamation has been ‘super’?
Penny Bright
Great news Penny – maybe my taking time and writing to the rellies helped in the result!!
Penny and Barbara+100 …Great News for Hawkes Bay!…and here is the victory song!
See my comment below (24)
David Seymour – ignorant.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/72050421/act-leader-david-seymours-harden-up-line-stuns-wellington-students
Phil must be having a bad day…
https://twitter.com/philquin/status/643594725425963008
Such an angry little person.
Phil Quin excreted the following: “The Standard’s comments section is vile. It makes the average YouTube thread read like correspondence between the Bronte sisters.”
I would bet Bill Clinton’s monthly whoring budget that Quin has not read one novel by any of the Brontës, leave alone any of the letters they wrote to one another.
Fish called Wanda
Wendy – You think you’re an intellectual don’t you ape.
Otto – Apes can’t read philosophy.
Wendy – Yes they can, they just don’t understand it.
More insulting crap on The Panel today:
“Ahhh, the daily update on the flag referendum.”
Radio NZ National, Tuesday 15 September 2015
Jim Mora, Mark Inglis, Ellen Read, Julie Moffett
inane /ɪˈneɪn/ adj. 1. senseless, unimaginative, or empty; unintelligent; “silly, empty-headed,” 1819, earlier “empty” (1660s)
At 3:45, host Jim Mora runs through the menu for the program, which includes the enticing regular item: “….ahhh, the daily update on the flag referendum. There’s ALWAYS something new about that….”
Mora, or his producers, make a point of avoiding serious topics which people actually care about, such as the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. But he, or his producers, have made a point of talking about the flag referendum every day for months now.
That dedication to triviality perfectly illustrates why The Panel has lost all claims to credibility it might have once had.
Morrisey,
Have you ever worried that your obsession with the Panel is unhealthy? Maybe you should do something else between 3:45 and 5:00.
Thanks for your concern, my friend. I don’t actually listen to it EVERY day, and I only transcribe snatches of it occasionally. I’m not quite as obsessive as it might appear.
Mind you, that’s exactly what an obsessive person would say, isn’t it. Oh my God, LOOK at me….
Get a dog. Take it for a walk.
Gormless, Morrissey’ll be at your kennel within the hour……do you want him to use your lead or should he bring one with him ? Hope you’re registered…….
One of the highlights on The Standard in my opinion and I hope he keeps writing about it.
I enjoy Morrissey’s transcripts.
+1
Entertaining.
“inane”
like this pathetic piece by Key butt-kisser Matthew Hooton on the flag
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/284285/better-to-wait-than-botch-it
What bit don’t you agree with?
I agree with what you say mr matthew
Except this bit … “Mr Key is the most brilliant political tactician in a generation ”
Everyone says that about every PM who makes it to three terms. The last PM Helen Clark was called the most brilliant political tactician. It is like every few years it is shouted that the current ABs are the best ever. Like McCaw is the best captain ever. Like our farmers are the best in the world. Like we are the greenest in the world. Like Lydia Ko should become a dame already.
my 2c on the flag says dump all the colonial reference, the crown reference, te tiriti reference, dump all that baggage. Reason being it excludes huge and growing swathes of our communities. The flag should reference the land only and people generally, not specifically. Red peak suits this to an extent – the 4 finalists do not.
further 2c says the silver fern is a feather.
the whole world will see a feather Matthew – why is this reality ignored?
for this reason the silver fern is, or should be, doomed to be dumped. The silver feather is good on the corporate sports organisations uniforms and should remain there, plus on boxes of butter and apples, but that is the extent of it
You read the mood right there.
Rugby World Cup hasn’t generated sufficient momentum for it, and it’s a fleeting moment.
As for “most brilliant political tactician in a generation”, fully agree. Key makes Clark look bubbly, bumbly and frivolous in comparison. And I still prefer her to him.
the most brilliant political tactician ever who totally misread the love of the nation for the silver fern on black…
by most brilliant do you mean able to successfully lie time and time again and still be popular?
It was not a compliment.
glad to hear it.
Another rich person whinging:
That’s a $400k piece of land and a $500k house and they were delayed by a few months by not getting access to the Kiwisaver funds.
Basically, not a story of any significance at all and yet it’s treated as national news.
Saw an item on TV3’s “Story” tonight which fell into the same category. All about an under 5 year old precocious
bratchild whose ‘yummy mummy’ ordered a fancy dress outfit for a party which never arrived. It turned out the kid had a chestful of fancy dress outfits and viewers were subjected to her swlrling around in them one by one. That was the entire story.A current affairs show? Jesus wept!
Solution.
Don’t watch TV3.
This comment on Greece vs EU from Slavoj Zizek puts the situation clearly. He says that Eu technocrats want to push regulations and rules onto Greece, while Greece wants to discuss the matter as a political problem. Regulations and demands won’t solve the crisis that Greece is in. Yet the technocrats maintain that they are neutral, not ideological.
The comment also speaks to our situation with TPPA and so many other things.
This passage from politics proper to neutral expert administration characterises our entire political process: strategic decisions based on power are more and more masked as administrative regulations based on neutral expert knowledge, and they are more and more negotiated in secrecy and enforced without democratic consultation.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/apr/18/heather-brooke-uk-secret-state
I’m just reading the 2010 book The Silent State by Heather Brooke on the surveillance and secretive state.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/apr/18/heather-brooke-uk-secret-state
What did your investigation expose about the UK system compared to other countries?
There is a very intense culture of secrecy in Britain that hasn’t yet been dismantled. What passes for transparency here would serve any secret society well. There’s a paranoia about the public knowing anything, even innocuous things like restaurant inspections. There are all these food safety inspectors who go around, paid for by the public, and yet I can’t see the results of this. What an odd country where simple things are hidden away as if they’ll destabilise the country!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/7544797/The-Silent-State-Secrets-Surveillance-and-the-Myth-of-British-Democracy-by-Heather-Brooke-review.html
I notice that stories in NZ on Greece have dried up, despite them going into a crucial election. Was a time it was daily here.
Have you seen this, Penny?
The people have spoken, yet the Government fails to listen.
Voters’ overwhelming reject Hawke’s Bay local government amalgamation, but the Government insists it will still press ahead with some sort of reform
The establishment of council-controlled organisations (CCOs), similar to those operating in the Auckland super-city are a likely option.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/72085935/local-government-change-still-on-the-cards-despite-hawkes-bay-merger-vote
Yes well the people have spoken against amalgamation…so that is the victory !
….and if the jonkey nact government wants to override this …then this is a whole new ball game…a flagrant abuse of power and overriding of democracy…the way that happened with the take over of democratically elected Environment Canterbury
….this could mean mass civil disobedience …
but as with Canterbury, it wont
unfortunately Christchurch and Canterbury was hit by the Earthquake and this did take their eye off the ECAN ball
…the travesty of democracy violation by jonkey Nact
@ Chooky
A victory indeed.
However, public celebrations will be short-lived once people get wind the Government is insisting to still press ahead with some sort of reform.
It highlights National’s contempt and undermining of the democratic process.
Voters need to show this lot (National and those who support this underhandedness) the door.
+100…they seem to have a lot of fight in Hawkes Bay…so we shall see
arrogance, and “we know best”… oh wait, only Labour Governments do that