Oh dear,
This is from our mainstream media Deliberate course set Rena to reef. A sudden deliberate change of course. 33 kph, near top speed to ram it up on the reef.
5 days without intervention, not even the most basic “let’s float some booms around possible leaks” and a massive corexit (8X more toxic than the actual oil dump) on what was a small oil spill at the time.
And the crew flown out of the country “to protect them?”
What is going on here? Here is an interesting 9 minute video explaining the shock doctrine.
John Key’s psychopathy shone through when he made the slash movement and now this?
Apparently, Astrolabe is used as a ‘short-cut’ by many container vessels heading towards Tauranga Port. A forbidden course but one never challenged by authorities. There are rumours currently floating about that Astrolabe is an impediment to the dredging of the harbour floor to allow bigger vessels into the port, and generally as an impediment to the growth of Port business.
If the reef has been significantly compromised by the Rena than the environmental arguments for its ongoing protection as a marine paradise is also significantly compromised.
The whole reason for the transmitting of transponder codes and positions is so that shore authorities know where the ship is. The authorities, who should have been watching, would have been able to pick up the course change, map it onto their own charts, tell that the ship was now headed for a reef and tell the ship to change course. Obviously, this didn’t happen.
Again, this comes down to government not doing enough to ensure the protection of our marine environment.
Good morning. Great to see the Herald articles challenging the pathetic, negligent initial response to the MV Rena disaster… Paul Holmes, John Armstrong and I particularly John Roughan’s take,
as it calls to account the total lack of leadership quality from National’s top politicians. Swift action at the time not explanations and excuses afterwards….shame on you Key, Joyce etc…
The one good thing that may come out of this tragedy is National’s demise.
The simpering Armstrong’s piece needs the common two scans, for it is actually a swingeing defence of ShonKey as per usual with slaps at Labour and Greens. Holmsie can’t resist a swipe at Labour on the way through either. Roughan’s is not bad though.
That these three consistently rat bag journos have given the Nats any stick at all shows what major mismanagement has occured over the Rena disaster.
Then the Herald gets the award for most misleading desperate headline – Key proves popular in Papamoa (actually he gets heckled and grilled by 300 locals)…
Let us hope this is one situation that can’t be sanitised by misleading PR and headlines! Too much in the public eye and hearts? Wonder how the local papers will report it all.
The National Government is enormously popular, partly because Prime Minister John Key and Finance Minister Bill English are willing to throw money at almost every problem.
The latest $18.4 billion deficit represents 9.2 per cent of gross national product – one of the worst amongst the 30 OECD member countries.
The individual tax take has declined from $27.5 billion in the June 2008 year to $23.1 billion in the latest year.
This is mainly because of the Government’s tax cuts last year.
Corporate tax is down from $10.1 billion to $7.3 billion, but GST revenue has risen from $11.1 billion to $13 billion over the same period.
The moneyshot quote from the usually dry and measured Gaynor has to be:
Right-of-centre governments often run large Budget deficits because they overestimate the positive effect of tax cuts on the economy, and the Key Government is no exception.
Stuff and Yahoo website photos of the Rena this morning all feature the Donkey front and centre. Several of them are presented to look like he is running the show.
As an FYI for the Rena discussion this morning, and for those who didn’t catch Joyce on Campbell Live last night, we have another example of failure in ministerial responsibility
…and those who have studied the detail and understand the economics of why it went bad.
They may be a few people in the world who know why the economics went bad. I doubt if a single one of them is an “economist”. If any economist actually knew then it wouldn’t have happened again.
I want to throw in another thought: it could be worse than the 1930s if we let it happen.
Well, he got that bit right.
…(to give you an idea of how, 40,000 of them were state employed actors and theatre directors).
There’s something wrong with having culture?
Like all commenter’s he misses the obvious: Deficit spending is the actual problem with the finance industry. What actually needs to happen is that all people, including countries, who can’t pay back their loans to declare themselves bankrupt and to state, in no unequivocal terms, that the loans will not be paid back. This will destroy a lot of interest bearing debt (that probably didn’t exist before it got printed by the banks) and allow those people and states to start again. Recapitalisation won’t allow that. In fact, recapitalisation only point seems to be to prevent a few people from losing some money rather than to get the “economy” moving again.
Of course, with Peak Everything here, the financial economy is screwed anyway. Already there isn’t enough “value” left in the real economy to pay the monetary debt never mind the usury the capitalists are demanding.
I think my main criticism was that he thinks bank-nationalisation and government control of credit is the “worst” that could happen, currently. A greater danger would seem to be that when debt repudiation starts to become commonplace (i.e. beyond Iceland), wars of conquest will be launched to offset the losses of state-owned creditor banks.
He didn’t come prepared to shovel oil but people on the beach suggested that he shovel some. What was he going to do? Say fuck off, you’re on your own?
Unlike someone else we could both name, it didn’t involve engineering a photo op. There was no tax-payer funded unnecessary helicopter trip involved.
Perhaps if John Key spent less time attending photo-ops, glad-handing the rich and famous (and only listening to what people tell him is going on in his government) and more time in the office ensuring that his ministers were doing their jobs then perhaps we would have a more efficient government, marine compensation legislation would not be shuffled down the list and he would ensure ministers like Joyce would be making sure Maritime NZ was doing its job and not building holiday highway think-big projects and campaigning to to get his boss elected.
If ever Americans were up for a bit of class warfare, now would seem to be the time. The current financial downturn has led to a $700 billion tax-payer-financed bank bailout and an unemployment rate stuck stubbornly above nine percent. Onto this scene has stepped the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, which seeks to bring together a disparate group of protesters united in their belief that the current income distribution is unfair. “The one thing we all have in common is that We are the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%,” says their website. In an era of bank bailouts and rising poverty – and where recent data show that the top 1 percent control as much as 35 percent of the total wealth in America – it would appear that the timing of this movement to reconsider the allocation of wealth could not be more perfect.
heh – a wee detail overlooked is that in a world of diminishing returns… standards of living falling in tandem with resource depletion etc…that ‘last place’ might reasonably be concieved as being ahead of the curve 🙂
Nick Smith on The Nation this morning tried very hard to make it look like the government did all that it could from day one of the Rena grounding.
Again, he (and his other Nat pollies) are trying to confuse the issues of the initial response (which is of necessity home-grown, using NZ stores and resources according to advanced planning on a wide range of scenarios) and the work of the salvors which will involve international expertise, the salvors appointed by the owners.
Between the grounding and the work of the salvors and the international experts lies the gap in which New Zealand is on its own and should, MUST, e prepared in every possible way.
That responsibility rests with Maritime NZ. Events and prepared reports that have come to light show that they were not prepared.
It is not good enough for the Gvt to say that there was a problem with the pipes and getting oil off a vessel that is only designed to have oil go on. That is not a new issue! Any person worth their salt would know that in the event of a leaking ship (at sea or in port) would need to have some way of unloading any oil remaining in the ship (broken pipes or not).
That means, we scope the issues, research equipment and techniques on the market, design and build our own if they are not available and we store them. It is inexcusable that and agency charged with the initial response was not better prepared. None of the excuses presented by the government were unforeseeable nor insurmountable with proper planning and provisioning nor was the state of the wreck such that they could not enact a pre-prepared plan.
To say that we do not, nor could we be expected have, the expertise resident in NZ and so we had/have to wait until they arrive is again an attempt for National to confuse in the public mind the initial response and the stage when the salvors arrive. As a principle, we have people being trained every day in first response issues that may be either outside their usual job (eg. an office worker trained in first aid or as a fire warden for their floor of the building) to experts who go overseas or attend courses so they are prepared for a disaster.
All over this country we have full-time or volunteer fire officers who prepare for types of fires, spills etc they may never see in their life time. If the expertise is not local to the fire station then the Fire Service builds that capacity, knowledge and training on a regional or national basis and they practice all sorts of scenarios.
To follow the reasoning of Nick Smith et al what if the emergency initial response people at Auckland airport only prepared for a fire in the terminal? or Only prepared for a runway crash and ignored that they were almost surrounded by water?
NZ is surround by water, we have vessels coming and going, we know the types of fuel they have.
The government is wrong, is lying to us, trying to confuse us and is covering their own political future. We need to not be confused by their obfuscation techniques and as NZdrs who love their country we should stick the issue that “we” (really, the people we paid and trusted to protect us) were not prepared and that will cost us in an environmental cost and hit us again in the pocket!
For every dollar it ultimately costs us to clean this up a worker has to trade time and energy to provide that dollar in taxes. National would rather pay for a $5 plan, leave it to invisible market forces, and irrational belief that business will be responsible and take the risk that it will never have to spend $105 – then tell the poor schmucks who have to pay for it that it was unavoidable, they know better, we are irrational and the lock us out of our beaches!
Well it has long been known to union organisers that some workers exhibit exactly this type of ‘ranking’ behaviour.
The right has historically used all manner of perceived differences (e.g. race, religion, region, rural/urban, employed/unemployed/precariously employed, immigrant/indigenous, low/mid/high earners) to create division among those that in left terms have many commonalities and reasons for uniting.
The Occupy movement has attempted to sweep that tendency away with its one take classification of society into 1 or 99%ers.
Re The Rena and agree wth your comments William Joyce. Maritme NZ are the first responders and should be financed to prepare for the various scenarios and should also develop links with local NZ resources both public and private so that they knew who was out there who could help, instead of ignoring viable offers. In an emergency, mobilising local resources is also something politicians can assist with, if they can be bothered, and clearly NACT can’t be.
On another tack altogether, if we can put a tracking beacon on a penguin, is this done to the containers so that if/when they go overboard they can be located? Not necessarily easy among moving container stacks but there was that fine weather.
Wow Redbaron! Tracking beacon? What a great idea! Indeed why haven’t they?
But I suppose there would have to be a Cabinet Meeting some time in the future and Key would say we have done all that we could, and wasn’t the penguin great and maybe next time, and anyway why didn’t Labour think of it when they were in office? Eh? Ha ha!?
Oh great, so instead of making sure there’s no long term issues with the land freed up, like the high ground water level in Marshlands, or transport system issues the presently cause gridlock every weekday rush hour on main routes into the city from the west and north and ye olde environmental issues, instead Czar Brownlee is over-ruling the Environment Court completely and trying to saturate the market with well over 5 times the number of damaged houses. Perhaps a smarter idea would have been to build a research group to focus purely on what was needed, works in the longterm and fits in with the rest of the rebuild with CERA backing to fast track packets of land for housing, commercial and industrial + all the needed social and economic infrastructure?
Instead of potentially creating a mess of future problems by rubber stamping away…
And I so look forward to potentially loosing all the cheap market gardens and fruit orchards north of me :/
Indeed. What goes around…… Appalling examples of Freedom of speech only for those good Arab folk, not Americans.
Connect this with Bomber Bradbury perhaps? (Good column on Brian Edwards Media.)
Brilliant video. Although we didn’t really need any further confirmation that Obama is every bit the empty vessel we suspected during that insulting “Hope and Change” campaign three years ago and Hillary Clinton is just as callous a liar as her husband.
Whats up with Chris Trotter. He seems to be overwhelemd with his own verbosity. Yesterday he seemed to think that John Kesy was blessed with good luck when all he ever really had was a good wigmaker and now its loose. (old jazz joke). Even the Dompost put him down for being a harbinger of bad luck today. they are not always right but on this one they are.
“I think there has been a shift post-earthquake to lifestyle, particularly in the north of Christchurch where they see themselves as being away from what they may call `earthquake zone’, where there is a perception that it’s more stable land and that’s certainly influencing buyers.”
lolwut?
There’s a complex set of fault systems in North Canterbury that generated all those lovely rolling hills and so it’s definitely not “stable” in all but small human time scales, with multiple, rather visible, surface fault traces if you know what to look for.
I have just finished watching an inspirational interview with ex President Jimmy Carter on BBC. The intellect, the vision, the humour… all at 87.
If it is repeated somewhere, don’t miss it.
And isn’t it great where the subject of the interview tells his story rather than being constantly interrupted by the egocentric interviewer, NZ style.
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Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio is pleased to announce the inaugural launch of Kiribati Language Week as part of the 2020 Pacific language Weeks programme. “I am so pleased that this year we are able to provide resourcing support to the Kiribati community in Aotearoa which will ...
Wildlife institutions affected by a loss of visitor revenue during the COVID-19 lockdown are set to receive government support with nearly $15 million of funding available announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “Eco-sanctuaries, zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks, and wildlife rescue, hospital and rehabilitation facilities provide crucial support for the recovery ...
The Government is expanding and accelerating frontline mental health and wellbeing services at tertiary education institutes (TEI) to help students manage ongoing stresses related to COVID-19. “The lockdown has been hugely disruptive for students. Many of them have had to relocate and move to online learning, isolating them from their ...
The Minister of Police says a major operation against the Mongrel Mob in Waikato will make a big dent in drug harm and violent offending linked to organised crime networks. “Senior leadership of the Waikato Mongrel Mob has been taken out as a result of Operation Kingsville, which resulted in ...
The Government is extending the border exception criteria to enable some offshore victims and support people of the Christchurch mosque attacks to attend the sentencing of the accused beginning on 24 August2020, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “We want to support our valued Muslim brothers and sisters who were directly ...
A project to support volunteer efforts to look after streams and rivers is getting a boost thanks to support from DOC’s Community Conservation Fund announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “The government is backing efforts to look after waterways with $199,400 for the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust from ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today announced that funding for the COVID-19 Community Fund for women and girls will be doubled, as the first successful funding applications for the initial $1million were revealed. “Women and girls across the country have suffered because of the effects of COVID-19, and I ...
The Government’s books were better than forecast with a higher GST take as the economy got moving again after lockdown, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Crown Accounts for the 11 months to the end of May indicate the year end results for tax revenue will be stronger than forecast. ...
A plan to revitalise New Zealand’s strong wool sector and set it on a new, more sustainable and profitable path was unveiled today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The newly-released report - Vision and Action for New Zealand’s Wool Sector - was developed by the Wool Industry Project Action Group ...
Community efforts to create a Predator Free Whangārei will receive a $6 million boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The new funding, through Government company Predator Free 2050 Ltd, will create around 12 jobs while enabling the complete removal of possums over ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced that the New Zealand Government is reviewing the settings of its relationship with Hong Kong. “China’s decision to pass a new national security law for Hong Kong has fundamentally changed the environment for international engagement there,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand remains deeply ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced details of a multimillion-dollar investment in Whangārei for infrastructure projects that will help it recover from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 jobs are expected to be created through the $26 million investment from the Government’s rejuvenation package ...
Following a second incident in which a person escaped from a managed isolation facility, security is being enhanced, including more police presence onsite, Minister Megan Woods said. “The actions of some individuals who choose to break the very clear rules to stay within the facilities means that more resourcing is ...
Waste reduction and recycling programmes in Kaipara are set to get a boost with Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today announcing a $361,447 grant from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) Sustainable Kaipara. “The new funding will allow Sustainable Kaipara to partner with local schools, kura, community ...
The Government will support the Southland economy in the wake of multinational mining company Rio Tinto’s decision to follow through with its long signalled closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. “This day has unfortunately been on the cards for some time now, but nevertheless the final decision is a ...
New tools being developed to help boost Aotearoa’s Predator Free 2050 effort were unveiled today by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. A new rat poison, a camera with predator recognition software to detect and report predators, a new predator lure and a ...
The Coalition Government has approved the purchase of a fleet of Bushmaster vehicles to replace the New Zealand Army’s armoured Pinzgauers, Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced today. The new fleet of 43 Australian-designed and built Bushmaster NZ5.5 will provide better protection for personnel and improved carrying capacity. “The age ...
The Government’s three prevention frameworks to reduce family violence in Aotearoa were launched this week by Associate Minister for Social Development Poto Williams. The frameworks were developed in partnership with communities around New Zealand, and build on the work the Government has already begun with its new family violence prevention ...
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...
• New funding for four beds at Napier’s Springhill Residential Addiction Centre • A new managed withdrawal home and community service, and peer support before and after residential care at Tairāwhiti DHB • A co-ordinated network of withdrawal management services throughout the South Island • Peer support in Rotorua and ...
Introduction, seafarers and POAL Good morning everyone, I am delighted to be online with you all today. Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that COVID-19 has disrupted the maritime sector on an unprecedented scale. The work of seafarers and the maritime industry is keeping many economies around the world ...
A $13 million investment from Government will create jobs and improve the resilience of the rail connection between Christchurch and the West Coast, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones and Regional Economic Development Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau say. The funding comes from the tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure projects ...
The Government is investing $761 million to assist local government upgrade under-pressure water services across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The announcement was made at the site of the water bore that was found to be the source of the fatal ...
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The time-limited visa changes are: Stranded RSE workers will be able to work part-time (a minimum of 15 hours ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
The Government has released a major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland’s freight operations while deferring any decision on the issue. “That decision needs to be informed by policy analysis that is still to be completed. As a result it will be up to a ...
The history of Rāpaki is being restored through the inclusion of te reo in thirteen official place names on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula and around Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō, the Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage, announced today. “I am pleased to approve the proposals from Te Hapū o Ngāti ...
Bookings for seats on Air New Zealand flights into New Zealand will be managed in the short term to ensure the Government is able to safely place New Zealanders arriving home into a managed isolation or quarantine facility, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. “Last week Air Commodore Darryn Webb and I ...
Grant Robertson has today announced the first major release of funding from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020. “Today we’re setting out how $80 million will be invested, with $54 million of that over the 2020/2021 financial year for organisations from community level through to elite ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $1.5 million to ensure QE Health in Rotorua can proceed with its world class health service and save 75 existing jobs, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF funding announced today is in addition to the $8 million ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
The Professional Hunting Guides Association is welcoming the High Court decision on DoC’s controversial tahr campaign. The High Court in Wellington was asked on Wednesday by the Tahr Foundation for a judicial review of DoC’s plan to kill thousands ...
With the 2020 general election nearly three months away, a new campaign is asking voters to vote in line with the future. Vote Climate 2020 aims to highlight the opportunity to build momentum behind climate change, ensuring climate justice is a key election ...
“ACT will target the gangs by hitting them where it hurts – their pockets,” according to ACT Leader David Seymour and Firearms Spokesperson Nicole McKee. “New Zealanders deserve to be safe and secure, but violent gangs are a scourge on our ...
Waffles don’t need to be sweet – these cheese and onion numbers make an excellent savoury breakfast with an egg, or an equally tasty dinner with leftover mince.It’s easy to default to sweet breakfasts without thinking. At least that’s the case in our household, as porridge or bircher muesli is ...
The government is revitalising the wool sector, splashing out on freshwater restoration projects, relieving student stress and showing kindness to Muslims by extending the border exception criteria. It is also increasing its support (in announcements from two separate Green Party Ministers) for women and for wildlife institutions. And it is ...
People have called it for it be pulled from the service, but the escapist fantasy of 365 Days is nothing new, writes Alie Benge.To every generation, a bullish alpha-male psychopath is born, and is for someone reason considered a romantic hero. We’ve been through a lot this year, and instead ...
As Aucklanders reluctantly adjust to the inconvenient practice of water conservation, a drought-savvy Northlander shares the tips and temperament needed to get through the dry times.Auckland’s water shortage was recently reported on The Project, and viewers were earnestly exhorted to fill their dishwashers completely before turning them on. My husband ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk A request by the Philippines’ biggest radio and TV network for a new franchise has been rejected by a congressional committee in a vote that will go down in history as a flagrant violation of the country’s constitution, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The Paris-based media ...
Hamish Walker's privacy leak debacle dominated the news this week, but it's not the first time a southern MP has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, writes Daisy Hudson. ...
Let’s not allow the focus on big-budget infrastructure projects to detract from the vital role public transport will play in revitalising our cities in a post-Covid world, says Greg Pollock.The recent match between the Blues and the Hurricanes was one of the world’s first major post-lockdown sporting fixtures. It was ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
In the heart of Christchurch is a Designated Character high school. What makes it unique? And should there be more like it? Frank Film visits Hagley College Paddy Grant was a 27-year-old truck driver when he rocked up to Christchurch’s Hagley High School, as it was then known. It was ...
"After he calms down we share the pie and talk about how hard the years since the show have been for him": a short story by Wellington writer Jordan Hamel. Every morning it’s the same. Cling wrap on the toilet seat, a pop up snake in my can of breakfast ...
Childcare centre closures have left families and staff out in the cold. In some cases, they were given just three days’ notice, Laura Walters reports Staff and families of Auckland’s Discoveries Educare branches feel blindsided by the sudden closure of the early childhood education centres. The Ministry of Education has ...
Controversy and the America's Cup go hand-in-hand and the latest edition is no different with Emirates Team New Zealand at the centre of financial mismanagement allegations. Extra Time unpicks the debate and ponders what does the latest Cup drama mean? And should we care? A study has revealed racial bias ...
Over the decades, Mike Fox has witnessed the housing market progressively tilt towards larger, more expensive homes. Without a major overhaul of the current regulatory processes, he says, things will never change.It’s one of the biggest problems our country faces – we cannot produce the affordable housing that’s so desperately ...
So-called dirty deals have been roundly denounced over the years. Hayden Donnell argues that they need to be normalised, and even embraced, in September’s election.Just before the 2011 general election, Patrick Gower was confronted with a political act so stomach-churning, it forced him to abandon his trademark reserve. John Key ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Victoria has recorded 288 new COVID-19 cases since yesterday, the largest daily increase we’ve seen so far. This big jump must have the Victorian government and health authorities very concerned, especially since nearly ...
The controversial 101 East episode Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown on 3 July 2020. Video: Al JazeeraPacific Media Watch Newsdesk Malaysian police summoned six Al Jazeera media workers today for questioning relating to an investigation for defamation and violation of Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA), reports IFJ Asia-Pacific. ...
Analysis - A National MP destroys his career, the government explains how someone with Covid-19 could walk around a supermarket and the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is announced. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abrar Ahmad Chughtai, Epidemiologist, UNSW Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly today recommended people in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire wear masks when leaving the house: […] If people have symptoms and they need to go for a test, for example, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rochelle Wynne, Director, Western Sydney Nursing & Midwifery Research Centre, Western Sydney University Over the past week, we’ve seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 infections among health-care workers in Victoria. This includes a doctor at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, one ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paddy Nixon and Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including the return to lockdown in Victoria, National Cabinet setting to slow the flow of Australian’s ...
We prefer our heroes untarnished. And few match the heroism of Winston Churchill. But a recent report in the Times reminds us of the inevitability of human frailty and the consequences of keeping it under wraps.During the second world war, Britain’s greatest single loss of life at sea was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ou Yang, Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Donald Trump has ordered US federal agencies to bypass environmental protection laws and fast-track pipeline, highway and other infrastructure projects. Signing the executive order last month, the US president declared regulatory delays would hinder “our ...
SAFE CEO Debra Ashton says "The NZDIA has done the right thing, and we’re glad to see Bertram has been held to account over his actions. He should take this as an opportunity to right his wrongs and show that he takes animal welfare seriously." ...
Takuta Ferris, Te Tai Tonga candidate for the Māori Party, is urging government to place whānau first in the wake of announcements around Tiwai Point. “The declaration that one of the region's major employers the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is closing ...
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. This month, we’re joined by The Spinoff’s managing editor, mall rat and self-confessed food philistine Duncan Greive.On this month’s Dietary Requirements, the gang’s back in the studio, and ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart 1: United States and Australia rising. Chart by Keith Rankin. These charts look at Covid19 incidence in China (the most important first-wave country, with a limited second wave), Italy (the lead second-wave country), and USA and Australia (second-wave countries – drawing their caseload from Europe ...
The Government must listen to the Muslim community to rectify its failure to act in the past, says the Human Rights Commission. The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ) submission to the Royal Commission of Inquiry was released this week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, President, Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics. Senior Research Fellow, Moral philosophy, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Law Futures Centre., Griffith University Earlier this week, 150 high-profile authors, commentators and scholars signed an open letter in Harper’s magazine ...
You can’t keep a good woman down and Helen Clark is no exception. Her new appointment, as co-chair of a review of how the World Health Organisation handled the coronavirus pandemic, will test her formidable political skills. Sitting with her is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Liberian president, who handled the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Connor, Lecturer, James Cook University While many people may enjoy a game of backyard cricket, only a few go on to become elite professional batsmen in Australia. Cricket batting is example of what human skills can achieve. The fastest bowling delivery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Baumgartner, Professor of Fisheries and River Management, Institute for Land, Water, and Society, Charles Sturt University This article is a preview of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native ...
CEAC review of pre-election National’s “outline plan” just sent to us by Todd Muller 9/7/20 was actually his speech about his plan and was described as ‘an outline’. So in our review of National Party response to A Greener, Smarter Future; climate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Podger, Honorary Professor of Public Policy, Australian National University In Hidden Hand, China scholars Clive Hamilton and Marieke Ohlberg examine the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in Europe and North America in a similar way to how Hamilton dissected the CCP’s influence ...
“I can see why people are fed up, many are wondering how to clothe and feed their kids, or how they are going to pay their rent next week and still others are wondering what has happened to our beautiful Kiwi Way of Life. Well no party in parliament ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Sixty press freedom groups and civil society organisations, journalism institutions, filmmakers, and other supporters have formed a coalition in support of Maria Ressa and independent media in the Philippines, united around the call to #HoldTheLine. Today the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Center for ...
National MP Michael Woodhouse also received Covid-19 patient emails from Michelle Boag, and deleted them when he realised she was implicated in a separate email scandal. National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also ...
The government is extending border exceptions to allow overseas victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks and their support people to attend the shooter's sentencing. ...
Ever wanted to be Iron Man? Sam Brooks prefers Pepper Potts, but he had a great time stepping into the iron suit anyway.The first few moments of Iron Man VR are where it plays its hand, confidently and assuredly. You hold your palms out in front of you, and Iron ...
SAP has released to the public a policy paper, “Helping Kiwis get back to work: How data and technology can drive a bigger, better, faster economic recovery.” ...
A new poem by Jordan Hamel.Mermaids When you lose grip and start to drift.The first thing you’re supposed to do issteer into it or steer away? Not all mermaids are royaltysomeone needs to audit the oceanprovide cashflow projectionssome mermaids are actuallymiddle-aged accountants named Stephendreaming of a land-view holiday home. I saw a ...
Want to work for The Spinoff? We’re looking for someone to fill an exciting new role based in our Auckland office. We’re looking for a video and podcast content manager: an experienced writer or sub-editor with a strong understanding of social media to manage our video and podcast content across various channels. ...
National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also received four unsolicited emails. ...
By RNZ News Opposition National list MP Dr Jian Yang has announced his retirement from New Zealand politics and says he will not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. He said politics was “demanding” and he wanted to spend more time with his ...
Bayer-Monsanto's June 24 announcement of a US$10.9 billion pay out (1) to people who have been harmed by Glyphosate, is effectively an admission of guilt. Spokesperson for The People’s Inquiry 2020 Asha Andersen says, “The Ministry of Health, The ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has filed a complaint with the Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office over Lawrence Yule’s new taxpayer funded billboards promoting Mr Yule as the ‘Voice in Tukituki’. Union spokesman, Louis Houlbrooke ...
Ten points, two plans. Which points are whose? With an election within spitting distance, Aotearoa’s two biggest political parties are all about the plans. “You don’t have a plan!” says one party to the other. “Yes we have a plan, or certainly a plan to have a plan, or a plan ...
Four months after he announced his re-selection, a National Party MP whose links to Chinese spy agencies attracted the interest of New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service has announced he will not stand in the next election A three-term National Party MP who studied at an elite Chinese spy school before moving to ...
National list MP Dr Jian Yang announced his retirement from politics and said he would not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. ...
A new political party, the New Zealand TEA Party, with headquarters in Auckland, has been established. The party aims to contest the queen- or kingmaker position to form a coalition with the largest parliamentary party as part of the general elections ...
A review has determined fish oils are non-hazardous and no longer require oversight by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). We regulate pesticides, household chemicals and other dangerous goods and substances under the Hazardous Substances ...
New Conservative calls on the government to join with our Five Eyes allies and add New Zealand's signature to a joint statement condemning the continued removal of freedoms in Hong Kong. New Conservative also calls on the government to give safe-haven ...
Latest from the Beehive – Hard on the heels of the government promising help for the Southland economy in the wake of Rio Tinto’s decision to close the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, it was announcing the delivery of more money to the North, at the other end of the country. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luciano Beheregaray, Professor in Biodiversity Genomics, Flinders University As the global climate shifts, it’s important to know which species have adaptations to survive. Our research published today in PNAS found it largely depends on where they evolved. We looked at the capacity ...
From eggplant emojis and twerking llamas to sweaty anthropomorphic butts, we present some of the most fascinating, hilarious and outrageous complaints dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from 2019 to now.Avocadon’t (January 2019)The ad: In this ad from Specsavers, a man gets ready to join a cricket match, but ...
They might sound like the same thing, but light rail is quite different from light metro – the system that transport minister Phil Twyford now favours for Auckland. Katy Wakefield and Jessica Rose of Women in Urbanism explain why the metro option is a poor substitute for LRT. Transport is ...
Why isn't the Government spending $30m to extend Tiwai Point's 2,600 jobs until after the Covid-19 recession, after Manapouri's power can be transmitted elsewhere, and after there's a hydrogen plan for the smelter site, Bernard Hickey asks. The sense of shock and foreboding about the future was clear in Invercargill Mayor ...
An intensive care doctor is outraged health officials are giving helicopter rescue trusts a daily list of Covid-19 patients, saying it's completely unnecessary. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Seth Lazar, Professor, Australian National University In the US, tireless opposition to state use of facial recognition algorithms has recently won some victories. Some progressive cities have banned some uses of the technology. Threetechcompanies have pulled facial recognition products from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia Facial recognition technology is increasingly being trialled and deployed around Australia. Queensland and Western Australia are reportedly already using real-time facial recognition through CCTV cameras. 7-Eleven Australia is also ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By SriPallavi Nadimpalli, PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne Women manage many overlapping responsibilities in both public and private spheres. Their busy routines leave them with just a little time to take a break or a pause in their activity. These pauses are a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naoise McDonagh, Lecturer in Political Economy, University of Adelaide The pandemic has changed the way we think about supply chains, in particular the chains that feed our need for food, medical supplies, and defence equipment. It has led Prime Minister Scott Morrison ...
Open mike 15/10/2011 
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Oh dear,
This is from our mainstream media Deliberate course set Rena to reef. A sudden deliberate change of course. 33 kph, near top speed to ram it up on the reef.
5 days without intervention, not even the most basic “let’s float some booms around possible leaks” and a massive corexit (8X more toxic than the actual oil dump) on what was a small oil spill at the time.
And the crew flown out of the country “to protect them?”
What is going on here? Here is an interesting 9 minute video explaining the shock doctrine.
John Key’s psychopathy shone through when he made the slash movement and now this?
15 October 2011 at 7:23 am
Oh dear,
Do you think the #bryceedwardsconspiracy might be behind it all?
Kia-ora Travellerev
Apparently, Astrolabe is used as a ‘short-cut’ by many container vessels heading towards Tauranga Port. A forbidden course but one never challenged by authorities. There are rumours currently floating about that Astrolabe is an impediment to the dredging of the harbour floor to allow bigger vessels into the port, and generally as an impediment to the growth of Port business.
If the reef has been significantly compromised by the Rena than the environmental arguments for its ongoing protection as a marine paradise is also significantly compromised.
Sounds like a good reason to damage the reef to me!
The whole reason for the transmitting of transponder codes and positions is so that shore authorities know where the ship is. The authorities, who should have been watching, would have been able to pick up the course change, map it onto their own charts, tell that the ship was now headed for a reef and tell the ship to change course. Obviously, this didn’t happen.
Again, this comes down to government not doing enough to ensure the protection of our marine environment.
Or a government needing a pristine reef out of the way for expansion and diversion.
Good morning. Great to see the Herald articles challenging the pathetic, negligent initial response to the MV Rena disaster… Paul Holmes, John Armstrong and I particularly John Roughan’s take,
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10759123
as it calls to account the total lack of leadership quality from National’s top politicians. Swift action at the time not explanations and excuses afterwards….shame on you Key, Joyce etc…
The one good thing that may come out of this tragedy is National’s demise.
The simpering Armstrong’s piece needs the common two scans, for it is actually a swingeing defence of ShonKey as per usual with slaps at Labour and Greens. Holmsie can’t resist a swipe at Labour on the way through either. Roughan’s is not bad though.
That these three consistently rat bag journos have given the Nats any stick at all shows what major mismanagement has occured over the Rena disaster.
Also worth a read is today’s editoral titled “Key’s second-hand S&P tattle is not good enough”.
Pleased to see that this serious issue has not been completely consigned to oblivion in the wake of the Rena disaster.
{Note to self: must read the instructions of how to include a link and learn how to do this.]
Then the Herald gets the award for most misleading desperate headline – Key proves popular in Papamoa (actually he gets heckled and grilled by 300 locals)…
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/10472770/key-proves-popular-in-papamoa/
Let us hope this is one situation that can’t be sanitised by misleading PR and headlines! Too much in the public eye and hearts? Wonder how the local papers will report it all.
From domPost
Rena course ‘deliberate’
That could read Key Govt course ‘deliberate’
Gaynor in the Hearld
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/personal-finance/news/article.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=10759132
The National Government is enormously popular, partly because Prime Minister John Key and Finance Minister Bill English are willing to throw money at almost every problem.
The latest $18.4 billion deficit represents 9.2 per cent of gross national product – one of the worst amongst the 30 OECD member countries.
The individual tax take has declined from $27.5 billion in the June 2008 year to $23.1 billion in the latest year.
This is mainly because of the Government’s tax cuts last year.
Corporate tax is down from $10.1 billion to $7.3 billion, but GST revenue has risen from $11.1 billion to $13 billion over the same period.
The Gaynor article is well worth a read.
The moneyshot quote from the usually dry and measured Gaynor has to be:
That’s because the RWNJs always predict the positive effect through ideology rather than reality.
Stuff and Yahoo website photos of the Rena this morning all feature the Donkey front and centre. Several of them are presented to look like he is running the show.
As an FYI for the Rena discussion this morning, and for those who didn’t catch Joyce on Campbell Live last night, we have another example of failure in ministerial responsibility
An interesting article on how the current world financial crisis differs from that of the 1930s.
They may be a few people in the world who know why the economics went bad. I doubt if a single one of them is an “economist”. If any economist actually knew then it wouldn’t have happened again.
Well, he got that bit right.
There’s something wrong with having culture?
Like all commenter’s he misses the obvious: Deficit spending is the actual problem with the finance industry. What actually needs to happen is that all people, including countries, who can’t pay back their loans to declare themselves bankrupt and to state, in no unequivocal terms, that the loans will not be paid back. This will destroy a lot of interest bearing debt (that probably didn’t exist before it got printed by the banks) and allow those people and states to start again. Recapitalisation won’t allow that. In fact, recapitalisation only point seems to be to prevent a few people from losing some money rather than to get the “economy” moving again.
Of course, with Peak Everything here, the financial economy is screwed anyway. Already there isn’t enough “value” left in the real economy to pay the monetary debt never mind the usury the capitalists are demanding.
I think my main criticism was that he thinks bank-nationalisation and government control of credit is the “worst” that could happen, currently. A greater danger would seem to be that when debt repudiation starts to become commonplace (i.e. beyond Iceland), wars of conquest will be launched to offset the losses of state-owned creditor banks.
No comments on Goff wearing shiny shoes and a suit while he is supposedly helping locals to dig out the oil.
Nice photo op for him.
He didn’t come prepared to shovel oil but people on the beach suggested that he shovel some. What was he going to do? Say fuck off, you’re on your own?
Unlike someone else we could both name, it didn’t involve engineering a photo op. There was no tax-payer funded unnecessary helicopter trip involved.
Perhaps if John Key spent less time attending photo-ops, glad-handing the rich and famous (and only listening to what people tell him is going on in his government) and more time in the office ensuring that his ministers were doing their jobs then perhaps we would have a more efficient government, marine compensation legislation would not be shuffled down the list and he would ensure ministers like Joyce would be making sure Maritime NZ was doing its job and not building holiday highway think-big projects and campaigning to to get his boss elected.
Scientific American: The “Last Place Aversion” Paradox
If ever Americans were up for a bit of class warfare, now would seem to be the time. The current financial downturn has led to a $700 billion tax-payer-financed bank bailout and an unemployment rate stuck stubbornly above nine percent. Onto this scene has stepped the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, which seeks to bring together a disparate group of protesters united in their belief that the current income distribution is unfair. “The one thing we all have in common is that We are the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%,” says their website. In an era of bank bailouts and rising poverty – and where recent data show that the top 1 percent control as much as 35 percent of the total wealth in America – it would appear that the timing of this movement to reconsider the allocation of wealth could not be more perfect.
Or, maybe not
heh – a wee detail overlooked is that in a world of diminishing returns… standards of living falling in tandem with resource depletion etc…that ‘last place’ might reasonably be concieved as being ahead of the curve 🙂
Interesting! Debatable however, as the first comment shows…
Nick Smith on The Nation this morning tried very hard to make it look like the government did all that it could from day one of the Rena grounding.
Again, he (and his other Nat pollies) are trying to confuse the issues of the initial response (which is of necessity home-grown, using NZ stores and resources according to advanced planning on a wide range of scenarios) and the work of the salvors which will involve international expertise, the salvors appointed by the owners.
Between the grounding and the work of the salvors and the international experts lies the gap in which New Zealand is on its own and should, MUST, e prepared in every possible way.
That responsibility rests with Maritime NZ. Events and prepared reports that have come to light show that they were not prepared.
It is not good enough for the Gvt to say that there was a problem with the pipes and getting oil off a vessel that is only designed to have oil go on. That is not a new issue! Any person worth their salt would know that in the event of a leaking ship (at sea or in port) would need to have some way of unloading any oil remaining in the ship (broken pipes or not).
That means, we scope the issues, research equipment and techniques on the market, design and build our own if they are not available and we store them. It is inexcusable that and agency charged with the initial response was not better prepared. None of the excuses presented by the government were unforeseeable nor insurmountable with proper planning and provisioning nor was the state of the wreck such that they could not enact a pre-prepared plan.
To say that we do not, nor could we be expected have, the expertise resident in NZ and so we had/have to wait until they arrive is again an attempt for National to confuse in the public mind the initial response and the stage when the salvors arrive. As a principle, we have people being trained every day in first response issues that may be either outside their usual job (eg. an office worker trained in first aid or as a fire warden for their floor of the building) to experts who go overseas or attend courses so they are prepared for a disaster.
All over this country we have full-time or volunteer fire officers who prepare for types of fires, spills etc they may never see in their life time. If the expertise is not local to the fire station then the Fire Service builds that capacity, knowledge and training on a regional or national basis and they practice all sorts of scenarios.
To follow the reasoning of Nick Smith et al what if the emergency initial response people at Auckland airport only prepared for a fire in the terminal? or Only prepared for a runway crash and ignored that they were almost surrounded by water?
NZ is surround by water, we have vessels coming and going, we know the types of fuel they have.
The government is wrong, is lying to us, trying to confuse us and is covering their own political future. We need to not be confused by their obfuscation techniques and as NZdrs who love their country we should stick the issue that “we” (really, the people we paid and trusted to protect us) were not prepared and that will cost us in an environmental cost and hit us again in the pocket!
For every dollar it ultimately costs us to clean this up a worker has to trade time and energy to provide that dollar in taxes. National would rather pay for a $5 plan, leave it to invisible market forces, and irrational belief that business will be responsible and take the risk that it will never have to spend $105 – then tell the poor schmucks who have to pay for it that it was unavoidable, they know better, we are irrational and the lock us out of our beaches!
Well said William!
Now that is one very, very interesting read Joe.
I wonder how long this has been known to the PR/Marketing psychologists who design right-wing spin and propaganda?
Well it has long been known to union organisers that some workers exhibit exactly this type of ‘ranking’ behaviour.
The right has historically used all manner of perceived differences (e.g. race, religion, region, rural/urban, employed/unemployed/precariously employed, immigrant/indigenous, low/mid/high earners) to create division among those that in left terms have many commonalities and reasons for uniting.
The Occupy movement has attempted to sweep that tendency away with its one take classification of society into 1 or 99%ers.
National’s Election Hoardings 2
It is 10-20 per cent less toxic than dishwashing liquid and the ingredients that make up the dispersant are in most shampoos…
Re The Rena and agree wth your comments William Joyce. Maritme NZ are the first responders and should be financed to prepare for the various scenarios and should also develop links with local NZ resources both public and private so that they knew who was out there who could help, instead of ignoring viable offers. In an emergency, mobilising local resources is also something politicians can assist with, if they can be bothered, and clearly NACT can’t be.
On another tack altogether, if we can put a tracking beacon on a penguin, is this done to the containers so that if/when they go overboard they can be located? Not necessarily easy among moving container stacks but there was that fine weather.
Wow Redbaron! Tracking beacon? What a great idea! Indeed why haven’t they?
But I suppose there would have to be a Cabinet Meeting some time in the future and Key would say we have done all that we could, and wasn’t the penguin great and maybe next time, and anyway why didn’t Labour think of it when they were in office? Eh? Ha ha!?
Salsy
I did not see you at John Keys Papamoa meeting. Perhaps you are confused ?
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/push-45-000-new-homes-in-christchurch-4465581
Oh great, so instead of making sure there’s no long term issues with the land freed up, like the high ground water level in Marshlands, or transport system issues the presently cause gridlock every weekday rush hour on main routes into the city from the west and north and ye olde environmental issues, instead Czar Brownlee is over-ruling the Environment Court completely and trying to saturate the market with well over 5 times the number of damaged houses. Perhaps a smarter idea would have been to build a research group to focus purely on what was needed, works in the longterm and fits in with the rest of the rebuild with CERA backing to fast track packets of land for housing, commercial and industrial + all the needed social and economic infrastructure?
Instead of potentially creating a mess of future problems by rubber stamping away…
And I so look forward to potentially loosing all the cheap market gardens and fruit orchards north of me :/
unnamed bank econonist + simon powers new employer + currently pitching for goventments banking = westpac
“Hypocrisy has its own elegant symmetry”
Indeed. What goes around…… Appalling examples of Freedom of speech only for those good Arab folk, not Americans.
Connect this with Bomber Bradbury perhaps? (Good column on Brian Edwards Media.)
Brilliant video. Although we didn’t really need any further confirmation that Obama is every bit the empty vessel we suspected during that insulting “Hope and Change” campaign three years ago and Hillary Clinton is just as callous a liar as her husband.
Whats up with Chris Trotter. He seems to be overwhelemd with his own verbosity. Yesterday he seemed to think that John Kesy was blessed with good luck when all he ever really had was a good wigmaker and now its loose. (old jazz joke). Even the Dompost put him down for being a harbinger of bad luck today. they are not always right but on this one they are.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/rebuilding-christchurch/5788637/Red-zoners-rush-to-buy-lifestyle-blocks
lolwut?
There’s a complex set of fault systems in North Canterbury that generated all those lovely rolling hills and so it’s definitely not “stable” in all but small human time scales, with multiple, rather visible, surface fault traces if you know what to look for.
Isnt that where they plaing to frack?
Looks like a reasonable size crowd as the Occupy Aotea Square begins in Auckland:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Thousands-turn-out-for-Occupy-Queen-Street/tabid/423/articleID/229641/Default.aspx
http://wa1.www.3news.co.nz/Portals/0-Articles/229641/occupy-queen-street-600.jpg?width=300;pv5b15bd9ee6bc68e2
I have just finished watching an inspirational interview with ex President Jimmy Carter on BBC. The intellect, the vision, the humour… all at 87.
If it is repeated somewhere, don’t miss it.
And isn’t it great where the subject of the interview tells his story rather than being constantly interrupted by the egocentric interviewer, NZ style.
Carol
Aotea Square – sure you can count ? – thousands – where did you get that figures from.
Cloca
Carol 20 commet in the second line.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Thousands-turn-out-for-Occupy-Queen-Street/tabid/423/articleID/229641/Default.aspx