An average of 0.5 degrees above the norm is huge. (They don’t explicitly state it, but I’m assuming they are centigrade measurements).
Will governments change their commitments? No. They aren’t capable. They’re institutionally locked in to what they do – promote and protect ‘the market’; seek a market solution to a non-market phenomenon. Risible really.
New Zealand news at its most cringe-worthy.
After weeks off the radar, the European refugee crisis hits the news in the Herlad again.
Why?
Because its travel writer was on a luxury cruise on the Mediterranean and bumped into them.
Our MSM’s standard of news is just so bad.
The ink is barely dry on the TPP and New Zealand has the prospect of another giant free trade deal in the offing with the European Union taking the first steps towards an FTA with New Zealand.
It was announced early this morning that the EU Commission will seek to negotiate separate FTAs with both New Zealand and Australia as part of its trade strategy for the next four years.
The caveat is that talks will take in account “EU agricultural sensitivities.”‘
Looks like an interesting talk.
But is Jim Mora the right person to be MCing a debate on dumbing down the media?
Maybe this was intended irony.
‘Is the media being dumbed down, and what alternatives can online media offer audiences? What’s happening with quality journalism? Where’s it all heading and what are the implicatons for ordinary New Zealanders? Does it actually matter?
Radio New Zealand and Massey University are hosting a discussion about the future of journalism and the shape of the media today.
Auckland Art Gallery
What: The Shape of the Media
Where: Auckland Art Gallery Auditorium
When: 6:30 – 8pm, Friday 23 October 2015
Your MC for the evening will be Jim Mora, who along with Professor Graeme Turner – one of the leading figures in cultural and media studies in Australia and internationally – and a panel of locals, will debate the quality and value of the media.’
About 50,000 New Zealanders have hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that causes inflammation of the liver.
Long term about 10% of people with Hepatitis C will die of complications including cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer. Most people with the disease suffer a long term chronic fatigue and carry with them an ever present fear of infecting close contacts.
Until recently, treatment was difficult – but now everything has changed.
Working with researchers around the world, including New Zealand’s Dr Ed Gane, a US pharmaceutical company called Pharmasset developed a tablet medication called Sofosbuvir which provides a high cure rate with far fewer side effects than everything previously used to treat hepatitis C .
We are now close to being able to think about eradicating hepatitis C entirely, in the same way that we eradicated smallpox and have nearly eradicated polio.
In November 2011, Pharmasset was acquired by Gilead for $11 billion. Since then, Gilead have made over $22 billion marketing Sofosbuvir under its brand name ‘Sovaldi’.
Gilead is asking $1,000 per tablet, around $84,000 per patient.
That means it would cost $4,200,000,000 to cure nearly everyone in NZ who has hepatitis C – and we all know that is not going to happen.
There is an alternative. Manufacturers in places like China and India who do not recognize patents, are producing these drugs at around 1/50th of Gilead’s price – that’s around $2,000 per treatment.
For that price, New Zealand could cure nearly all of its 50,000 or so hep C sufferers for around $100 mil instead of $4,200 mil.
Think about that for a moment – it means that for the money that John Key spent on the flag – so far, we could have cured 1 in 4 of New Zealand’s hep C sufferers – already.
This tells us what the TPPA is going to cost us. We will pay more, much more for medical treatment and very few of us will be treated. And perhaps worst of all, our aspirations for a better life for all of us through science will be ruthlessly choked back.
If you, or anyone you know has hep C, then you should check out the FixHepC Buyers Club which is helping people access the medication that they need to clear hep C and testing it, for less than $3,000 Aus.
“It’s possible and in fact highly probably that patents will run for a little bit longer and that means the Government will have to pay for the original drug as opposed to the generic for a little bit longer,” Key said on Tuesday as he headed into National’s mid-morning caucus meeting.
Tracey I’ve explained the difference between data exclusivity and patents from a pharmaceutical point of view previously. I’ll try to link back to previous comment latter today.
would you also be able to explain the motivation for the industry’s desire for extended data protection IF it has no impact on financial return? a return derived almost exclusively from publicly funded purchases? Oh and a brief discourse on “evergreening’ wouldnt go amiss either.
“The extra costs to PHARMAC under the TPP are a nothing. Your comment regarding business was usual for access to biologics has more to do with PHARMACs operating policies and procedures and the way they manage their budget than any trade agreement and will continue to do so.”
“There was extended – and quite informative – discussion”
From the very limited perspective I was discussing, I had three concerns:
1. A trade deal should improve access and that is not happening with the TPP. I don’t like that we’ve traded away improved access to biologics now for primary produce exports in the future. It’s cetainly not a ‘free’ trade deal.
2. The cost of administration and a possible delay in the availability of generics has to be met, even if it isn’t much in overall health system spending. I worry (not expect) health funding – who knows for what – will be affected by an increased (at best, no reduction in) cost of Pharmac doing business. Specifically that it may be met through reduced, rather than improved access to biologics for people with auto-immune diseases. The effect may not be much in health system terms, but in personal terms it is huge.
3. I don’t agree that three biologics, as NZ has, for treating inflammatory arthritis is sufficient given the variable nature of the disease. This has bugger all to do with superiority of one drug over another and much to do with how a patient responds to the biologic they’re given.
As an aside – maybe if social and wider government costs were taken into account in Pharmac decision criteria there would be a bit more money available for these very expensive drugs.
I may have led you slightly astray Miravox, apparently we have rituximab and tociluzimab available and funded in NZ for appropriate patients as well..so five agents not three.
I also completely agree with your comment regarding pHARMAC’s decision criteria which is not just an issue in this area of medicine.
I still think you misunderstand the effect of the trade deal on the availability of medicines which are more influenced by the PHARMAC ‘ops’ and budget in the first place, patent law in the second place and whether the companies in question actually registering the medicine in NZ.
define “very small”….esp. in terms of a health budget already under extreme pressure?
the subsequent discussion which highlighted purchases practices of Pharmac reinforces the role price plays on availability of treatments to NZ health practitioners…so yes we can keep to minor costs to Pharmac…but at what cost in terms of treatment options?…and if we ignore the likely legal challenges and chilling effect as demonstrated by Australias experience post FTA.
I dunno. Less than the cost of bribing Saudi princes? Less than the cost of passing legislative favours to the National Party’s owners? Less than the costs of having a massively incompetent bunch of self-interested troughers leveraging their time as MPs to build lucrative business careers (h/t Blabbermouth Lusk)…
Data exclusivity in its most basic interpretation is the protection of clinical test/trial data (safety and efficacy) required to be submitted to a regulatory agency and prevention of generic drug manufacturers from relying on this data in their own applications.
In NZ this is 5 years at present and moving to 8 years for biologics under this agreement.
To take the discussions on the Hep C drug discussed above (Yes it is outrageously priced in the regulated jurisdictions) the first major patent on this medicine which will be the substance patent expires in the middle of the 2020s, however the data exclusivity will have expired from a NZ perspective 5 years from the date it was registered by Medsafe – 2014.
Patent products the product, the process of producing it etc and applies to anyone copying that in toto for the period of the patent (which can be renewed) and data exclusivity relates to testing regimes as opposed to the creation.manufacturing processes of the drug itself?
If yes, thanks for the clarification. If no. Help.
Not quite, data exclusivity relates to the data generated from the testing.
When the medicine is registered by the regulator in a country like NZ they look at the manufacturing data regarding process, good manufacturing practices, sterility etc etc as well as the actual data from trials in animals and humans looking at safety and efficacy.
When a company producing a generic copy of the medicine wants to get registration and supply the medicine they only have to supply the manufacturing data.
Don’t you think it is misleading to put this statement into your intro?
“Key said on Tuesday as he headed into National’s mid-morning caucus meeting.”
I, and probably most other people, read that as meaning Tuesday 13 October but when I looked at the link I discover it was about three months ago. Many things have changed since them haven’t they, and as NSD points out the longer period of patents, and hence increased prices, will not apply to these drugs.
Obviously Tim Groser did good work on holding the drug patents to existing times.
Are you saying you don’t think the IP provisions under the TPP would leave Pharmac (and our Govt) open to being sued by a company from a TPP country for buy a drug in breach of patent law?
Pharmac don’t buy drugs in breach of patent law. If they do, I,m assuming they and the company breaching the patent could be sued as of now anyway. You would know the law better than me I expect.
Individuals can purchase offshore and import for personal use to avoid these issues and medsafe rarely gets involved – need a reputable offshore supply obviously.
Understood, for clarity I was referring tot his part
“There is an alternative. Manufacturers in places like China and India who do not recognize patents, are producing these drugs at around 1/50th of Gilead’s price – that’s around $2,000 per treatment.”
People do need to be careful of sourcing overseas and from countries avoiding patents. There is a double-edged sword in here regarding drug efficacy.
For a so called Doctor Doh! Join the dots between USA high medicine for profit and TPP regulations on patents. Even Mr Liar Key has had to concede that medicine will cost more with TPP.
and there within is the problem savenz…northshore doc is that….not a patent attorney working for the most litigious industry in the world…even with the entire text of the patent provisions the overwhelming majority will not be able to foretell the potential for big pharma to protect their position….but one thing is for certain they are not seeking to reduce their return and they have had partial success….IT WILL COST THE TAXPAYER MORE.
Whether you think its justified to protect that data is a whole other argument, but it is disingenuous in the extreme (or perhaps naive) to hold that it is not going to have a financial cost.
Nope patent law in NZ remains unchanged – data exclusivity for biologic meds, which this is not, may be extended from 5 to 8 years.
I can join the dots because I understand the meaning of the word “not”. Do you?
The “logic” around here is along the lines of “The TPP is bad, so everything bad that I can think of must be in the TPP”. It makes it very difficult to discuss the real issues, and in doing so, undermines informed protest.
“There is an alternative. Manufacturers in places like China and India who do not recognize patents, are producing these drugs at around 1/50th of Gilead’s price – that’s around $2,000 per treatment.”
…. and doesn’t that just show that the TTPA is NOT actually about free trade the neo-libs are supposedly so fond of ….. and competition …. all those capitalist ideals.
I wonder where Simon Upton stands on this.
It seems to me we let ideology get in the way of practical concerns, and its a bloody lazy (and anti-intellectual) approach that’ll guarantee us some serious social problems in the very near future.
The pro-TTPA protectionists should try nursing a liver cancer sufferer till they pass on and watch their body eat itself up (much like an AIDS sufferer).
Of course they are. they might not find India as much of a push over as they suspect.
Corruption and a host of other problems aside, sovereignty and the way other nations treat their citizenry are liable to become big issues in any negotiations.
In a funny sort of way, perhaps thats because they understand (i.e. live with and respect) diversity, and all that comes with it. That’s something the ‘ism’ of the neoliberal doesn’t understand.
I imagine there’ll be a bloody big shit fight.
You can make a tablet for $1 after you’ve figured out what the tablet needs to have in it. You can’t do the figuring out part, which is the actual work involved, for $1 per tablet, which is why the company that did the actual work involved doesn’t charge $1 per tablet. It’s also why pharmaceutical companies don’t want people who didn’t spend the time, effort and money figuring out what the tablet needs to have in it, selling the tablets for $1. It’s not a difficult concept to grasp.
Gilead, the company asking us to pay $1,000 a tablet is not the company that did ‘actual work involved in figuring out what to put in the tablet.
The company that ‘figured out what what the tablet needs to have in it’ was Pharmasset. They did that figuring out with help from people like Prof Ed Gane, whose research is funded by us, the people of New Zealand.
In November 2011, Pharmasset was acquired by Gilead for $11 billion. Since then, Gilead have made over $22 billion marketing Sofosbuvir under its brand name ‘Sovaldi’.
Gilead is the company that is using the monopoly power that a patent gives it to market a tablet that costs $1 to manufacture for $1,000.
Gilead didn’t pay directly for the work involved in figuring out what the tablet had to have in it, but they sure as shit paid for it. If they paid $11 bil for Pharmasset, that’s effectively $11 bil for Pharmasset’s work in figuring out what tablets need to have in them. It’s lucky we have publicly-funded researchers like Ed Gane contributing to that figuring out, because otherwise it would have been an extra unknown $X bil on top for Pharmasset and that would be going directly on to the price of the tablets. Thanks to the public research contribution, Gilead has only the $1 manufacturing cost of the tablet, plus their operating costs, plus $11 billion to recover. If they’re gouging on top of that, sure it merits a complaint – but saying they could sell the tablets for $1 is ridiculous.
The $11 billion has already been recouped, so it’s manufacture plus operating costs plus prift for shareholders. We don’t know how far above $1/pill the latter is.
I’m also wondering if the developed world is subsidising the lesser profit in places like India which are getting the pills cheaper.
Anyone like to comment on why Labour has caved in so pathetically on the TPPA?
Is there a joint letter/ petition that could be sent to Shearer, Goff, Nash and King asking that they either come out in opposition to the TPP or they’ll be booted out next election?
Anyone like to comment on why Labour has caved in so pathetically on the TPPA?
Maybe they’ve come around to the same conclusion as Helen?
It has some pro’s and con’s, and it ain’t the greatest deal, but overall we are better in than out?
It is just a pity they at first they came out strongly opposing the TPPA and said they want nothing to do with it. Then Little does a complete turnaround and shows everyone that he is not a leaders arse. I know National will not want to see Little kicked out as leader as with him there, the election in 2017 is a sure win for them. Labour need to get a leader that is going to take a stand and enforce Labours policies and if National adopt one of their policies, they must not then turn around and call it bad just because National are doing it. As was mentioned on this site yesterday, Labour are in disarray and need to regroup fast if they want to avoid another humiliating defeat.
Opposing something you disagree with is fine, opposing something merely because the government is doing it is dumb
Labour needs to stop acting like a dog chasing every single car that goes past hoping to get some traction and concentrate on the issues that they really don’t agree with
National bad hasn’t worked for the last 7 years so its not going to suddenly start working now
Well ok fair enough but I guess what I mean is at the moment Labour seems to have a negative opinion and every single thing National put out and it makes Labour look negative for the sake of being negative
A better idea for them would be to ignore some of the small issues and focus on the big issues instead of trying to spread themselves so thin
After 7 years in Opposition they should not have to be told this shit.
Plus, they aren’t going to get into government in 2017 unless they start looking and acting like an alternative government. That means common media positions with Greens and NZFirst.
I see no poll shift starting that gets the current lot out until 2020. That’s a lot to play for.
Actually I think most supporters believe the opposite to Puckish Rogue that the Labour party’s problem is that it is NOT chasing National’s bad decisions at all, merely passively supporting them by a lack of effective action or a half baked measure like changing surveillance to 24 hrs without a warrant instead of 48 hours without a warrant. The idea of privacy and lack of accountability seems to have escaped them.
Likewise agreeing with the Nats to keep TPP (if that is what he said and since there have been zero retractions from Labour that I can see we have to assume that is his intent) but flout the rules, which is plain stupid especially when you put forward a late half baked opposition to TPP but then appear too lazy to pull out later if someone actually voted you in.
That is why their ex supporters are angry and upset. Labour Fucked up yet again!
National is a comprehensive moral, economic and intellectual failure.
Labour could do a lot worse than promise to imprison all of them and audit everything they’ve done. Gerry would certainly have a lot of explaining to do – and I imagine Stephen Joyce’s media adventures are very far from the scrupulous standards required of real governments.
There may be lower and dirtier lifeforms than Gnats, in the unplumbed abysses off the Marianas Trench or the chthonic depths of the Krubera Caves, but they are by far the worst things that have ever sullied the light of day in NZ.
The reflex damning of Gnats is if anything an under-reaction.
IF that was the case then why not make that your publicly stated position and defend it….why prevaricate with “bottom lines” that are nothing more than scotch mist?
Using occams razor I’d suggest that Labour thought the TPPA deal was going to be really bad, thanks to all the doom and gloom spouted by all the “experts” (Jane Kelsey) and so they gambled and hoped it would make them look like a government
However they severly underestimated John Key (again) and he played Labour like a violin (remember all the talk about Pharmac?) and so now because the deal isn’t nearly as bad as anyone thought Labour have to start the dead rat swallowing…again
As I wrote in a previous comment, the models in use that ‘predict’ likely consequences are all over the show. On the TTIP, the one used by the governments had ridiculous assumptions built in and still only showed a marginal up-side.
When the same data was thrown through the UN Policy Model – a model that holds up quite well in real world scenarios apparently – everything was on the down side.
Labour share of gdp – down.
Government tax take – down
gdp – down.
Employment – down.
Financial instability – up.
The only winners were the corporates who get increased profit from that drop in labour’s share of gdp and who also get enhanced access to, among other things, formerly public service provision.
I don’t know what model was used to give a scenario for the TPPA. I have looked. I certainly haven’t seen any mention of the UN Policy Model.
We won’t know until everyone can lay their eyes on the detail. At the moment we have selective releases of information and selective figures and so far only a discussion of financial good or bad. People and society are more than just the financial implications of something.
Cleared out my mobile cookies, so posting again so it remembers me.
While I’m at it – Lynn the mobile theme is self-defeating. If you scroll to the bottom of the screen there’s a button to select whether you want the mobile site or the desktop one. But when you scroll down, it also stats loading new pays, which them pushes the mobile / desktop buttons out of view. It took me 4 attempts before I was able to successful press on the desktop link before it ran away from me.
Can the desktop option be placed at the top please as the device determines which theme it gets so often it switches back to mobile theme and is hard to get back to the more readable desktop theme.
Infinite scroll on the front page is a pain for that. I usually change using a page from the menu drop down or a short post.
My development time for TS this year has been severely constrained by colds, new jobs, and my parents getting fragile. All of which cut into the evening, weekend and holiday time required. But that is one that i should have done long ago. I brought a full license for the toolkit at the start of the year to do that and other tasks.
A while back I called into Kelvin Davis’ electoral office in Kaitaia. The lady fronting the office was approachable, informed, intelligent and respectful. She gave me useful answers to my inquiries and provided me with contact details of a couple of folk who might give further info.
With electoral staff like that….
This was shortly after Kelvin had done the walk against domestic violence.
And…he DID walk, with a small support crew. We saw them a couple of times on our peregrinations in the Far North.
Sadly….his electoral office has a thick glass or perspex security screen to protect staff from attack. There has been incidents.
Some folk just can’t see when they have something of real value available to them.
…”Pfizer and other pharmaceutical giants source antibiotics from dirty, dangerous factories in China.
These factories dump raw antibiotic waste straight into the environment.
That creates a perfect breeding ground for antibiotic resistant “superbugs” — which spread globally.
These superbugs have been called a “catastrophic threat” to public health, and could kill millions.
Months of behind-the-scenes digging into big pharma’s secretive operations has revealed these links for the first time. Pfizer and others are putting their profits ahead of our health, by buying cheap antibiotics from dangerous factories with a string of serious environmental and safety violations…
Overprescription of antibiotics and widespread use in factory farms are two of the known culprits behind antibiotic resistance. But pollution generated by the massive antibiotics production industry is an overlooked hidden killer. By dumping antibiotic waste into the environment, these factories create huge breeding grounds for superbugs. Concentrations of antibiotics in polluted waterways can be as high as in the bloodstream of someone on a full strength dose of antibiotics. And these are the factories that Pfizer, McKesson, Teva and other Western pharma giants are buying from.
…”This isn’t just a problem for China or for Pfizer customers. Modern air travel and trade mean that the rapid spread of infectious diseases is the new reality. Infectious superbugs that thrive in the waste dumped by these polluting factories in China quickly find their way into the bodies of children, adults and the elderly around the world, with fatal consequences.
The reason this happens is simple — Pfizer and other big pharmaceutical corporations make more money by relying on cheap, mass-produced antibiotics without strong environmental and safety procedures in place. And until now, no one has known. If we can change that, by generating a global outcry, we can get big pharma to stop buying from these dangerous factories.”…
Chooky
Thanks for that heads up. On top of Salvoj Zizer noting that there is eugenics thinking going on there, It is time that they started to come out of their materialistic nation-strutting phase of being big and better, and come into their philosophical stage of being respectful of people, ethical, wise, fair and responsible. There have to be some large nations that can hold to these tenets with more than devious lip-service.
I woke up this morning about 5am to get ready for work & on Stuff.co.nz was an article & headline on the frontpage “John Key supports euthanasia bill”, I just had a look online a few minutes ago & now it’s gone, curious.
The Curia or Curious polling must have come in and its now safe for the leader to say something. Conservative nz will think he’s a hero while the people who have dedicated their lives to get this on the radar get forgotten for now.
Imagine what a competent progressive government could have achieved with the $105 billion Bill English has pissed away like the ketone laden residue of an after match function.
“We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace–business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.
We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me–and I welcome their hatred.”
I think we will only get a leader of that kind when a groundswell of grass roots opposition produces one. At the moment we still expect managerial politics to make the sort of waves that can only be made with the backing of forceful political movements. Even Corbyn, with the People’s Assembly behind him, now treads a precarious path among a well networked mob with highly placed allies, media contacts, favours to call in, etc, etc.
FDR’s backbone was stiffened and his hand strengthened by massively popular socialist, communist and union movements of the day. Sit down strikes and worker riots.
Annette King is “excellent in the role – loyal, experienced, sensible in public statements, liked and respected by friend and foe, a safe pair of hands. ”
….but Jacinda Ardern is ” young, presentable and appears to have a popular following.”
Which is kinda what National has done, only in reverse.
Global inequality is growing, with half the world’s wealth now in the hands of just 1% of the population, according to a new report.
Under the purely competitive free-market paradigm then everyone would have an almost identical income and it would be a subsistence living (until we ran out of resources at which point most would simply die).
This growing inequality that we see is proof that we don’t have such a paradigm and that the paradigm that we do have is tilted in favour of the very few.
“Another theory is that megastructures have been placed in orbit, perhaps solar collectors catching energy from the star. Such hypothetical structures are known as Dyson swarms or spheres.
The weird star was the only one of 150,000 stars watched over four years to behave the way it does.
Kepler was looking for tiny dips in the amount of light emitted by the stars. The dips can be shadows cast by orbiting planets. Normally, they happen regularly and for a few days at most.
But the light from KIC 8462852, 1480 light years away, darkens at irregular intervals by as much as 20 per cent and can stay dark for up to 80 days.”
Well,I would have thought that the star passing through an interstellar dust cloud wouldn’t have the same behaviour, because the dust cloud wouldn’t be that dense. Hmmm. Unless the interstellar cloud was beginning to gather around a planet or something. So a mix of cloud and planet.
“Police in Israel are moving to quell a WAVE of Palestinian attacks…”
Did someone from the Israeli consulate write that for Warwick Burke to read out?
Radio NZ National, Thursday 15 October 2015
That nasty piece of hysterical distortion was intoned, as ominously as possible, by veteran newsreader Warwick Burke halfway through the 4 p.m. news. I’m sure that whoever wrote that crap for him was consciously stirring up that image of feral untermenschen descending as “a wave” on the poor citizens of Jerusalem, but surely only the most brutally committed, ideologically blind, ignorant-beyond-all-hope zealot would actually believe it.
The idea that the Palestinians are inflicting terror on Israelis is, of course, the exact inversion of the truth…..
That’s a very lazy “analysis”, tinfoilhat. You sound just like the late Garth George.
The violence in the Occupied West Bank is almost entirely one-way. Pretending there is a “cycle” of violence only minimizes what the IDF and the fanatical, heavily armed illegal “settlers” do every day.
The robots are hard at it, recycling the same crap…
“Coming up after the break: A new WAVE of attacks sees Israel RAMP up security!”
—-Simon Dallow, Television One news, 6:15 p.m., Thursday 15.10.15
The orgy of ignorance continues….
After the break, Wendy “Fist Pumper” Petrie tells her viewers of the “worrying upsurge” in violence, “as Israel tries to stop a WAVE of violence!”
She cuts to a simply outrageous report by an MSNBC churnalist, who notes in apparent high seriousness: “This deadly escalation has also seen PALESTINIAN victims… The fear is that this is not part of the REGULAR CYCLE OF VIOLENCE….”
They also get kinda mad when people occupy their country and bomb them, looking for terrorists that didn’t exist in that country until the above behaviour.
Gabby, I know you’re being light-hearted, and yes it’s okay to make jokes, even about the occupation—but let’s bear in mind that the Palestinians suffer extreme mob violence every day, year after year, and have suffered that violence since the illegal occupation of the West Bank began in 1967.
That this violence is systematically ignored by the Israeli police and the media does not make it any less real.
radionz is increasingly a political disinformation mouthpiece for the right wing:
…..only this morning on Morning Report did they have on a USA commentator who argued at length that Hillary Clinton won the debate against with Bernie Sanders ( link not put up…wonder why?)
…and the other day Catherine Ryan had on a Jewish commentator who concluded at length that the Syrian problems were all about Russia and how bad it is and how bad Putin is…all the bad things he has done in other areas
…no mention of Israel’s claims to the Golan Heights …a large part of which belongs to Syria…and the other part is under Israel control…a trophy after one of their wars…and is contested by the UN
…no doubt Israel would like ALL of the Golan Heights….so why was USA stirring up trouble in Syria again?….and against the democratically elected Assad? ( nothing said unsurprisingly)
He was young and dumb, and couldn’t resist temptation. As smart as he is, even Assange never came to grips with how depraved, dishonest and desperate the British and U.S. elite actually are.
“The damage caused by shrapnel to the aircraft involved in flight MH17 could not have been caused by a modern Russian BUK missile, the manufacturers of the weapon Almaz-Antey have stated….
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Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
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Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
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The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
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I wonder………will information like this change our government’s commitment to do something about climate change?
Global heat records tumble again as El Nino boosts September warmth
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/73030055/global-heat-records-tumble-again-as-el-nino-boosts-september-warmth
An average of 0.5 degrees above the norm is huge. (They don’t explicitly state it, but I’m assuming they are centigrade measurements).
Will governments change their commitments? No. They aren’t capable. They’re institutionally locked in to what they do – promote and protect ‘the market’; seek a market solution to a non-market phenomenon. Risible really.
New Zealand news at its most cringe-worthy.
After weeks off the radar, the European refugee crisis hits the news in the Herlad again.
Why?
Because its travel writer was on a luxury cruise on the Mediterranean and bumped into them.
Our MSM’s standard of news is just so bad.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11529301
Another deal that is NOT a free trade deal.
‘NZ – EU FTA takes giant step
The ink is barely dry on the TPP and New Zealand has the prospect of another giant free trade deal in the offing with the European Union taking the first steps towards an FTA with New Zealand.
It was announced early this morning that the EU Commission will seek to negotiate separate FTAs with both New Zealand and Australia as part of its trade strategy for the next four years.
The caveat is that talks will take in account “EU agricultural sensitivities.”‘
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11529418
Looks like an interesting talk.
But is Jim Mora the right person to be MCing a debate on dumbing down the media?
Maybe this was intended irony.
‘Is the media being dumbed down, and what alternatives can online media offer audiences? What’s happening with quality journalism? Where’s it all heading and what are the implicatons for ordinary New Zealanders? Does it actually matter?
Radio New Zealand and Massey University are hosting a discussion about the future of journalism and the shape of the media today.
Auckland Art Gallery
What: The Shape of the Media
Where: Auckland Art Gallery Auditorium
When: 6:30 – 8pm, Friday 23 October 2015
Your MC for the evening will be Jim Mora, who along with Professor Graeme Turner – one of the leading figures in cultural and media studies in Australia and internationally – and a panel of locals, will debate the quality and value of the media.’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/about/events
The Fix Hep C Buyers Club
About 50,000 New Zealanders have hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that causes inflammation of the liver.
Long term about 10% of people with Hepatitis C will die of complications including cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer. Most people with the disease suffer a long term chronic fatigue and carry with them an ever present fear of infecting close contacts.
Until recently, treatment was difficult – but now everything has changed.
Working with researchers around the world, including New Zealand’s Dr Ed Gane, a US pharmaceutical company called Pharmasset developed a tablet medication called Sofosbuvir which provides a high cure rate with far fewer side effects than everything previously used to treat hepatitis C .
We are now close to being able to think about eradicating hepatitis C entirely, in the same way that we eradicated smallpox and have nearly eradicated polio.
In November 2011, Pharmasset was acquired by Gilead for $11 billion. Since then, Gilead have made over $22 billion marketing Sofosbuvir under its brand name ‘Sovaldi’.
Gilead is asking $1,000 per tablet, around $84,000 per patient.
That means it would cost $4,200,000,000 to cure nearly everyone in NZ who has hepatitis C – and we all know that is not going to happen.
There is an alternative. Manufacturers in places like China and India who do not recognize patents, are producing these drugs at around 1/50th of Gilead’s price – that’s around $2,000 per treatment.
For that price, New Zealand could cure nearly all of its 50,000 or so hep C sufferers for around $100 mil instead of $4,200 mil.
Think about that for a moment – it means that for the money that John Key spent on the flag – so far, we could have cured 1 in 4 of New Zealand’s hep C sufferers – already.
This tells us what the TPPA is going to cost us. We will pay more, much more for medical treatment and very few of us will be treated. And perhaps worst of all, our aspirations for a better life for all of us through science will be ruthlessly choked back.
If you, or anyone you know has hep C, then you should check out the FixHepC Buyers Club which is helping people access the medication that they need to clear hep C and testing it, for less than $3,000 Aus.
http://fixhepc.com/getting-treated.html
Here’s a Sydney Morning Herald article about the Fix Hep C Buyers Club
Good on them but under our new regime the imperial masters should be suing them into oblivion any day now
Don’t see what this has got to do with the tppa at all.
For those with an interest Pharmac is currently working on this area.
This is what it has to do with TPPA:
“It’s possible and in fact highly probably that patents will run for a little bit longer and that means the Government will have to pay for the original drug as opposed to the generic for a little bit longer,” Key said on Tuesday as he headed into National’s mid-morning caucus meeting.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/70605894/john-key-says-nzs-drug-bill-set-to-rise-under-tpp-but-patients-protected
Northshoredoc in denial about the TPP.
No, NSD prefers to debate issues using facts rather than ill-informed rhetoric.
Knowing how Pharmac works is not shilling for the man.
Nope patent law in NZ remains unchanged – data exclusivity for biologic meds, which this is not, may be extended from 5 to 8 years.
BUT won’t that be one law that needs to be changed to accommodate the TPP agreement IF its provisions on patent protection are different?
Tracey I’ve explained the difference between data exclusivity and patents from a pharmaceutical point of view previously. I’ll try to link back to previous comment latter today.
would you also be able to explain the motivation for the industry’s desire for extended data protection IF it has no impact on financial return? a return derived almost exclusively from publicly funded purchases? Oh and a brief discourse on “evergreening’ wouldnt go amiss either.
Who said it would have no impact on financial return? I appreciate you think NSD did. He didn’t.
“The extra costs to PHARMAC under the TPP are a nothing. Your comment regarding business was usual for access to biologics has more to do with PHARMACs operating policies and procedures and the way they manage their budget than any trade agreement and will continue to do so.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-06102015/#comment-1079772
So in fact NSD said “a nothing” – ie: very small. There was extended – and quite informative – discussion with Miravox.
“There was extended – and quite informative – discussion”
From the very limited perspective I was discussing, I had three concerns:
1. A trade deal should improve access and that is not happening with the TPP. I don’t like that we’ve traded away improved access to biologics now for primary produce exports in the future. It’s cetainly not a ‘free’ trade deal.
2. The cost of administration and a possible delay in the availability of generics has to be met, even if it isn’t much in overall health system spending. I worry (not expect) health funding – who knows for what – will be affected by an increased (at best, no reduction in) cost of Pharmac doing business. Specifically that it may be met through reduced, rather than improved access to biologics for people with auto-immune diseases. The effect may not be much in health system terms, but in personal terms it is huge.
3. I don’t agree that three biologics, as NZ has, for treating inflammatory arthritis is sufficient given the variable nature of the disease. This has bugger all to do with superiority of one drug over another and much to do with how a patient responds to the biologic they’re given.
As an aside – maybe if social and wider government costs were taken into account in Pharmac decision criteria there would be a bit more money available for these very expensive drugs.
I may have led you slightly astray Miravox, apparently we have rituximab and tociluzimab available and funded in NZ for appropriate patients as well..so five agents not three.
I also completely agree with your comment regarding pHARMAC’s decision criteria which is not just an issue in this area of medicine.
I still think you misunderstand the effect of the trade deal on the availability of medicines which are more influenced by the PHARMAC ‘ops’ and budget in the first place, patent law in the second place and whether the companies in question actually registering the medicine in NZ.
define “very small”….esp. in terms of a health budget already under extreme pressure?
the subsequent discussion which highlighted purchases practices of Pharmac reinforces the role price plays on availability of treatments to NZ health practitioners…so yes we can keep to minor costs to Pharmac…but at what cost in terms of treatment options?…and if we ignore the likely legal challenges and chilling effect as demonstrated by Australias experience post FTA.
I dunno. Less than the cost of bribing Saudi princes? Less than the cost of passing legislative favours to the National Party’s owners? Less than the costs of having a massively incompetent bunch of self-interested troughers leveraging their time as MPs to build lucrative business careers (h/t Blabbermouth Lusk)…
Thanks Doc, much appreciated. Not trying to dis you just trying to understand
Hi Tracey
Data exclusivity in its most basic interpretation is the protection of clinical test/trial data (safety and efficacy) required to be submitted to a regulatory agency and prevention of generic drug manufacturers from relying on this data in their own applications.
In NZ this is 5 years at present and moving to 8 years for biologics under this agreement.
To take the discussions on the Hep C drug discussed above (Yes it is outrageously priced in the regulated jurisdictions) the first major patent on this medicine which will be the substance patent expires in the middle of the 2020s, however the data exclusivity will have expired from a NZ perspective 5 years from the date it was registered by Medsafe – 2014.
Bear with me
Patent products the product, the process of producing it etc and applies to anyone copying that in toto for the period of the patent (which can be renewed) and data exclusivity relates to testing regimes as opposed to the creation.manufacturing processes of the drug itself?
If yes, thanks for the clarification. If no. Help.
Not quite, data exclusivity relates to the data generated from the testing.
When the medicine is registered by the regulator in a country like NZ they look at the manufacturing data regarding process, good manufacturing practices, sterility etc etc as well as the actual data from trials in animals and humans looking at safety and efficacy.
When a company producing a generic copy of the medicine wants to get registration and supply the medicine they only have to supply the manufacturing data.
8 years is better than what the drug companies wanted – they get 12 years of data protection in the US.
Don’t you think it is misleading to put this statement into your intro?
“Key said on Tuesday as he headed into National’s mid-morning caucus meeting.”
I, and probably most other people, read that as meaning Tuesday 13 October but when I looked at the link I discover it was about three months ago. Many things have changed since them haven’t they, and as NSD points out the longer period of patents, and hence increased prices, will not apply to these drugs.
Obviously Tim Groser did good work on holding the drug patents to existing times.
Are you saying you don’t think the IP provisions under the TPP would leave Pharmac (and our Govt) open to being sued by a company from a TPP country for buy a drug in breach of patent law?
Pharmac don’t buy drugs in breach of patent law. If they do, I,m assuming they and the company breaching the patent could be sued as of now anyway. You would know the law better than me I expect.
Individuals can purchase offshore and import for personal use to avoid these issues and medsafe rarely gets involved – need a reputable offshore supply obviously.
Understood, for clarity I was referring tot his part
“There is an alternative. Manufacturers in places like China and India who do not recognize patents, are producing these drugs at around 1/50th of Gilead’s price – that’s around $2,000 per treatment.”
People do need to be careful of sourcing overseas and from countries avoiding patents. There is a double-edged sword in here regarding drug efficacy.
The FixHepC Buyers Club doesn’t buy drugs, it tests them.
http://fixhepc.com/blog/item/16-testing-provisions-patient-safety.html
http://fixhepc.com/getting-treated/supply-chain-integrity.html
For a so called Doctor Doh! Join the dots between USA high medicine for profit and TPP regulations on patents. Even Mr Liar Key has had to concede that medicine will cost more with TPP.
and there within is the problem savenz…northshore doc is that….not a patent attorney working for the most litigious industry in the world…even with the entire text of the patent provisions the overwhelming majority will not be able to foretell the potential for big pharma to protect their position….but one thing is for certain they are not seeking to reduce their return and they have had partial success….IT WILL COST THE TAXPAYER MORE.
Whether you think its justified to protect that data is a whole other argument, but it is disingenuous in the extreme (or perhaps naive) to hold that it is not going to have a financial cost.
Nope patent law in NZ remains unchanged – data exclusivity for biologic meds, which this is not, may be extended from 5 to 8 years.
I can join the dots because I understand the meaning of the word “not”. Do you?
The “logic” around here is along the lines of “The TPP is bad, so everything bad that I can think of must be in the TPP”. It makes it very difficult to discuss the real issues, and in doing so, undermines informed protest.
Own goal.
Oops – here’s the Sydney Morning Herald link:
‘Dallas buyers club’ site for hepatitis C drug inundated with inquiries http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/fixhepc-the-buyers-club-for-hepatitis-c-drug-inundated-with-inquiries-20151002-gjzud9.html via @smh
“There is an alternative. Manufacturers in places like China and India who do not recognize patents, are producing these drugs at around 1/50th of Gilead’s price – that’s around $2,000 per treatment.”
…. and doesn’t that just show that the TTPA is NOT actually about free trade the neo-libs are supposedly so fond of ….. and competition …. all those capitalist ideals.
I wonder where Simon Upton stands on this.
It seems to me we let ideology get in the way of practical concerns, and its a bloody lazy (and anti-intellectual) approach that’ll guarantee us some serious social problems in the very near future.
The pro-TTPA protectionists should try nursing a liver cancer sufferer till they pass on and watch their body eat itself up (much like an AIDS sufferer).
China and India are the primary targets for future ‘trade agreements’
Of course they are. they might not find India as much of a push over as they suspect.
Corruption and a host of other problems aside, sovereignty and the way other nations treat their citizenry are liable to become big issues in any negotiations.
In a funny sort of way, perhaps thats because they understand (i.e. live with and respect) diversity, and all that comes with it. That’s something the ‘ism’ of the neoliberal doesn’t understand.
I imagine there’ll be a bloody big shit fight.
“”It’s not OK that you can make a $1 tablet and market it for $1000. That’s obscene,”
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/big-pharmaceuticals-and-the-hepatitis-c-drug-trail-dubbed-a-miracle-cure-20150924-gjtupf.html#ixzz3oZVCempS
Hands up all those who still think Big Pharma are in it for the good of human kind.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention Huggin.
There are these little wars going on, largely under the radar, that deserve much higher profiles.
You can make a tablet for $1 after you’ve figured out what the tablet needs to have in it. You can’t do the figuring out part, which is the actual work involved, for $1 per tablet, which is why the company that did the actual work involved doesn’t charge $1 per tablet. It’s also why pharmaceutical companies don’t want people who didn’t spend the time, effort and money figuring out what the tablet needs to have in it, selling the tablets for $1. It’s not a difficult concept to grasp.
Gilead, the company asking us to pay $1,000 a tablet is not the company that did ‘actual work involved in figuring out what to put in the tablet.
The company that ‘figured out what what the tablet needs to have in it’ was Pharmasset. They did that figuring out with help from people like Prof Ed Gane, whose research is funded by us, the people of New Zealand.
In November 2011, Pharmasset was acquired by Gilead for $11 billion. Since then, Gilead have made over $22 billion marketing Sofosbuvir under its brand name ‘Sovaldi’.
Gilead is the company that is using the monopoly power that a patent gives it to market a tablet that costs $1 to manufacture for $1,000.
Gilead didn’t pay directly for the work involved in figuring out what the tablet had to have in it, but they sure as shit paid for it. If they paid $11 bil for Pharmasset, that’s effectively $11 bil for Pharmasset’s work in figuring out what tablets need to have in them. It’s lucky we have publicly-funded researchers like Ed Gane contributing to that figuring out, because otherwise it would have been an extra unknown $X bil on top for Pharmasset and that would be going directly on to the price of the tablets. Thanks to the public research contribution, Gilead has only the $1 manufacturing cost of the tablet, plus their operating costs, plus $11 billion to recover. If they’re gouging on top of that, sure it merits a complaint – but saying they could sell the tablets for $1 is ridiculous.
The $11 billion has already been recouped, so it’s manufacture plus operating costs plus prift for shareholders. We don’t know how far above $1/pill the latter is.
I’m also wondering if the developed world is subsidising the lesser profit in places like India which are getting the pills cheaper.
The cost of manufacture for the last tablet is $1.
The parallel imported tablet costs around $10
Gilead’s tablet costs $1,000
Gilead has already recouped the $11 billion that it paid for Pharmasset.
That’s what capitalism does. It chokes back the life of the many so that a few can have much.
Anyone like to comment on why Labour has caved in so pathetically on the TPPA?
Is there a joint letter/ petition that could be sent to Shearer, Goff, Nash and King asking that they either come out in opposition to the TPP or they’ll be booted out next election?
Chris Trotter says it so clearly.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/14/flouting-the-rules-why-has-andrew-little-rejected-a-winning-tppa-strategy-for-a-guaranteed-loser/
Do you know if Labour have listed the Law changes they will NOT support which will be needed to enforce/enact the TPP
Anyone like to comment on why Labour has caved in so pathetically on the TPPA?
Maybe they’ve come around to the same conclusion as Helen?
It has some pro’s and con’s, and it ain’t the greatest deal, but overall we are better in than out?
It is just a pity they at first they came out strongly opposing the TPPA and said they want nothing to do with it. Then Little does a complete turnaround and shows everyone that he is not a leaders arse. I know National will not want to see Little kicked out as leader as with him there, the election in 2017 is a sure win for them. Labour need to get a leader that is going to take a stand and enforce Labours policies and if National adopt one of their policies, they must not then turn around and call it bad just because National are doing it. As was mentioned on this site yesterday, Labour are in disarray and need to regroup fast if they want to avoid another humiliating defeat.
I sure as hell won’t be donating to Labour leading to 2017 unless they can figure out how to be an Opposition and Oppose something.
With regard to Labour’s positioning, I think CV was more on the money with disdain and rage compared to Trotter’s perplexed surprise.
Opposing something you disagree with is fine, opposing something merely because the government is doing it is dumb
Labour needs to stop acting like a dog chasing every single car that goes past hoping to get some traction and concentrate on the issues that they really don’t agree with
National bad hasn’t worked for the last 7 years so its not going to suddenly start working now
Yeah nah. TPPA was the biggest story on the political landscape for months, and essentially Labour passed on it.
There’s stuff worth having a crack at. That was one of them.
Labour’s nuance ended up just looking like lack of political guts.
Well ok fair enough but I guess what I mean is at the moment Labour seems to have a negative opinion and every single thing National put out and it makes Labour look negative for the sake of being negative
A better idea for them would be to ignore some of the small issues and focus on the big issues instead of trying to spread themselves so thin
After 7 years in Opposition they should not have to be told this shit.
Plus, they aren’t going to get into government in 2017 unless they start looking and acting like an alternative government. That means common media positions with Greens and NZFirst.
I see no poll shift starting that gets the current lot out until 2020. That’s a lot to play for.
+1
You’ve forgotten 2002 to November 2008 aye PR. Cos negative clearly DOES work but it needs a decent and well financed machine along side it.
+1
Nah, National were wrong then as well…all they did was build Helen Clark into an almost mythological entity
Mind you a bouyant interantional economy certainly doesn’t hurt getting reelected either
Do you read what you write afterwards?
“Opposing something you disagree with is fine, opposing something merely because the government is doing it is dumb”
Which doesn’t explain
a. your support of this government on all it does (or most);
b. your failure to have voted once for Labour between 1999 and 2008
opposing something merely because the government is doing it
So when you’re making decisions you only ever consider the pros and pay no attention to the cons?
Yeah nah – opposing argument is essential to good decision making.
Actually I think most supporters believe the opposite to Puckish Rogue that the Labour party’s problem is that it is NOT chasing National’s bad decisions at all, merely passively supporting them by a lack of effective action or a half baked measure like changing surveillance to 24 hrs without a warrant instead of 48 hours without a warrant. The idea of privacy and lack of accountability seems to have escaped them.
Likewise agreeing with the Nats to keep TPP (if that is what he said and since there have been zero retractions from Labour that I can see we have to assume that is his intent) but flout the rules, which is plain stupid especially when you put forward a late half baked opposition to TPP but then appear too lazy to pull out later if someone actually voted you in.
That is why their ex supporters are angry and upset. Labour Fucked up yet again!
That’s why they are called Nat LIte, ged it?
National is a comprehensive moral, economic and intellectual failure.
Labour could do a lot worse than promise to imprison all of them and audit everything they’ve done. Gerry would certainly have a lot of explaining to do – and I imagine Stephen Joyce’s media adventures are very far from the scrupulous standards required of real governments.
There may be lower and dirtier lifeforms than Gnats, in the unplumbed abysses off the Marianas Trench or the chthonic depths of the Krubera Caves, but they are by far the worst things that have ever sullied the light of day in NZ.
The reflex damning of Gnats is if anything an under-reaction.
IF that was the case then why not make that your publicly stated position and defend it….why prevaricate with “bottom lines” that are nothing more than scotch mist?
Using occams razor I’d suggest that Labour thought the TPPA deal was going to be really bad, thanks to all the doom and gloom spouted by all the “experts” (Jane Kelsey) and so they gambled and hoped it would make them look like a government
However they severly underestimated John Key (again) and he played Labour like a violin (remember all the talk about Pharmac?) and so now because the deal isn’t nearly as bad as anyone thought Labour have to start the dead rat swallowing…again
given that TPP was initiated by Labour occams razor would suggest that their position was likely to be support and defend.
Thats true, kudos to Phil Goff and Helen Clark for their work on it
or shared blame…depending on your viewpoint.
Can’t see any positives at all.
As I wrote in a previous comment, the models in use that ‘predict’ likely consequences are all over the show. On the TTIP, the one used by the governments had ridiculous assumptions built in and still only showed a marginal up-side.
When the same data was thrown through the UN Policy Model – a model that holds up quite well in real world scenarios apparently – everything was on the down side.
Labour share of gdp – down.
Government tax take – down
gdp – down.
Employment – down.
Financial instability – up.
The only winners were the corporates who get increased profit from that drop in labour’s share of gdp and who also get enhanced access to, among other things, formerly public service provision.
I don’t know what model was used to give a scenario for the TPPA. I have looked. I certainly haven’t seen any mention of the UN Policy Model.
“but overall we are better in than out?”
We won’t know until everyone can lay their eyes on the detail. At the moment we have selective releases of information and selective figures and so far only a discussion of financial good or bad. People and society are more than just the financial implications of something.
Cleared out my mobile cookies, so posting again so it remembers me.
While I’m at it – Lynn the mobile theme is self-defeating. If you scroll to the bottom of the screen there’s a button to select whether you want the mobile site or the desktop one. But when you scroll down, it also stats loading new pays, which them pushes the mobile / desktop buttons out of view. It took me 4 attempts before I was able to successful press on the desktop link before it ran away from me.
Can the desktop option be placed at the top please as the device determines which theme it gets so often it switches back to mobile theme and is hard to get back to the more readable desktop theme.
Infinite scroll on the front page is a pain for that. I usually change using a page from the menu drop down or a short post.
My development time for TS this year has been severely constrained by colds, new jobs, and my parents getting fragile. All of which cut into the evening, weekend and holiday time required. But that is one that i should have done long ago. I brought a full license for the toolkit at the start of the year to do that and other tasks.
Got to give a shoutout to Kelvin Davis for flying over to Australia about the NZ citizens held in camps.
There’s a guy who knows how to make a good fist of a small portfolio.
Most other Labour spokespeople could learn a good lesson from him.
A while back I called into Kelvin Davis’ electoral office in Kaitaia. The lady fronting the office was approachable, informed, intelligent and respectful. She gave me useful answers to my inquiries and provided me with contact details of a couple of folk who might give further info.
With electoral staff like that….
This was shortly after Kelvin had done the walk against domestic violence.
And…he DID walk, with a small support crew. We saw them a couple of times on our peregrinations in the Far North.
Sadly….his electoral office has a thick glass or perspex security screen to protect staff from attack. There has been incidents.
Some folk just can’t see when they have something of real value available to them.
Thanks for the great feedback! Just to let you know I have changed that horrible Perspex security screen – it was too constricting!
You take care Chrissy, and keep up the good work!
The Western corporate BIG Pharmaceutical industry is contributing to the global rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs
‘Drug giant Pfizer buying antibiotics from dangerous factories’
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/corporatenews/storyoftheday/entryid/1822/drug-giant-pfizer-buying-antibiotics-from-dangerous-factories.aspx
…”Pfizer and other pharmaceutical giants source antibiotics from dirty, dangerous factories in China.
These factories dump raw antibiotic waste straight into the environment.
That creates a perfect breeding ground for antibiotic resistant “superbugs” — which spread globally.
These superbugs have been called a “catastrophic threat” to public health, and could kill millions.
Months of behind-the-scenes digging into big pharma’s secretive operations has revealed these links for the first time. Pfizer and others are putting their profits ahead of our health, by buying cheap antibiotics from dangerous factories with a string of serious environmental and safety violations…
Overprescription of antibiotics and widespread use in factory farms are two of the known culprits behind antibiotic resistance. But pollution generated by the massive antibiotics production industry is an overlooked hidden killer. By dumping antibiotic waste into the environment, these factories create huge breeding grounds for superbugs. Concentrations of antibiotics in polluted waterways can be as high as in the bloodstream of someone on a full strength dose of antibiotics. And these are the factories that Pfizer, McKesson, Teva and other Western pharma giants are buying from.
‘Corporate Death Factory’
http://paov.ca/mediamenu/alternative-news/4098-corporate-death-factory1434046503
…”This isn’t just a problem for China or for Pfizer customers. Modern air travel and trade mean that the rapid spread of infectious diseases is the new reality. Infectious superbugs that thrive in the waste dumped by these polluting factories in China quickly find their way into the bodies of children, adults and the elderly around the world, with fatal consequences.
The reason this happens is simple — Pfizer and other big pharmaceutical corporations make more money by relying on cheap, mass-produced antibiotics without strong environmental and safety procedures in place. And until now, no one has known. If we can change that, by generating a global outcry, we can get big pharma to stop buying from these dangerous factories.”…
Well that sucks. China needs the rule of law now more than ever.
Chooky
Thanks for that heads up. On top of Salvoj Zizer noting that there is eugenics thinking going on there, It is time that they started to come out of their materialistic nation-strutting phase of being big and better, and come into their philosophical stage of being respectful of people, ethical, wise, fair and responsible. There have to be some large nations that can hold to these tenets with more than devious lip-service.
I woke up this morning about 5am to get ready for work & on Stuff.co.nz was an article & headline on the frontpage “John Key supports euthanasia bill”, I just had a look online a few minutes ago & now it’s gone, curious.
The Herald says so too.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72994662/voluntary-euthanasia-bill-launched-by-david-seymour
I guess polling shows people want euthanasia looked at by govt but it’s better for ACT to pick it up than National.
That must be the case Weka. It is not like Key to have an actual stance on something so black & white. He usually acts all weaselly & slippery.
The Curia or Curious polling must have come in and its now safe for the leader to say something. Conservative nz will think he’s a hero while the people who have dedicated their lives to get this on the radar get forgotten for now.
Imagine what a competent progressive government could have achieved with the $105 billion Bill English has pissed away like the ketone laden residue of an after match function.
“We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace–business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.
We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me–and I welcome their hatred.”
-FDR October 31, 1936
This is the Labour Leader we need.
I think we will only get a leader of that kind when a groundswell of grass roots opposition produces one. At the moment we still expect managerial politics to make the sort of waves that can only be made with the backing of forceful political movements. Even Corbyn, with the People’s Assembly behind him, now treads a precarious path among a well networked mob with highly placed allies, media contacts, favours to call in, etc, etc.
FDR’s backbone was stiffened and his hand strengthened by massively popular socialist, communist and union movements of the day. Sit down strikes and worker riots.
These forces no longer exist today.
Oooh look!
The Herald wants a new Deputy Leader for Labour.
Annette King is “excellent in the role – loyal, experienced, sensible in public statements, liked and respected by friend and foe, a safe pair of hands. ”
….but Jacinda Ardern is ” young, presentable and appears to have a popular following.”
Which is kinda what National has done, only in reverse.
Obviously the secret to political success….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11529269
Half of world’s wealth now in hands of 1% of population – report
Under the purely competitive free-market paradigm then everyone would have an almost identical income and it would be a subsistence living (until we ran out of resources at which point most would simply die).
This growing inequality that we see is proof that we don’t have such a paradigm and that the paradigm that we do have is tilted in favour of the very few.
+1 Draco
whoa this could be big
“Another theory is that megastructures have been placed in orbit, perhaps solar collectors catching energy from the star. Such hypothetical structures are known as Dyson swarms or spheres.
The weird star was the only one of 150,000 stars watched over four years to behave the way it does.
Kepler was looking for tiny dips in the amount of light emitted by the stars. The dips can be shadows cast by orbiting planets. Normally, they happen regularly and for a few days at most.
But the light from KIC 8462852, 1480 light years away, darkens at irregular intervals by as much as 20 per cent and can stay dark for up to 80 days.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/73043524/unusual-far-away-star-could-be-orbited-by-massive-alien-structures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere
just in time for the end of the world 😉
I’d have thought it passing through an irregular dust cloud would be more likely.
Well,I would have thought that the star passing through an interstellar dust cloud wouldn’t have the same behaviour, because the dust cloud wouldn’t be that dense. Hmmm. Unless the interstellar cloud was beginning to gather around a planet or something. So a mix of cloud and planet.
It is the end of the world as we know it and the beginning of a different world.
“Police in Israel are moving to quell a WAVE of Palestinian attacks…”
Did someone from the Israeli consulate write that for Warwick Burke to read out?
Radio NZ National, Thursday 15 October 2015
That nasty piece of hysterical distortion was intoned, as ominously as possible, by veteran newsreader Warwick Burke halfway through the 4 p.m. news. I’m sure that whoever wrote that crap for him was consciously stirring up that image of feral untermenschen descending as “a wave” on the poor citizens of Jerusalem, but surely only the most brutally committed, ideologically blind, ignorant-beyond-all-hope zealot would actually believe it.
The idea that the Palestinians are inflicting terror on Israelis is, of course, the exact inversion of the truth…..
http://www.jonathan-cook.net/2015-10-12/israel-is-a-terrorist-state/
+1 – yeah people do get angry when settlers steal their land and kill them.
Violence begets violence begets violence, will anyone be brave enough to give peace a chance ?
yep.
But then someone shot the last Israeli PM to try.
That’s a very lazy “analysis”, tinfoilhat. You sound just like the late Garth George.
The violence in the Occupied West Bank is almost entirely one-way. Pretending there is a “cycle” of violence only minimizes what the IDF and the fanatical, heavily armed illegal “settlers” do every day.
The robots are hard at it, recycling the same crap…
“Coming up after the break: A new WAVE of attacks sees Israel RAMP up security!”
—-Simon Dallow, Television One news, 6:15 p.m., Thursday 15.10.15
The orgy of ignorance continues….
After the break, Wendy “Fist Pumper” Petrie tells her viewers of the “worrying upsurge” in violence, “as Israel tries to stop a WAVE of violence!”
She cuts to a simply outrageous report by an MSNBC churnalist, who notes in apparent high seriousness: “This deadly escalation has also seen PALESTINIAN victims… The fear is that this is not part of the REGULAR CYCLE OF VIOLENCE….”
Repeaters, not reporters
They also get kinda mad when people occupy their country and bomb them, looking for terrorists that didn’t exist in that country until the above behaviour.
They do seem to have got a bit stabby of late.
Gabby, I know you’re being light-hearted, and yes it’s okay to make jokes, even about the occupation—but let’s bear in mind that the Palestinians suffer extreme mob violence every day, year after year, and have suffered that violence since the illegal occupation of the West Bank began in 1967.
That this violence is systematically ignored by the Israeli police and the media does not make it any less real.
+1 Thanks Morrisey what a sad state of existence for Israel and Palestine citizens to face every day of their lives.
+100 Morrissey @ 17
radionz is increasingly a political disinformation mouthpiece for the right wing:
…..only this morning on Morning Report did they have on a USA commentator who argued at length that Hillary Clinton won the debate against with Bernie Sanders ( link not put up…wonder why?)
http://usuncut.com/politics/6-reasons-bernie-sanders-actually-owned-the-debate-despite-what-pundits-claim/
…and the other day Catherine Ryan had on a Jewish commentator who concluded at length that the Syrian problems were all about Russia and how bad it is and how bad Putin is…all the bad things he has done in other areas
…no mention of Israel’s claims to the Golan Heights …a large part of which belongs to Syria…and the other part is under Israel control…a trophy after one of their wars…and is contested by the UN
…no doubt Israel would like ALL of the Golan Heights….so why was USA stirring up trouble in Syria again?….and against the democratically elected Assad? ( nothing said unsurprisingly)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/15/stephen-harper-master-manipulator
Possibly the most depressing article I have ever read about politics and democracy
Five Facts About The Assange Siege
1. Assange has not been charged.
2. Assange does not “believe” there is an espionage case against him, it is a fact.
3. Assange has not “refused to come to trial or indeed be questioned”.
4. Assange did not “flee”.
5. Assange has already been cleared and the woman says the police made it up in order to “get him”.
https://justice4assange.com/Cambridge-Union-Statement-Fact.html
+100..setup job…but why, given he was warned, did he fall into the trap?
He was young and dumb, and couldn’t resist temptation. As smart as he is, even Assange never came to grips with how depraved, dishonest and desperate the British and U.S. elite actually are.
The other side of the story:
‘BUK manufacturer says Russian-made air defenses ‘absolutely’ not involved in MH17 crash’
https://www.rt.com/news/318653-buk-manufacturer-outdated-warhead/
“The damage caused by shrapnel to the aircraft involved in flight MH17 could not have been caused by a modern Russian BUK missile, the manufacturers of the weapon Almaz-Antey have stated….
The Russians will say anything, and have in fact done so.
The real story is mostly here https://www.bellingcat.com
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201774803/using-dodgy-data-proved-problematic-woodhouse
gives new meaning to the word farce
This government is satire-proof. When Woodhouse dies, they could make some sturdy boots out of his hide.
Someone should suggest that to the reigning intellectual of parliament, David Seymour, and he’ll get the government to agree to it.