“On to Te Tai Tonga and Maria said “Hurricane” (Clinton Dearlove) will storm Labour’s vote. Willie was on the right track when he disagreed and said Dearlove will steal Maori Party votes and hand the seat to Rino as a result. This is a point I made after the Te Tai Tonga debate.”
Hey Morgan, would it not be prudent to acknowledge that “Hurricane” (Clinton Dearlove) will take votes off the Greens, New Zealand First, Maori, and Labour Party. Remember the Greens and New Zealand First are only running a party vote campaign in the Te Tai Tonga.
Hey Morgan how about backing your story-telling with some data, or at least some logical reasoning if possible.
Please try and explain the following?
Te Tai Tokerau 2008 Labour Party vote 45% latest poll 27% a drop of 18%
Tamaki Makaurau 2008 Labour Party vote 49% latest poll 32% a drop of 17%
Waiariki 2008 Labour Party vote 51% latest poll 28% a drop of 23%
The average 2008 Labour party vote in the Maori seats was 49% the latest poll average is 29% a drop of 20%.
In the Te Tai Tonga in 2008 the Labour Party vote was 49% and the 2008 Labour candidate vote was 40% a drop of 9%
In the Te Tai Tonga in 2005 the Labour Party vote was 57% and the 2005 Labour candidate vote was 45% a drop of 12%
The average drop in the labour candidate vote was 10.5%.
Therefore based on the 2008 party vote result of 49% less the latest poll average drop in support for labour of 20%, the likely result would have the 2011 Labour Party vote at 29%. However when factoring in the fact that the Labour candidate receives less candidate votes than party votes.
29% less 10.5% leaves Rino Tirikatane with a likely result in the 2011 election of only attracting 18.5% of the Te Tai Tonga candidate vote.
Prof Margaret Mutu was interviewed on Stratos last night by the Southland interviewer that had previously fawned all over David Caygill after he and cohorts had taken over Environment Canterbury to get dairy irrigation underway..
Anyways, Mutu was very smart and articulate of course. But she fell into a hole when she was explaining something along the lines that NZ is / was not one people but two peoples, or many peoples, and she then said “but Maori are the original people and that is the difference”.
A few minutes later she was discussing immigrants who arrived a few hundred years after the Maori immigrants and complaining that they brought “a notion of superiority with them” that they were superior because of a belief in a different genetic makeup. Of course that “notion of superiority” is today more commonly known in these circumstances as racism.
Mutu however is blind to her situation. Her claim that Maori are “different” than the other peoples, based on a belief that being first in line confers something special, is the exact same sentiment that she sees in the original English when they thought they were “different”, based on a belief that their genetics conferred on them something special. The English had it wrong then. Mutu has it wrong now. It is a shame that someone of such academia and outright knowledge (though clearly falling short on the wisdom front) cannot see the glaring hole in her outlook.
I have had this argument many times but I have never seen any decent argument in support of Mutu’s “we’re different” idea. I am flummoxed as to why these supposedly smart people cannot see the stituation. But then I see why with Mutu – she believes her opinion as to “being different” is fact. Just as the English had believed their opinion re genetics was fact. It is a common human failing. And it is only the distance of history that can shed light on current situations for some people.
Mutu was otherwise very good and openly expressed the unstoppable brilliance that Maori and Pakeha working together alongside each other to their maximum potential could bring these islands. But sheesh, this continuing idea that Maori are different and special is as bad as the old idea that the English were different and special. Spectacular fail. And until it is recognised as incorrect by Maori the country will continue to stumble in its race relatonships.
There is something infinitely sad in being “special” or “chosen” because of some accident of birth, or equally sad about being disadvantaged because of the same accident of birth. I cringe at my English fathers attitude that represents his generations views on races / cultures other than his own. And I cringe at being asked to be responsible for historic wrongs, or at being deemed “inferior” because of my fore fathers.
We in NZ have a bigger issue than just Maori Euro relationships, we are now becoming a Pasifika Asian mix as well. Fortunately our children will lead the way as Ranganui Walker says “between the bed sheets”. In a few generations most NZ children might have a whakapapa including Chinese, Tongan and European ancestories.
“I have had this argument many times but I have never seen any decent argument in support of Mutu’s “we’re different” idea.”
The simple answer is that whether a person is a street sweeper, university professor or sportsperson, from time to time they engage in politics. Examine the context. In this country that means drawing lines between people: dark/ light, rich/poor, locals/immigrants, law abiding/criminal. That’s what Mutu was doing. Engaging in politics NZ style. What she said doesn’t have to make sense, she doesn’t even have to believe it, it just has to appeal to her target audience. When asked one way or the other, she’ll open a can of spaghetti reasoning for you to untangle. Welcome to politics 101.
Interesting that the police has issued a warning to TV3 not to publish the cuppatea recordings. I cannot recall the Police ever doing this before and there more than a slight stench of police interference in the political system.
If people are interested the section the police are referring to is section 216C of the Crimes Act 1961. The Act does require the interception to be unlawful, which requires the interception to be intentional.
The PM doesn’t like the content of his public conversations revealed. Wonder why?
Can New Zealand now watch this in a different light and still believe what he is saying about the cup-of-tea moment?
Some might say they wouldn’t trust him with the steam off their own …
And what was really printed on that piece of paper when he tried to defend his position on the S and P issue.
We all remember Gordon Brown’s tragic accident with a microphone – that was aired. Surely there are grounds to have the tapes released in the name of public interest?
There is a huge body of knowledge including from the academic community on indigenous thinking, ideology and ways of being. Indigeneity is different in the sense that its arguments, philosophies, dogma derive from the relationships it has to the natural world from which it emerges.
That specialness that comes from being indigenous is not simply a Māori thing, 144 countries world-wide signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (only recently did New Zealand sign albeit with the proviso that it will have no material effect on NZ legislation or policy) which articulates the rights inherent in being indigenous.
What is plainly an un-real expectation on behalf of people like yourself and the majority of Pākehā benefiting from colonial expansion is that we should be ‘all the same.’ In other words Māori, Pasifikan, Asian, should give away any notion of being Māori, Pasifikan or Asian and to, at the very least, parody a life of whiteness – to assimilate the values and aspirations of the western tradition.
Aotearoa New Zealand is the largest Polynesian island in the world – a mini-England, Ireland or Scotland it should not be. If there is to be oneness than at the very least let it have a brown skin and a Polynesian tongue. The relentless pursuit of the assimilation of diverse peoples into a homogenous soup of blotchy whiteness is the crime – not what Margaret Mutu articulates. .
Kotahitanga is unity of purpose – which recognises diverse interests pursuing a common purpose – a far better ideology in my opinion.
Adele, you make a couple of points sure, but kinda missed the sinlge base point I was making re the notions of difference, superiority, specialness.
In addition, this point you make here …. “What is plainly an un-real expectation on behalf of people like yourself and the majority of Pākehā benefiting from colonial expansion is that we should be ‘all the same.’ ” is way off the mark and I cannot see how you can pull that assumption from my post. I say vive la difference, but not when it comes to the standing (legal, moral, etc) of separate peoples in one location (and in this regard I guess I am at odds with both the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigineous People and Te Tiriti. Both are/were no doubt appropriate for the existing circumstance, but both are limited by that same circumstance. They have an end-by date due to their failure to acknowledge the issue raised in my post).
Your waffle vto mirrors the denial too many people are in regarding the colonial and post colonial history of this country.
Until all citizens have roughly equal health and wealth stats (improved ones that is) more people had better start learning about Te Tiriti and acting, it holds us all back as a nation in the meantime.
Which particular waffle and denial is that Mr Mountain? My point was specific – about Mutu’s missing link in her otherwise robust outlook. (point in post at 6.37 above)
“The relentless pursuit of the assimilation of diverse peoples into a homogenous soup of blotchy whiteness is the crime – not what Margaret Mutu articulates. . ”
You’re damn right is it, even if you’re white! I’d like it very much if as a nation of varied people, we all agreed that everyone should have – as unalienable right – enough to eat, a safe place to be, access to health free care and meaningful work.
I don’t care which language we speak or what colour we turn, but if it’s brown skin we need, can someone turn up the temperature? It’s November for godsakes and it’s not even warm!
See from this mornings Dom the Nats ( a branch of the Flat Earth Society ) are promoting roading again. At the same time Brent Crude flies high in prices and lwo in supply. Still infrastructural development follows the same mantra…roads roads roads….private transport.
When will these goons get that happy motoring is going to be a thing of the past sooner rather than later and in a post growth shrinking economy this represents a massive misallocation of precious resources and money?
There was once a PM who decided that oil was going to be (1) too expensive and (2) run out in the long run, who then built a synthetic fuel plant, electrified part of the rail network, built a dam on the Clyde, and a methanol plant. He is now roundly abhorred by the Left and castigated for these things. And oh, that’d be the Labour government that sold a good few of these projects off. Nice work.
yup, he’s admitted. He hasn’t bothered to flesh out what the mistakes were, and how he would have done anything differently, and which of his x-colleagues he is hanging out to dry. I suppose north of $9billion gives him the right to say he’s made a mistake though.
As I’ve constantly said though Colonial, go see the late Roger Kerrs stuff, it makes a mockery of labours anti-asset sales arguments.
I have read it several times over the decades. Very short term thinker. He always seemed to think of government as if he was an assets stripper who only ever lived in a bull market.
Of course most of the government procedures and assets are designed for hard times.
Sorry lprent, I was referring to his series on privatisation on his blog. Its very interesting reading and covers the selling of assets, obviously, but also the impact on dividends.
Draco, you have already shown in past posts that you couldnt differentiate a balance sheet from revenue statement, so calling the late Roger Kerr a twerp is a bit rich coming from you. I would respectfully suggest that his intellect would smother yours in a nano second.
IVV – you sound like a child boasting about how strong your dad is. You have a Kerr fetish – we get it – just don’t expect others to join in on the adulation.
All I have done Campbell, is direct readers to a series that analyses privatisations. And I don’t expect Kerr to be the recipient of adulation, and I certainly do not idolise the man. I respect him for his intellect, and I agree with his analysis since it is logical and hard to rebut. Perhaps if you read the series and debated it, your comments might have a wee bit more merit.
“No it does not” What does not KJT? Are you saying that Kerr’s series does not debunk the nonsense rhetoric from Labour surrounding asset sales and loss of dividends?
KJT, I’d be interested where your 14 billion dollars comes from.
You clearly haven’t read the series since you claim “reality has disproved his ideas” and “countries that have followed Kerrs religion are failing”. Therefore you have no idea what his ideas were. If you are suggesting that capitalism is failing, at least it will pick itself up and come again. When socialism fails, there are not comebacks, since socialism is great, until it runs out of other peoples money.
I have read the series. Along with many other economic and social commentators and experts.
Unlike RWNJ’s I read fast enough to have read more than Kerr in the last year.
14 billion dollars is the closest estimate I have seen of the loses to New Zealand’s annual current account, resulting from the last rounds of asset sales.
Greece has run out of other peoples money since it borrowed more than it could sustain. The Socialist governments did exactly what socialist governments always do, make promises that they have to borrow to pay for, to remain in government. They ran out of other peoples money to give the greek population a standard of living that they (1) could not sustain and (2) did not deserve.
New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic. After serving as the Cabinet of Greece from 2004 to 2009 , New Democracy is now the main opposition party in the Hellenic Parliament after its smashing defeat in the 2009 Greek elections in which they recorded their historical lowest percentage of votes.
The right was in charge during the collapse – just like Italy….
I actually had that conversation in 1982 with Muldoon at a social event….dont ask but he was not nearly as nasty as I had anticipated as a spotty belligerent twenty something. We agreed on the principle of energy sovereignty and the need to have internationally competitive and secure electricity supply etc. Might have argued details and costs but in principle he was on the right track.
I also had the privilege of chatting to him Bored, and would have been spotty and 20 something as well! He was a damned clever man and I found him entirely personable.
It is one of those strange secrets of politics that I’ve always noticed with talking to rather large numbers of politicians and wannabes. Politicians are usually personable, nice in person, and very good persuaders. It is part of the basic job description that they should be likable in person.
I tend to ignore what they say and concentrate on what they do. It is much more revealing
I also look at the people around them more than I look at the politician themselves. Do they retain staff? How fractional is the debate when they are involved. etc… What is their demeanor towards opponents inside their party. Inside other parties. What do they do with critics?
The Herald is once again showing it’s increasing irrelevance –
Less than two weeks till the election and their front page lead story is about the apology of some kid who plays rugby for getting pissed and making a dick of himself on holiday.
I agree Campbell L. I am so sick of hearing about this every time I put the radio on. And everyone is so caring and worried about the poor young drunk (I think he is just 21), the hypocrites. If those who were truly worried worked for tougher liquor laws they would be acting rightly. If we as a society showed determination to improve the situation and gave people the right to decide on the number of and placement of drinking outlets , that would be a plus in turning round this necrotising culture.
Also change the attitude in society that finds excuses for the people who fall foul of the ferment (beautiful alliteration prism). Slam drunks in jail, fine them, put a set charge on everyone who uses the A & E and refuse to treat the violent and abusive.
We all get stopped and breath tested as part of the pretence of doing something about drunkeness. So we are under surveillance in a semi-police state because the government and local authorities won’t or can’t make the changes to reduce alcohol addiction, because they won’t squeeze out the clubs and liquor outlets, reducing their numbers and making them bring in earlier closing times.
MANA leader Hone Harawira urges voters not to be fooled by phoney landline polls that create a false impression about which candidate is in front and which one is behind.
He says today’s poll released by Te Karere proves polls that rely on landlines are a thing of the past.
“It has long been known that mobile phones outstripped landlines as a method of communication five years ago for Maori. It’s about time polling companies caught up with modern day reality instead of rehashing flawed methodologies that do not reflect accurately what is happening on the ground.
“Polling companies and media networks need to be held to account. Instead of having minor margins of error, they should tell the truth when it comes to the Maori seats where the margin of error is give or take 20%?.
“We know that Annette Sykes has done remarkably well to narrow the margin between herself and Te Ururoa Flavell. People should remember she began at 0% and iPredict, the country’s most reliable forecaster of election results, has seen Annette’s vote grow by 10% each week.
“At present she trails Te Ururoa by the small margin of 10%. That means, based on the current trend, that she will win the election by 10%. That’s what we are hearing on the streets.
“Her remaining vote will come from a collapsing Labour vote. The national trend with the party vote is that Labour is in a downhill spiral from 30% to a possible 20%.
“Voters are awakening to the ability of MANA candidates, including Annette Sykes, to vehemently oppose National and the Maori Party plans to introduce policies that will hurt the poor. Left voters are being faced with two choices; put their faith with an imploding Labour Party or back MANA whose candidates have a long history of opposing right wing agendas?”
“Cyclone Sykes is gaining pace heading into the election. The momentum is with her and I ask Maori from Waiariki to think about who will be best at stopping National in Parliament.
Children are not people too
according to the welfare system.
everyone on welfare is allowed
$80 of income before being taxed at
70 cents in the dollar, except
of course the children (who are
not people). Every child a
mum on a dpb, or other benefit,
should increase the threshold
(before abatement starts) by $80.
Routinely governments ignores
Human rights, and we lack a culture
of human rights thanks t the existence
of the Human rights Commission
shuffling human rights under the
carpet or hiding human rights thinking
in plain sight behind ‘Plain english’.
Why are Children not considered people?
Why can a grandparent open a trust
for their kid that pays their kid
$80 of income a week, that their
parent cannot touch and so would
be considered parential income.
But a grandparent less well off
who cannot afford lawyers cannot
provide extra for their grandchild?
Just imagine the nighmare, your
kid gets a credit card given to them
by your ex-partners parents, and they
can spend like happy little tightwads.
Know nothing of the guy apart from this little stunt. Mahon presents as a self promoting dick and immature provacateur at best. A team blue provocateur at worst. The artists job description involves button and boundary pushing but they should not expect to be liked for it. Two weeks out from the election? you tell us freedom what his timing is all about.
Political assassinations are no joke whatsoever in my view. We have had two politically linked murders in this country-FG Evans Waihi miner and unionist and Ernie Abbot Wellington Trades Hall cleaner.
It’s art for crissake ! Like most decent art, it is about perception. If you only see a crime, well that says a great deal about your socially programmed response when confronted with a reality that simply calls into question the morally and ethically ambiguous la-la land of modern politics. The work of the artist is not an assassination attempt nor suggesting there should be one. It is not condoning a crime nor is it commissioning one. It is not a crime to attempt to provoke thought in this country, yet.
Based on the views expressed against this piece i suspect a large number of brain dead idiots will be lining up for an RFID chip when the reality of the rapidly approaching Police State is finally made public.
The current media push on Tap’n’Go credit cards shows how the incremental plan is progressing nicely.
I do wish some of the vitriolic statements made against free speech were focused on matters such as the Search and Surveillance Bill, or The Customs’ Integrated Targeting and Operations Centre or the untested Backscatter Radiation Scanners now in operation in NZ, but no, let’s just bleat about creative attempts to get NZ people thinking about the future that is beng stolen from their children.
A number of commenters here and on other blogs have commented long and hard about the SSB in particular (and done stuff in the real world too). Kiwis do tend to suck it up, take photo drivers licenses, there were queues at the malls to bloody get one. Mate of mine held out for two years, could not afford the fines any longer.
My main point with Mahon’s Key work is the timing. Self censorship? that is why I asked your opinion on the timing. Art gets no exemption sticker from politics in the middle of an election.
I am happy for cows to be sectioned and mounted in formaldehyde filled glass cases, for small squares of semi gloss white paint to be slapped on matt white walls, for artists taking a dump to be videoed in close up, for artists to walk down K-road in crotchless chaps with no underwear; but I am not happy for an assassination image of the NZ Prime Minister to be launched in a tight election campaign that if National win will indeed be about “drill it, mine it, sell it”.
Then in 2008 National ignored a Labour Department recommendation that check inspectors be restored in underground mines. This undoubtedly ensured a lack of mine safety at Pike River with disastrous results…
Russell just needs to do the obvious Pete with those involved and he should be forgiven by supporters.
What a wallace that guy was appearing on RNZ though. Some people do lose the plot during election campaigns as even the Prime Minister has demonstrated.
Russell has to be seen to say the right thing, but like many of us know National is lying all over the place. A half page ad in my local paper today, full colour, building a brighter future, claiming they have reduced debt – lies
TV3 has a golden opportunity to question him and instead gives him a golden opportunity to totally deflect the focus – He has had hours to prepare himself for this interview and unfortunately the interviewer is a lightweight. She does however give him several chances to endorse Brash and ACT leadership and he cannot answer that directly either.
Opening question:
Q. “Do you have a clear conscience about what’s on the tape?”
Key: “I have a totally clear conscience about what I’ve done, I think it’s the Herald on Sunday…” followed by 7 minutes of rehearsed diatribe.
There is one interesting moment where he talks about confidentiality being breached – “If we let this go then today me, next … could be you. We cannot allow this principle to be breached.”
Go for it John Boy. We can’t wait for your public castigation of Paula Bennett over her breaching confidentiality in her totally inappropriate use of a beneficiary’s information to protect her own and your political hides.
If we let this go then today me, next … could be you. We cannot allow this principle to be breached.
John Key
Surely all this is deeply ironic?
Key was quite happy to “allow this principle to be breached”, when it was Maori who were being illegally taped. Passing legislation to retrospectively ‘legalise’, illegal and intrusive electronic snooping on Tuhoe.
Inadvertently condemning himself with his own words, “If we let this go then today me,…”
the whole thng was rehearsed from start to finish.
the tories know how to waste time inparliament and how to deliver red herrings to the juvenile infants at present infesting the media.
dumb and dumber.
No idiot, learn to read before you embarrass yourself again, and again and again.
The Leader of the Greens has taken the front foot and outed the person responsible. A person who is in a relationship to someone who works for the Greens. Certainly it is a close link and yes if the party roles were different and it was a NACT worker’s partner i would say the same thing. Who do you think does the regular vandalism to all Party billboards if not those supporters linked to the workers and the volunteers of political parties? Do you honestly think all that damage is from people not interested in Politics?
Based on your regularly discredited comments, it is little wonder you won’t even vote for yourself.
?? Are you trying to claim that calling for a cleanup of how we do politics is discredited?
Yes, Norman has dealt with it very well, but it is still highly embarrassing to him and the Greens.
Greens being involved in widespread planned illegal activity – which was totally unnecessary by the way the polls were looking – it illustrates how pervasive dirty politics is, if not directly in party leadership at least amongst party operatives.
To me that means intellect, ability, passion, a well articulated vision of where my country is headed and the political nous to be able to get there.
I’ve voted in every election since 1975 and the only politician that exhibited everything I wanted in a leader was Clark and the current offering, across all parties, leaves me cold.
Draco, as always you are willing to put your spin on past history – check out the Chief Electoral Officer’s take on it “inappropriate and illegal” were his words. Doesnt matter how you cut it Draco, Labour were caught with their hand in the till as it were.
You do realise that every party did the same thing don’t you? And had been doing it for 14 years? And if the AG went back further than three months Nationals bill would have been quite bit higher?
Not putting spin on past history – just relating how it was.
Oh dear – so it looks like any possible Green / National ‘coalition talks’ are probably now right off the table?
How sad 🙁
Not sure how telling the voting public the TRUTH is ‘defacing’ billboards?
If the mainstream media isn’t going to provide accurate information in order to better enable the voting public to ‘cast an informed’ vote – then this ‘piggy-backing’ technique seems fair to me.
I mean – it’s not like the National billboards have been physically damaged / knocked down?
hmmmm……….. maybe it’s just that the TRUTH hurts?
I predict that National’s apparently total reliance on fomer Wall St Bank$ter, ex-foreign exchange advisor for the (privately-owned) New York Federal Reserve, former Head of Derivatives for Merrill Lynch, current Bank of America shareholder – NZ Prime Minister John Key – is going to be their downfall in this 2011 election.
As one of my banners (yet to be published by mainstream media), but which has been publicly-displayed in the wilds of the Epsom electorate, states rather succintly –
“The KEY thing in life is sincerity.
(Same election hoarding photo of arguably ‘shonky’ John Key)
Once you can fake that – you’ve got it made.”
A week is a VERY long time in politics.
Eleven days to go…………..
🙂
Penny Bright
Independent Candidate for Epsom
Campaigning against ‘white collar’ CRIME, CORRUPTION (and its root cause – PRIVATISATION) and CORPORATE WELFARE.
National aren’t the only party putting arts and culture on the to do list though. An overall lack of any substantial policy creation has been highlighted in a current issue of the Listener.
Claiming that climate change is a plot to steal American freedom is rather tame by Heartland standards. Over the course of this two-day conference, I will learn that Obama’s campaign promise to support locally owned biofuels refineries was really about “green communitarianism,” akin to the “Maoist” scheme to put “a pig iron furnace in everybody’s backyard” (the Cato Institute’s Patrick Michaels). That climate change is “a stalking horse for National Socialism” (former Republican senator and retired astronaut Harrison Schmitt). And that environmentalists are like Aztec priests, sacrificing countless people to appease the gods and change the weather (Marc Morano, editor of the denialists’ go-to website, ClimateDepot.com).
Did I hear – “Sorry Russel, I had a brain storm and encouraged the vandalisation of about 700 National billboards”? Just the sort of activist the Green Party doesn’t need. Someone who outsources their brain work obviously.
The radiation is apparently not from Fukushima and the Czech Republic is adamant that none of their reactors have released radiation that would account for the higher levels of Iodine 131 in the atmosphere. So where the hell did the radiation come from?
Why NZ can never compete in the modern world economy. Rakon a NZ business has had a 14 per cent rise in revenue but its profits cut by a rise in the exchange rate to 81 cents when it was 10 cents lower last year. Then it made a $5 million profit, this year on more revenue, a measly $569,000.
Listen to the Radionz business report and get the details, and then you will understand why we are forever falling behind. Films occasionally show a person being dragged on the ground behind a horse. If we think of our country like this, being dragged along by a mendacious and vicious financial system we can get a true and instant image of our position.
Why should, how can businesses stay in this country that pays lip service to wanting a thriving, innovative country but then allows the profit to be siphoned off through whimsical runs or drops in the exchange rate as a result of playing with our currency by the the financial masses, leaving us an uncertain amount that no planning can define. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5968560/Rakon-returns-to-the-red-shares-slump
I think the statement that we can never compete in a modern world economy is false but educated. If we really looked into this we would see that economies of scale and trade terms have a very distorting impact. Contrary to popular belief “free trade” deals rarely do anything fair for the smaller nations, in fact they merely open them up to anti competitive practices.
One of the biggest problems we have is the differential of “slave” wage levels, for example we could never compete with Chinese wages because they are so low. Consequently we should in an ideal world create equal opportunity by tariffing them. It wont happen….but what will is that energy scarcity will level the playing field to a high degree in the near future. Those with adequate energy resources to leverage versus raw manpower will come out ahead.
Come 2020 my forecast is that we will have a very hungry world, the petro chems needed to fertilise and plow will be in short supply…and then there will be the effects of climate change. Ugly picture but we will still in NZ be doing that one thing we are really good at is growing grass all year round and turning it into protein for export. That’s a distinct competitive advantage.
Bored – I am blinded by tears from seeing our exchange rate swoop about like an out-of-control rocket. It’s seeing the carry trade et al buying and selling our money for short-term gains. We are quite small in the world economy yet I think we are 11th most traded, when there are over 100 countries.
It just makes me despair as we keep watching our balance and footing as we run on this treadmill no-one ever admitting that we will never get ahead. Relying on big splashes in our small pond from oil shocks and climate change is dangerous. We will have given away our ability to grow what we want to Monsanto by then. The cretins in charge of our economy, the idiot savants, won’t recognise a tipping point if they fall over it.
Akshully. National should be prosecuted under the commerce act for false advertising on their bill boards. And thanking those who changed them, for helping them avoid prosecution..
So we have our very own kiwi curtain twitchers club–“Snitchline” over at blubbers blog. Disgusting, the ultimate neighbourhood watch. Not quite Stasi junior but given their political masters Search and Surveillence Bill who knows where such snooping will go. http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/11/information-please/#disqus_thread
A humorous little story on stuff – Key’s bus crashes at the first corner .
Not so humorous is the fact that two apparently legally parked vehicles “were broken in to police and shifted to allow the bus to pass” (in Stuff’s unparalleled sub-editing paucity). Isn’t that unlawfully interfering with a motor vehicle? Shouldn’t they just have driven the bus out the same way they brought it in? Arrogant fucktards.
Serious Fraud Office Chief Executive Adam Feeley says it’s concerning that fraud against banks and other lending institutions continues to represent a significant portion of SFO cases. – Link
Just been to Meet the Candidates meeting for the Waitakere Electorate in Glen Eden this evening. I just wish someone had planted a recording device in the vicinity of Paula Bennett and Winston Peters – they were having a few intimate discussions with a few giggles along the way!
After a large number of National’s election hoardings were vandalized, John Key decided he would have to commission some more appropriate artwork for his re-election campaign to be successful. His brief was to design a new set of hoardings that captures exactly what the National party really stands for…
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
Being and Being Bought (Spinifex Press, 2013) by Kajsa Ekis Ekman A synopsis and commentary of Chapters 1-2 by Daphna Whitmore Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book She opens the discussion with a definition of ...
I make no claims to having much legal knowledge, so I defer to those trained in this area.I am very much enjoying this twitter stream from m'learned friend in Edinburgh, deciphering the legal arguments around the Scottish court challenge to Boris Johnson, based on the charmingly obscure principle of Nobile ...
Ivory Folly? The University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, upheld the right of the radical nationalist group, Action Zealandia to exercise their freedom of speech – not matter how distasteful that speech might be. A wiser community of students and scholars would have nodded their agreement and moved on. ...
If you are not convinced terrorist Organisation ‘Extinction Rebellion’ is very, very dangerous – watch this video at one of their recent meetings. Not only is this obviously mentally ill Woman begging the other terrorists to promote killing and “eating” babies and children, if you watch carefully other members nod ...
The Ombudsman has been surveying people about their knowledge of the OIA and the right to information. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that widespread:The Chief Ombudsman says too many New Zealanders were in the dark over their right to access official information. Peter Boshier said an independent survey released yesterday on ...
In the wake of last Friday's climate strike, Peter McKenzie had an article in The Spinoff about protest strategies. The school strike movement is "polite" and cooperates with those in power because that's its kaupapa - its led by schoolkids who understandably don't want to risk arrest. But there's more ...
So, the latest ruminations on the gnews from Westminster (Again, sorry; I'll stop making that pun right now). This follows on from, and likely repeats bits of, my last post, on the suggestion that a Government of National Unity (GNU) should be set up and then oversee a referendum before ...
New Zealand likes to think of itself as not a racist country (despite being founded on the racist dispossession and subjugation of Maori). But for years, we've had a racist refugee policy, which basicly excludes refugees from Africa and the Middle East unless they already have relatives here. Now, the ...
Several people have asked me whether a particular repeat litigant could be declared a vexatious litigant, in light of their recent decision to appeal an adverse High Court ruling. My nascent tweet thread was getting ridiculously long, so it became this blog post instead.The short answer is: no. The particular ...
Appealing To The Past: Action Zealandia, like so many of the organisations springing up on the far-Right, across what they call the “Anglosphere”, is born out of the profound confusion over what a man is supposed to be in the twenty-first century and, more importantly, what he is supposed to do.THE STATUE OF ...
The attempts of anti-democratic transactivists to (often violently) disrupt women’s rights organising is largely ignored by those sections of the left most prone to misogyny and authoritarianism in New Zealand. In Britain, however, scores of trade union and left activists added their names to a letter in July, defending ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill. The Bill would establish an independent, quasi-judicial body to investigate and review potential miscarriages of justice, and refer them back to the Court of appeal if required. It would be a vital backstop to our judiciary, help ...
by The Spark On September 14, a total of 22 drones and cruise missiles struck two oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the Abqaiq processing facility and the Khurais oil field. Abqaiq is the largest oil production facility in the world. For a few days afterwards, Saudi Aramco, the Saudi national ...
How much will NeoLiberal irregulation of the building sector and subsequent leaky homes crisis cost us? $47 billion, according to a new book:The total cost to fix all of New Zealand's leaky homes would be $47 billion, probably. The estimate comes from a new book, Rottenomics written by journalist Peter ...
Below is the start of another excellent article on the Freer Lives blog. Click onto the link at the end of this extract to read the full article. The punch-a-terf, kill-a-terf message pervades social media, always righteously delivered, chin held high. By contrast, the dehumanised “terfs” themselves, that is gender-critical ...
The Reserve Bank is currently planning tighter banking regulation, requiring banks to hold enough local capital to survive a 1-in-200 year financial crisis in order to protect consumers. The big Aussies banks, those foreign leeches who suck $5 billion in profit out of our economy every year, don't like that, ...
Its the usual story: a police officer beats a handcuffed suspect so hard they break one of their own fingers. The IPCA investigates and concludes that the use of force was unlawful. And the police refuse to do anything about it:A man punched repeatedly in the face by a police ...
From time to time we add links to our blogroll. The latest blog we have added is Freer Lives. This is a Marxist gender-critical blog, based in Melbourne, Australia. On it you will find a bunch of excellent articles which use the tools of Marxist analysis to critique the rise ...
Last Friday say the largest protest in a generation, as 170,000 people joined the school strike and marched to demand real action on climate change. The demands of the school strike were simple and clear: declare a climate emergency, set a climate target of net-zero by 2040, impose a total ...
Labour is a rather middle of the road capitalist party and earlier this year we discussed how far from being ‘transformative’, Ardern’s government is. An article published this week in the Guardian, by Bryce Edwards (political scientist and commentator at Victoria University), looks at Ardern’s business as usual performance. Where ...
In the hours since my last interminable wittering about the possibility of a Government of National Unity (GNU) in Britain, there has been a slight maybe development:A Corbyn-led caretaker government could then sit for several months while it enacted and delivered a referendum with the support of smaller parties and ...
Jeremy Clarkson says much like Greta Thunberg, Anne Frank “didn’t like what was going on”, but “she didn’t have a tantrum about it.” Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has offered praise to historical figure Anne Frank, comparing her favourably to 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, who he attacked in ...
Press release by Speak Up For Women Lesbians from women’s rights group Speak Up For Women are furious at reports that Rainbow Tick are threatening Massey University with the removal of their ‘tick’ if they let the group’s event go ahead. The group has been under attack from trans ...
By Duncan Garner Before you jump down my throat, nobody cares about the environment more than me. I have a garden, and since my wife and I broke up, I’ve let it grow wildly out of control, so please don’t tell me I’m not doing enough for plants. They’re ten ...
Local government elections are upon us again. It is a fair bet that, when they are over, we will have all the usual complaints that, despite their undoubted importance, the turnout was depressingly low. So, why do local elections attract so little attention and involvement from the general public? I ...
Yesterday the High Court released its decision in Moncrief-Spittle v Regional Facilities Auckland Limited, on the (alleged) decision by the Auckland Council and Mayor Phil Goff to deny use of a public venue to a pair of visiting nazi grifters. Based on the information available back then, I said that ...
Image credit:45 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Blog I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. ...
So, more on the possibility of a Government of National Unity (GNU) in Britain.Two things, first. The numbers in parliament make things very difficult. And anyone who is saying X will happen or Y is impossible is spinning. We can not tell and will not know until votes are actually ...
The government is promising tough action against climate change via the Zero Carbon Bill and a strengthened ETS. Meanwhile, the Overseas investment Office is granting foreign coal companies permission to expand coal mining:Coal Action Network Aotearoa has slammed a decision by the Overseas Investment Office to allow Bathurst Coal to ...
Don't You Dare Let Them Down, Jacinda! Many New Zealanders, especially young New Zealanders, continue to believe that change – real change – is possible. Do we have criticisms about the way in which Jacinda’s government has gone about “transforming” New Zealand? Of course we do. But the very fact ...
. . With some historical and present context, it should become readily apparent to Pakeha that the occupation at Ihumātao is not a free-for-all conflict for any and everyone to become involved in. First, some important dates: . 1840 . The year in which the Treaty of Waitingi was signed. ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
Another busy week, from speaking with world leaders on the world stage about climate change, to equipping our school leavers with everything they need to get ahead in life. ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says Air New Zealand has "an obligation to look after Kiwis", and urged the national carrier not to hike up their prices after Jetstar airline announced their withdrawal from regional flights this week. The Provincial Champion also expressed his disappointment at Jetstar’s decision on ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will help fund a new dredge for the Port of Greymouth to ensure the regional fishing fleet have a reliable and productive harbour, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today “Last year the movements of ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said he was "immensely disappointed" at the withdrawal of the Jetstar airline from regional routes. He has also warned national carrier Air New Zealand not to capitalise on the Australian budget airline’s decision by “gouging” regional air travellers. "Air New Zealand has historically challenged ...
International credit ratings agency Moody's gave a glowing assessment of New Zealand’s economy in its latest report, which ranks the country’s economic strength as "very high" while saying growth remains "robust". The report says it's expected New Zealand's economy will grow between 2.5 and 3 percent in the next few ...
The Coalition Government is allocating nearly $6 million to a campaign to stop Australian beekeepers marketing their products as "mānuka" honey. This move comes after Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones accused Australian honey producers of trying to steal what was indigenous to New Zealand. "The Aussies are trying to ...
The Provincial Growth Fund has provided $400,000 to Great South to help the agency drive Southland's regional economic development aspirations. The funding will allow Great South, which is Southland's economic development agency, to appoint a portfolio manager and a project support adviser, who will provide project management expertise and support ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The One Billion Trees Fund has just hit two significant milestones that will create more than 7,500 hectares of new forest cover, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Speaking at a celebratory dinner at Parliament to mark 100 years of the New Zealand Forestry Service, Minister ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service has resolved 608 insurance and EQC claims in its first year in operation, Minister Megan Woods has announced. The government service, which celebrates its first birthday today, provides a one stop shop to help Cantabrians still battling to get their homes repaired or rebuilt ...
Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the outlook ...
The Government is acting swiftly to strengthen NZTA’s regulatory role following a review into the Transport Agency, and Ministry of Transport’s performance as its monitor, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. An independent review by Martin Jenkins has found NZTA failed to properly regulate the transport sector under the previous ...
The Netherlands and New Zealand have a long-standing and close relationship based on many shared interests and values. We value the rule of law, our democracies, and multilateralism. And we value our environment – at home and globally. Right now there are major global challenges in all of these areas – ...
The Government is putting right a decade’s worth of underpayment to nurses, doctors and other health workers, says Health Minister Dr David Clark. Initial sampling of District Health Boards payroll records has found that around $550-$650 million is owed to DHB staff to comply with the Holidays Act. It’s expected ...
A strong surplus and low debt show the economy is performing well, and means the Government is in a good position to meet the challenges of global economic uncertainty. “The surplus and low levels of debt show the economy is in good shape. This allows the Government to spend more ...
New applications from mining company OceanaGold to purchase land in Waihi for new tailings ponds associated with its gold mines have been approved. Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Associate Minister of Finance David Parker considered the applications under the Overseas Investment Act. Earlier this year, applications from OceanaGold to ...
New Zealanders in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay will witness Māori, Pākehā and Pacific voyaging traditions come together today as the Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla assembles for the first time, Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis says. “Tuia 250 is a national commemoration and an opportunity for honest conversations ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker leaves tomorrow for Dubai, London and Berlin for a series of meetings to advance New Zealand’s trade interests. In Dubai he will visit New Zealand’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 where construction is underway. There he will meet Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her ...
Confirmation that PHARMAC will fund two new cancer drugs is further evidence of the good progress the Government is making to improve the treatment of New Zealand’s leading cause of death, Health Minister David Clark says. From 1 December PHARMAC will fund alectinib (Alecensa) for ALK positive advanced non-small cell ...
An additional $2.7 million has been announced for the Government Strategy for Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation on the first anniversary of the strategy’s launch. Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson gave the opening address to the first Sport NZ Women + Girls Summit in Wellington today, ...
As part of its work to ensure businesses can get the skilled workers they need, the Coalition Government is re-opening and re-setting the Parent Category visa programme, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. The move will: support skilled migrants who help fill New Zealand’s skills gaps by providing a pathway for ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has today announced Major General Evan Williams of the New Zealand Defence Force has been selected as the commander of a significant, longstanding peacekeeping mission in the Middle East. In December, Major General Williams takes over as Force Commander for the Multinational Force and Observers ...
A record number of nurses are now working to deliver health services to New Zealanders as the Government’s increased funding and new initiatives rebuild key workforces start to show results, Health Minister Dr David Clark says. • 1458 more DHB nurses since the Government took office • 106 more midwives ...
Farmer and former Nuffield scholar Mel Poulton has been appointed New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker, and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, announced today. The position supports key Government objectives, including raising the value of New Zealand agricultural goods and services. Mel is ...
New Zealand’s Pacific and Māori voyaging heritage is acknowledged and celebrated today as waka of the Tuia 250 voyage flotilla arrive in Tūranga / Gisborne. “Today we celebrate Tangata Whenua, the first people of Aotearoa, and the triumphs of the voyaging tradition that brought our ancestors here from Polynesia 1000 ...
“Fijian Language Week starts on Sunday and the theme reminds us how important it is that we each have something to anchor ourselves to, something that can help us pause and feel in control in a rapidly changing world,” says Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio. “Family, culture, faith, ...
The Government is establishing an Airspace Integration Trials Programme to support the safe testing and development of advanced unmanned aircraft and accelerate their integration into the aviation system, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods announced today. The Government will work with leading, innovative aviation industry partners to test and ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today welcomed the NZ Transport Agency’s decision to fund urgent safety improvements and confirm the designation of the Ōtaki to North of Levin highway. Safety upgrades will be made along 23.4km of the existing state highway, running along SH1 from the end of the Peka Peka ...
New Zealand playing its part in Asia-Pacific and globally are behind changes announced today to the Coalition Government’s three year refugee quota policy, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “We are proud to be a welcoming and inclusive nation committed to supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable people to rebuild ...
One of the important parameters of the agreement’s aims was to ensure there was no threat to food production from the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. ...
A monument to Winston Peters and Think Big projects would both boost the economy, but Argentina learned the hard way they can also impoverish a nation, writes Tony Burton.Everyone who loves New Zealand should visit Argentina. There are more similarities than you might think – large areas of wild natural ...
The Salvation Army foodbank in Waitakere ran out of food last week; an indication of the strain many New Zealand whanau are under as they struggle to afford the cost of living. Wednesday, October 16 is World Food Day, and as demand for services offered ...
Phil Goff was re-elected by a huge margin on Saturday. How will he put that mandate to use this term? Hayden Donnell asks the questions.Phil Goff is once again Auckland’s mayor. Preliminary local election results show him with a lead of nearly 100,000 votes over his nearest challenger, John Tamihere. ...
Catherine Bindon from Ban the Boom has created these colourful and positive posters for you to use to show you don't support the use of fireworks in your neighbourhood over the next few weeks distressing our animals and birds. ...
On Tuesday morning the Operation Burnham inquiry hearing resumed after it was suspended three weeks ago. The hearing is being held at Royal Society of New Zealand, 11 Turnbull St, Thorndon, Wellington on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Ellerton, Lecturer in Critical Thinking; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland It’s not uncommon for science and religion to be framed as two opposing forces. The Catholic church has famously struggled to accommodate scientific research in its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cat Pausé, Senior Lecturer in Human Development, Massey University The British Psychological Society is calling for changes for how we talk about fatness, suggesting we should no longer use the phrase “obese people”, but instead, “people with obesity” or “people living with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University The federal government’s much-vaunted Snowy Hydro expansion is supposed to smooth out the bumps in electricity supply as Australia transitions to renewables. But not only is the project a bad deal for taxpayers, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By María Yanotti, Lecturer of Economics and Finance Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania The housing market is moving again. In the past month, national prices have climbed 0.9%. What matters most to buyers (and especially to investors), along with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, University of Melbourne It seems appropriate that a painting titled Feng Shui dominates the new exhibition of Guan Wei’s work ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Matthews, Lecturer in Digital Media and Popular Culture Researcher, Auckland University of Technology According to a recent study, the sixth leading cause of death for young men in the United States is the warranted and unwarranted use of police force. With ...
The Council of Trade Unions has today released its report - Fair Pay Agreements: A Framework for Fairness . The report details the six key principles needed for Fair Pay Agreements to deliver real change for working people, and democratic agreements ...
Too many New Zealanders endure poor working conditions in jobs that don’t pay enough and offer few opportunities for career progression, and the union movement is calling for change. ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the latest polls which show a drop in support for Labour are not a concern when it comes to forming a government. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A pair of polls put pressure on the Labour Party, a wild night of weather in the North Island, and Shane Jones snapped brandishing a semi-automatic.Parliament resumes today after a fortnight recess, and MPs were given a welcome-back present in ...
Mandy Hager, the newly elected head of the New Zealand Society of Authors, is lobbying the government to improve the lot of writers - to no avail, despite the Prime Minister's championing of the arts. ...
Given the vast impacts that poor diet have had on global health, a deficit in nutrition education in medicine represents a big problem, writes Dr Jennifer Crowley. ...
Any time Olympian Luuka Jones needs advice or encouragement in her pursuit of more canoe slalom success, she doesn’t have to look far. Jones’ coach, Campbell Walsh, is also her partner. ...
Competition for the rights to broadcast sports matches involving NZ’s top teams has produced a bonanza for the sporting bodies, forcing media companies to be a lot more innovative. ...
The Wellington suburb’s successful opposition to a proposed Bottle-O shows how the system is biased towards communities with the organisation, capacity and resources to protest effectively, says Jenesa Jeram.For those unfamiliar with Wellington geography, Khandallah is a Very Nice place to live (Aucklanders: think Remuera). So when it was reported ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission conducted an inquiry into mortgage pricing as recently as last year. Now Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has asked it to do another, broader one, in order to ensure the banks’ ...
Dr Bryce EdwardsThe results of the local government elections appear to show that New Zealanders are generally supportive of a more diverse range of representatives, having voted in greater numbers for candidates from traditionally under-represented groups. The elections have therefore modernised our councils in a small but very significant ...
The Inquiry has today published Minute No 21. This Minute sets out how the Inquiry intends to proceed given that the Attorney-General the Hon David Parker has agreed to extend the Inquiry’s reporting date by three months to 31 March 2020. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace Skrzypiec, Senior Lecturer, Flinders University Many Australian students don’t know the difference between banter and bullying, with some saying they joke about wishing their friend would “drown” or “die in a car crash”. More than 800 Australian students aged 11-16 took ...
But he did play a crucial role in helping journeyman Andy Foster knock over Justin Lester. Team Gone By Lunchtime size up the local elections, gaze plaintively at the dramas in the NZ First Party, and ask how bad the new poll is for Jacinda Ardern.Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and ...
In the fifth episode of Actually Interesting, The Spinoff’s monthly podcast exploring the effect Artificial Intelligence has on our lives, Russell Brown speaks to Ben Reid, executive director of the AI Forum, about the role of government in embracing and regulating AI.Subscribe to Actually Interesting via iTunes or listen on the player below.To ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Local government Henry Cooke (Stuff): How to lose an election: Over-promise or under-deliver Simon Collins ...
By RNZ Pacific A Solomon Islands province has agreed to lease a large island to a Chinese developer to develop into a special economic zone, weeks after the country opened diplomatic ties with China. But already cracks abound; there has been no official announcement and the provincial premier says the ...
The New Zealand First MP and Minister Shane Jones is still backing the firearms ban, despite being pictured with what appears to be an AR-15 semi-automatic while holidaying in Asia. ...
Everyone needs to be concerned about the draft National Policy Statement on Urban Development that the Ministry for the Environment has released. It is incompatible with the spirit of transparency and inclusiveness. ...
Prodigal Son is a new crime procedural coming hot and fresh to TVNZ 1 on Mondays at 8.30pm.Jean Sergent has a few reasons why you should be watching it. If you like serial killer shows, Michael Sheen, dark drama, Michael Sheen, twisted family dynamics, or Michael Sheen – strap yourself ...
Voters in the 2019 local elections have elected the largest number of new mayors in 30 years, with 26 candidates set to don mayoral chains for the first time later this month. ...
A team of investigators dedicated to stamping out violent extremism online is being set up with the government announcing $17 million in funding over four years. ...
In a major boost to efforts to counter violent extremism on the internet, the Government has promised $17m over four years to the Censorship Compliance Unit. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) is recommending members hold on to potentially illegal shotgun shells containing steel shot until the law banning certain types of ammunition is clarified. ...
The final dinner party on Married at First Sight NZ brought an ugly misogyny to light. But it was far from the first time sexism reared its head this season, writes Alex Casey.It began with a man being edited out of the show after his domestic violence charges came to ...
New collaborative gifting platform Joyable is looking to shake up how we group-purchase gifts. Co-founders (and sisters) Rochelle Sheldon and Kimberley Crossman explain how their latest venture works. Joyable (not to be confused with the social anxiety-reducing app of the same name) is a somewhat left-field move for co-founder Rochelle ...
The extraordinary battle for the Tron has ended in a way no one quite saw coming, with the city relinquishing its stranglehold on the title of New Zealand’s most embarrassing council. Angela Cuming reports.The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a ...
On the eve of the announcement of the winner of the 2019 Booker prize, Spinoff books editor Catherine Woulfe outs herself as a giant know-nothing. Booker time. Tomorrow morning I will sit there refreshing Twitter like the drinking bird on The Simpsons. A winner will be announced. And I’ll be gripped ...
National's claim that things only went south when Phil Twyford took charge of transport is not supported by us at CEAC and we see that this begun in 2008 as we witnessed the change then while working as a partnership group with NZTA then. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Churchill, Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Melbourne There’s an old maxim: not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. But there are some things we should count, and gender and sexual diversity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Pollock, Climatologist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology Northern Australia is likely to see fewer cyclones than usual this season, but hot, dry weather will increase the risk of fire and heatwaves across eastern and southern Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology today released ...
We are in The Good Time for avocados. Alex Casey talked to an expert on how to make the most of it. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. A time when a new avocado headline is published somewhere in New Zealandeverysingleday. A time when it is ...
Sexual harassment and assault are an issue in all walks of life, but addressing the problem is particularly difficult when the perpetrator holds public office. Today campaigner Carrie Buckmaster launches a parliamentary petition calling for more transparency on the issue.The ongoing Labour Party scandal around handling of sexual harassment allegations ...
Dunedin’s new mayor Aaron Hawkins is the first official Green Party mayor in NZ and, arguably, the first to represent the city’s student population as much as its older residents. Josie Adams, who guessed he would win, asked him ten questions about his win.The Spinoff local election ...
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (F&P) has upgraded its full year guidance again after gaining the right to sell its new full face mask in the United States. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Shadow foreign minister Penny Wong says Australia needs to “define the boundaries” of its engagement with China now the relationship between the two countries is in a new phase. Focusing on China policy in a ...
Canon Rugby in Focus: Ireland awaits an All Blacks team that will be well-rested. Perhaps too well-rested. Rested and ready, or a game short and not match fit. Those are the two scenarios that will have All Blacks fans fretting this week ahead of ...
With the government recently announcing a desire to help our cities grow up and out, leading New Zealand IoT expert Kriv Naicker today questioned whether New Zealand is falling behind in the use of smart city technology to help achieve this goal. ...
You famously said climate change was this generation’s nuclear-free moment. But when Extinction Rebellion uses the tactics of the Nuclear Free movement, you say you aren’t impressed. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Regina Jefferies, Affiliate, Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW In the past five years, more than 95,000 people who arrived by plane have lodged a claim for asylum in Australia, new statistics show. Labor’s Immigration Spokesperson, Senator Kristina ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen Waller, PhD candidate, University of Sydney Organs from potential donors once rejected as being unsafe to transplant may not be as risky as once thought, new Australian research shows. Our study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, suggests organs from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Merrilyn Delporte, PhD Candidate, Queensland University of Technology Australia’s refugee policy has led to a two-track education system. Those processed offshore, and deemed refugees by the time they have arrived in Australia, are entitled to fee support for university. But the almost ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marion Terrill, Transport and Cities Program Director, Grattan Institute Congestion charging should be introduced in Australia’s largest cities, as Grattan Institute’s latest report shows. Our analysis also finds that the people who commute to the Melbourne and Sydney CBDs by driving are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David C. Ribar, Professorial Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Australia, like the United States, makes it hard for people who get benefits to stay on them. It’s not simply a matter of withdrawing benefits as people get jobs and work more hours ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ana Silkatcheva, Doctoral Candidate (Oriental Studies – Islamic Art and Archaeology), University of Oxford; Curatorial Researcher, Nicholson Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney In 2005, the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) opened Australia’s first permanent galleries of Islamic art. ...
Council's can expected more pressure from their own ranks to tackle climate change with a new crop of young councillors determined to fight it head on. ...
Open mike 15/11/2011 
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Morgan Godfery on his blog Maui Street states
“On to Te Tai Tonga and Maria said “Hurricane” (Clinton Dearlove) will storm Labour’s vote. Willie was on the right track when he disagreed and said Dearlove will steal Maori Party votes and hand the seat to Rino as a result. This is a point I made after the Te Tai Tonga debate.”
Hey Morgan, would it not be prudent to acknowledge that “Hurricane” (Clinton Dearlove) will take votes off the Greens, New Zealand First, Maori, and Labour Party. Remember the Greens and New Zealand First are only running a party vote campaign in the Te Tai Tonga.
Hey Morgan how about backing your story-telling with some data, or at least some logical reasoning if possible.
Please try and explain the following?
Te Tai Tokerau 2008 Labour Party vote 45% latest poll 27% a drop of 18%
Tamaki Makaurau 2008 Labour Party vote 49% latest poll 32% a drop of 17%
Waiariki 2008 Labour Party vote 51% latest poll 28% a drop of 23%
The average 2008 Labour party vote in the Maori seats was 49% the latest poll average is 29% a drop of 20%.
In the Te Tai Tonga in 2008 the Labour Party vote was 49% and the 2008 Labour candidate vote was 40% a drop of 9%
In the Te Tai Tonga in 2005 the Labour Party vote was 57% and the 2005 Labour candidate vote was 45% a drop of 12%
The average drop in the labour candidate vote was 10.5%.
Therefore based on the 2008 party vote result of 49% less the latest poll average drop in support for labour of 20%, the likely result would have the 2011 Labour Party vote at 29%. However when factoring in the fact that the Labour candidate receives less candidate votes than party votes.
29% less 10.5% leaves Rino Tirikatane with a likely result in the 2011 election of only attracting 18.5% of the Te Tai Tonga candidate vote.
Prof Margaret Mutu was interviewed on Stratos last night by the Southland interviewer that had previously fawned all over David Caygill after he and cohorts had taken over Environment Canterbury to get dairy irrigation underway..
Anyways, Mutu was very smart and articulate of course. But she fell into a hole when she was explaining something along the lines that NZ is / was not one people but two peoples, or many peoples, and she then said “but Maori are the original people and that is the difference”.
A few minutes later she was discussing immigrants who arrived a few hundred years after the Maori immigrants and complaining that they brought “a notion of superiority with them” that they were superior because of a belief in a different genetic makeup. Of course that “notion of superiority” is today more commonly known in these circumstances as racism.
Mutu however is blind to her situation. Her claim that Maori are “different” than the other peoples, based on a belief that being first in line confers something special, is the exact same sentiment that she sees in the original English when they thought they were “different”, based on a belief that their genetics conferred on them something special. The English had it wrong then. Mutu has it wrong now. It is a shame that someone of such academia and outright knowledge (though clearly falling short on the wisdom front) cannot see the glaring hole in her outlook.
I have had this argument many times but I have never seen any decent argument in support of Mutu’s “we’re different” idea. I am flummoxed as to why these supposedly smart people cannot see the stituation. But then I see why with Mutu – she believes her opinion as to “being different” is fact. Just as the English had believed their opinion re genetics was fact. It is a common human failing. And it is only the distance of history that can shed light on current situations for some people.
Mutu was otherwise very good and openly expressed the unstoppable brilliance that Maori and Pakeha working together alongside each other to their maximum potential could bring these islands. But sheesh, this continuing idea that Maori are different and special is as bad as the old idea that the English were different and special. Spectacular fail. And until it is recognised as incorrect by Maori the country will continue to stumble in its race relatonships.
There is something infinitely sad in being “special” or “chosen” because of some accident of birth, or equally sad about being disadvantaged because of the same accident of birth. I cringe at my English fathers attitude that represents his generations views on races / cultures other than his own. And I cringe at being asked to be responsible for historic wrongs, or at being deemed “inferior” because of my fore fathers.
We in NZ have a bigger issue than just Maori Euro relationships, we are now becoming a Pasifika Asian mix as well. Fortunately our children will lead the way as Ranganui Walker says “between the bed sheets”. In a few generations most NZ children might have a whakapapa including Chinese, Tongan and European ancestories.
“I have had this argument many times but I have never seen any decent argument in support of Mutu’s “we’re different” idea.”
The simple answer is that whether a person is a street sweeper, university professor or sportsperson, from time to time they engage in politics. Examine the context. In this country that means drawing lines between people: dark/ light, rich/poor, locals/immigrants, law abiding/criminal. That’s what Mutu was doing. Engaging in politics NZ style. What she said doesn’t have to make sense, she doesn’t even have to believe it, it just has to appeal to her target audience. When asked one way or the other, she’ll open a can of spaghetti reasoning for you to untangle. Welcome to politics 101.
Interesting that the police has issued a warning to TV3 not to publish the cuppatea recordings. I cannot recall the Police ever doing this before and there more than a slight stench of police interference in the political system.
If people are interested the section the police are referring to is section 216C of the Crimes Act 1961. The Act does require the interception to be unlawful, which requires the interception to be intentional.
Let’s see if the media have the guts to have the police opinion tested in court.
Not holding my breath for that to happen, bock bock bock……
The PM doesn’t like the content of his public conversations revealed. Wonder why?
Can New Zealand now watch this in a different light and still believe what he is saying about the cup-of-tea moment?
Some might say they wouldn’t trust him with the steam off their own …
And what was really printed on that piece of paper when he tried to defend his position on the S and P issue.
And of course there is this little beauty
We all remember Gordon Brown’s tragic accident with a microphone – that was aired. Surely there are grounds to have the tapes released in the name of public interest?
True, certainly a worthwhile comparison. And key is very good at foot in mouth behaviour
What about Bill English and the Kiwibank gone by lunchtime secret tape.
vto,
There is a huge body of knowledge including from the academic community on indigenous thinking, ideology and ways of being. Indigeneity is different in the sense that its arguments, philosophies, dogma derive from the relationships it has to the natural world from which it emerges.
That specialness that comes from being indigenous is not simply a Māori thing, 144 countries world-wide signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (only recently did New Zealand sign albeit with the proviso that it will have no material effect on NZ legislation or policy) which articulates the rights inherent in being indigenous.
What is plainly an un-real expectation on behalf of people like yourself and the majority of Pākehā benefiting from colonial expansion is that we should be ‘all the same.’ In other words Māori, Pasifikan, Asian, should give away any notion of being Māori, Pasifikan or Asian and to, at the very least, parody a life of whiteness – to assimilate the values and aspirations of the western tradition.
Aotearoa New Zealand is the largest Polynesian island in the world – a mini-England, Ireland or Scotland it should not be. If there is to be oneness than at the very least let it have a brown skin and a Polynesian tongue. The relentless pursuit of the assimilation of diverse peoples into a homogenous soup of blotchy whiteness is the crime – not what Margaret Mutu articulates. .
Kotahitanga is unity of purpose – which recognises diverse interests pursuing a common purpose – a far better ideology in my opinion.
Adele, you make a couple of points sure, but kinda missed the sinlge base point I was making re the notions of difference, superiority, specialness.
In addition, this point you make here …. “What is plainly an un-real expectation on behalf of people like yourself and the majority of Pākehā benefiting from colonial expansion is that we should be ‘all the same.’ ” is way off the mark and I cannot see how you can pull that assumption from my post. I say vive la difference, but not when it comes to the standing (legal, moral, etc) of separate peoples in one location (and in this regard I guess I am at odds with both the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigineous People and Te Tiriti. Both are/were no doubt appropriate for the existing circumstance, but both are limited by that same circumstance. They have an end-by date due to their failure to acknowledge the issue raised in my post).
Your waffle vto mirrors the denial too many people are in regarding the colonial and post colonial history of this country.
Until all citizens have roughly equal health and wealth stats (improved ones that is) more people had better start learning about Te Tiriti and acting, it holds us all back as a nation in the meantime.
Which particular waffle and denial is that Mr Mountain? My point was specific – about Mutu’s missing link in her otherwise robust outlook. (point in post at 6.37 above)
A couple more generations, as R Walker said, when we are all chocolate coloured, will sort this out without any intervention.
Going to the beach later to work on it!
It’s all cool, though – by the time we’re all chocolate-hued we’ll have discovered other reasons to argue.
“The relentless pursuit of the assimilation of diverse peoples into a homogenous soup of blotchy whiteness is the crime – not what Margaret Mutu articulates. . ”
You’re damn right is it, even if you’re white! I’d like it very much if as a nation of varied people, we all agreed that everyone should have – as unalienable right – enough to eat, a safe place to be, access to health free care and meaningful work.
I don’t care which language we speak or what colour we turn, but if it’s brown skin we need, can someone turn up the temperature? It’s November for godsakes and it’s not even warm!
See from this mornings Dom the Nats ( a branch of the Flat Earth Society ) are promoting roading again. At the same time Brent Crude flies high in prices and lwo in supply. Still infrastructural development follows the same mantra…roads roads roads….private transport.
When will these goons get that happy motoring is going to be a thing of the past sooner rather than later and in a post growth shrinking economy this represents a massive misallocation of precious resources and money?
There was once a PM who decided that oil was going to be (1) too expensive and (2) run out in the long run, who then built a synthetic fuel plant, electrified part of the rail network, built a dam on the Clyde, and a methanol plant. He is now roundly abhorred by the Left and castigated for these things. And oh, that’d be the Labour government that sold a good few of these projects off. Nice work.
Actually I’m Left and I think that some of the infrastructure Muldoon built was damn good, and has supported the NZ economy for decades.
Further, Goff admits that Labour made mistakes with asset sales and learnt from them.
National hasn’t.
yup, he’s admitted. He hasn’t bothered to flesh out what the mistakes were, and how he would have done anything differently, and which of his x-colleagues he is hanging out to dry. I suppose north of $9billion gives him the right to say he’s made a mistake though.
As I’ve constantly said though Colonial, go see the late Roger Kerrs stuff, it makes a mockery of labours anti-asset sales arguments.
I have read it several times over the decades. Very short term thinker. He always seemed to think of government as if he was an assets stripper who only ever lived in a bull market.
Of course most of the government procedures and assets are designed for hard times.
Sorry lprent, I was referring to his series on privatisation on his blog. Its very interesting reading and covers the selling of assets, obviously, but also the impact on dividends.
It’s a load of bollocks is what it is. But that’s true of everything the twerp said.
Kerr or IVV?
Draco, you have already shown in past posts that you couldnt differentiate a balance sheet from revenue statement, so calling the late Roger Kerr a twerp is a bit rich coming from you. I would respectfully suggest that his intellect would smother yours in a nano second.
IVV – you sound like a child boasting about how strong your dad is. You have a Kerr fetish – we get it – just don’t expect others to join in on the adulation.
All I have done Campbell, is direct readers to a series that analyses privatisations. And I don’t expect Kerr to be the recipient of adulation, and I certainly do not idolise the man. I respect him for his intellect, and I agree with his analysis since it is logical and hard to rebut. Perhaps if you read the series and debated it, your comments might have a wee bit more merit.
No it does not.
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/09/ten-myths-about-asset-sales/
Any businessman knows that selling income earning assets to pay the grocery bill is idiocy.
Not to mention the need to have control of energy assets, for strategic reasons, in a world where energy supplies are going to be extremely valuable.
Kerr, Like Douglas and Brash is ether blinded by his religion or a venal thief.
Kerr died recently.
“No it does not” What does not KJT? Are you saying that Kerr’s series does not debunk the nonsense rhetoric from Labour surrounding asset sales and loss of dividends?
Kerr’s ideas are nonsense. As reality has thoroughly disproved his ideas.
All the countries who have followed Kerr’s religion are failing. Havn’t you noticed.
14 Billion dollars annually off New Zealand’s balance sheet since the last round of asset sales.
If you think Kerr was an intelligent man, it is just relative to yours.
KJT, I’d be interested where your 14 billion dollars comes from.
You clearly haven’t read the series since you claim “reality has disproved his ideas” and “countries that have followed Kerrs religion are failing”. Therefore you have no idea what his ideas were. If you are suggesting that capitalism is failing, at least it will pick itself up and come again. When socialism fails, there are not comebacks, since socialism is great, until it runs out of other peoples money.
What’s this other peoples money. It is ours, we earnt it.
We should be able to democratically decide where it goes.
Neo-Liberal unregulated capitalism is running out of our money at present.
In Greece and Italy they are coming back with their hands out for more money to waste.
http://kjt-kt.blogspot.com/2011/03/voodoo-economics.html
I have read the series. Along with many other economic and social commentators and experts.
Unlike RWNJ’s I read fast enough to have read more than Kerr in the last year.
14 billion dollars is the closest estimate I have seen of the loses to New Zealand’s annual current account, resulting from the last rounds of asset sales.
Greece has run out of other peoples money since it borrowed more than it could sustain. The Socialist governments did exactly what socialist governments always do, make promises that they have to borrow to pay for, to remain in government. They ran out of other peoples money to give the greek population a standard of living that they (1) could not sustain and (2) did not deserve.
Ahem IVV…
The right was in charge during the collapse – just like Italy….
14 billion a year says asset sales are a fail.
I actually had that conversation in 1982 with Muldoon at a social event….dont ask but he was not nearly as nasty as I had anticipated as a spotty belligerent twenty something. We agreed on the principle of energy sovereignty and the need to have internationally competitive and secure electricity supply etc. Might have argued details and costs but in principle he was on the right track.
I also had the privilege of chatting to him Bored, and would have been spotty and 20 something as well! He was a damned clever man and I found him entirely personable.
It is one of those strange secrets of politics that I’ve always noticed with talking to rather large numbers of politicians and wannabes. Politicians are usually personable, nice in person, and very good persuaders. It is part of the basic job description that they should be likable in person.
I tend to ignore what they say and concentrate on what they do. It is much more revealing
I also look at the people around them more than I look at the politician themselves. Do they retain staff? How fractional is the debate when they are involved. etc… What is their demeanor towards opponents inside their party. Inside other parties. What do they do with critics?
Quite so. And as a spotty 20 something, I doubt whether my questions would have been particularly taxing!
Said it before.
If oil prices had continued to rise at the same rate, which everyone thought at the time, Muldoon would have been a hero.
The problem with his Government was not the borrowing for infrastructure and assets.
Many of them are still making good returns, for their private owners, after the first ACT Government gave them away, now!
If Borrowing to make us less dependent on imported energy is necessary it is still a good idea.
The problem was that Muldoon, like National now, borrowed excessively for bribes to National party voters. Farmers welfare, Super, Tax cuts etc.
Sound familiar.
The Herald is once again showing it’s increasing irrelevance –
Less than two weeks till the election and their front page lead story is about the apology of some kid who plays rugby for getting pissed and making a dick of himself on holiday.
I agree Campbell L. I am so sick of hearing about this every time I put the radio on. And everyone is so caring and worried about the poor young drunk (I think he is just 21), the hypocrites. If those who were truly worried worked for tougher liquor laws they would be acting rightly. If we as a society showed determination to improve the situation and gave people the right to decide on the number of and placement of drinking outlets , that would be a plus in turning round this necrotising culture.
Also change the attitude in society that finds excuses for the people who fall foul of the ferment (beautiful alliteration prism). Slam drunks in jail, fine them, put a set charge on everyone who uses the A & E and refuse to treat the violent and abusive.
We all get stopped and breath tested as part of the pretence of doing something about drunkeness. So we are under surveillance in a semi-police state because the government and local authorities won’t or can’t make the changes to reduce alcohol addiction, because they won’t squeeze out the clubs and liquor outlets, reducing their numbers and making them bring in earlier closing times.
MANA MEDIA RELEASE
14 November 2011
MANA SAYS LANDLINE POLLS MUST GO
MANA leader Hone Harawira urges voters not to be fooled by phoney landline polls that create a false impression about which candidate is in front and which one is behind.
He says today’s poll released by Te Karere proves polls that rely on landlines are a thing of the past.
“It has long been known that mobile phones outstripped landlines as a method of communication five years ago for Maori. It’s about time polling companies caught up with modern day reality instead of rehashing flawed methodologies that do not reflect accurately what is happening on the ground.
“Polling companies and media networks need to be held to account. Instead of having minor margins of error, they should tell the truth when it comes to the Maori seats where the margin of error is give or take 20%?.
“We know that Annette Sykes has done remarkably well to narrow the margin between herself and Te Ururoa Flavell. People should remember she began at 0% and iPredict, the country’s most reliable forecaster of election results, has seen Annette’s vote grow by 10% each week.
“At present she trails Te Ururoa by the small margin of 10%. That means, based on the current trend, that she will win the election by 10%. That’s what we are hearing on the streets.
“Her remaining vote will come from a collapsing Labour vote. The national trend with the party vote is that Labour is in a downhill spiral from 30% to a possible 20%.
“Voters are awakening to the ability of MANA candidates, including Annette Sykes, to vehemently oppose National and the Maori Party plans to introduce policies that will hurt the poor. Left voters are being faced with two choices; put their faith with an imploding Labour Party or back MANA whose candidates have a long history of opposing right wing agendas?”
“Cyclone Sykes is gaining pace heading into the election. The momentum is with her and I ask Maori from Waiariki to think about who will be best at stopping National in Parliament.
HONE HARAWIRA
Media Liaison Peter Verschaffelt
media@mana.net.nz http://mana.net.nz
The Waiariki electorate will be very interesting, especially as Tuhoe will be well behind Annette, as Te Ururoa was complicit in Hone’s removal.
Children are not people too
according to the welfare system.
everyone on welfare is allowed
$80 of income before being taxed at
70 cents in the dollar, except
of course the children (who are
not people). Every child a
mum on a dpb, or other benefit,
should increase the threshold
(before abatement starts) by $80.
Routinely governments ignores
Human rights, and we lack a culture
of human rights thanks t the existence
of the Human rights Commission
shuffling human rights under the
carpet or hiding human rights thinking
in plain sight behind ‘Plain english’.
Why are Children not considered people?
Why can a grandparent open a trust
for their kid that pays their kid
$80 of income a week, that their
parent cannot touch and so would
be considered parential income.
But a grandparent less well off
who cannot afford lawyers cannot
provide extra for their grandchild?
Just imagine the nighmare, your
kid gets a credit card given to them
by your ex-partners parents, and they
can spend like happy little tightwads.
I hope the sleuths here are having fun figuring this one out
http://www.whokilledjohnkey.com/
Know nothing of the guy apart from this little stunt. Mahon presents as a self promoting dick and immature provacateur at best. A team blue provocateur at worst. The artists job description involves button and boundary pushing but they should not expect to be liked for it. Two weeks out from the election? you tell us freedom what his timing is all about.
Political assassinations are no joke whatsoever in my view. We have had two politically linked murders in this country-FG Evans Waihi miner and unionist and Ernie Abbot Wellington Trades Hall cleaner.
It’s art for crissake ! Like most decent art, it is about perception. If you only see a crime, well that says a great deal about your socially programmed response when confronted with a reality that simply calls into question the morally and ethically ambiguous la-la land of modern politics. The work of the artist is not an assassination attempt nor suggesting there should be one. It is not condoning a crime nor is it commissioning one. It is not a crime to attempt to provoke thought in this country, yet.
Based on the views expressed against this piece i suspect a large number of brain dead idiots will be lining up for an RFID chip when the reality of the rapidly approaching Police State is finally made public.
The current media push on Tap’n’Go credit cards shows how the incremental plan is progressing nicely.
I do wish some of the vitriolic statements made against free speech were focused on matters such as the Search and Surveillance Bill, or The Customs’ Integrated Targeting and Operations Centre or the untested Backscatter Radiation Scanners now in operation in NZ, but no, let’s just bleat about creative attempts to get NZ people thinking about the future that is beng stolen from their children.
A number of commenters here and on other blogs have commented long and hard about the SSB in particular (and done stuff in the real world too). Kiwis do tend to suck it up, take photo drivers licenses, there were queues at the malls to bloody get one. Mate of mine held out for two years, could not afford the fines any longer.
My main point with Mahon’s Key work is the timing. Self censorship? that is why I asked your opinion on the timing. Art gets no exemption sticker from politics in the middle of an election.
I am happy for cows to be sectioned and mounted in formaldehyde filled glass cases, for small squares of semi gloss white paint to be slapped on matt white walls, for artists taking a dump to be videoed in close up, for artists to walk down K-road in crotchless chaps with no underwear; but I am not happy for an assassination image of the NZ Prime Minister to be launched in a tight election campaign that if National win will indeed be about “drill it, mine it, sell it”.
so you don’t mind being asked to think, you just don’t want that pressure during an election. got it! 😉
Who’s liable for Pike River?
Then in 2008 National ignored a Labour Department recommendation that check inspectors be restored in underground mines. This undoubtedly ensured a lack of mine safety at Pike River with disastrous results…
Green party link to billboard attacks.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/campaign-trail/5967550/Green-party-link-to-billboard-attacks
Dr Norman’s EA’s partner in fact.
O dear, how sad, all of the nice caring image gone up in smoke.
O dear, how true what the stickers said!
Some removable sign enhancement is small change compared to the vandalism the National Party has performed on this country.
Russell Norman isn’t so flippant about it, it’s a major kick in the guts for him, from his own people.
Russell just needs to do the obvious Pete with those involved and he should be forgiven by supporters.
What a wallace that guy was appearing on RNZ though. Some people do lose the plot during election campaigns as even the Prime Minister has demonstrated.
Nah Pete it was sticky on words that were then removed.
Russell has to be seen to say the right thing, but like many of us know National is lying all over the place. A half page ad in my local paper today, full colour, building a brighter future, claiming they have reduced debt – lies
Column from Phil Heatley in the local rag. Taking credit for things he said they have done while in Government.
All, but one, were started/approved while Labour was in.
TV3 has a golden opportunity to question him and instead gives him a golden opportunity to totally deflect the focus – He has had hours to prepare himself for this interview and unfortunately the interviewer is a lightweight. She does however give him several chances to endorse Brash and ACT leadership and he cannot answer that directly either.
Opening question:
Q. “Do you have a clear conscience about what’s on the tape?”
Key: “I have a totally clear conscience about what I’ve done, I think it’s the Herald on Sunday…” followed by 7 minutes of rehearsed diatribe.
http://www.3news.co.nz/VIDEO-John-Key-discusses-the-teapot-tapes/tabid/370/articleID/232760/Default.aspx
There is one interesting moment where he talks about confidentiality being breached – “If we let this go then today me, next … could be you. We cannot allow this principle to be breached.”
Go for it John Boy. We can’t wait for your public castigation of Paula Bennett over her breaching confidentiality in her totally inappropriate use of a beneficiary’s information to protect her own and your political hides.
Surely all this is deeply ironic?
Key was quite happy to “allow this principle to be breached”, when it was Maori who were being illegally taped. Passing legislation to retrospectively ‘legalise’, illegal and intrusive electronic snooping on Tuhoe.
Inadvertently condemning himself with his own words, “If we let this go then today me,…”
Cry me a river Key you hypocrite.
the whole thng was rehearsed from start to finish.
the tories know how to waste time inparliament and how to deliver red herrings to the juvenile infants at present infesting the media.
dumb and dumber.
The Greens have admitted going dirty in their campaigning, things are getting bad when they stoop into the mire.
Most voters are turned off politics and politicians because of dirt, smear and negativeness.
Time to clean up the campaign.
No idiot, learn to read before you embarrass yourself again, and again and again.
The Leader of the Greens has taken the front foot and outed the person responsible. A person who is in a relationship to someone who works for the Greens. Certainly it is a close link and yes if the party roles were different and it was a NACT worker’s partner i would say the same thing. Who do you think does the regular vandalism to all Party billboards if not those supporters linked to the workers and the volunteers of political parties? Do you honestly think all that damage is from people not interested in Politics?
Based on your regularly discredited comments, it is little wonder you won’t even vote for yourself.
?? Are you trying to claim that calling for a cleanup of how we do politics is discredited?
Yes, Norman has dealt with it very well, but it is still highly embarrassing to him and the Greens.
Greens being involved in widespread planned illegal activity – which was totally unnecessary by the way the polls were looking – it illustrates how pervasive dirty politics is, if not directly in party leadership at least amongst party operatives.
Back biting, defacing hoardings, sneering and doing your best to smear the opposition is a tradition Pete.
Some proper dirty politics for ya.
It’s a tradition that in this day and age surely we could leave in the past.
It’s usually counter-productive and counter to good leadership. We should demand better.
Good leadership?
To me that means intellect, ability, passion, a well articulated vision of where my country is headed and the political nous to be able to get there.
I’ve voted in every election since 1975 and the only politician that exhibited everything I wanted in a leader was Clark and the current offering, across all parties, leaves me cold.
But good luck with that wee pipe dream Pete.
The only way to achieve something is to try. I’m starting small and working my way up.
We’d all be better off if your leader was edged out of Wellington.
“exhibited everything I wanted in a leader was Clark”
And that would include the lazy $800K of tax payers funds inappropriately and illegally taken?
keep playing with those venn diagrams, ivv. You’ll figure them out.
You mean the funds that were decided, after 14 years of them being appropriately and legally taken, to be inappropriate and illegal?
Draco, as always you are willing to put your spin on past history – check out the Chief Electoral Officer’s take on it “inappropriate and illegal” were his words. Doesnt matter how you cut it Draco, Labour were caught with their hand in the till as it were.
The same till that ate national’s GST invoice?
You do realise that every party did the same thing don’t you? And had been doing it for 14 years? And if the AG went back further than three months Nationals bill would have been quite bit higher?
Not putting spin on past history – just relating how it was.
http://keepingstock.blogspot.com/2011/11/russel-norman-apologises.html
Oh dear – so it looks like any possible Green / National ‘coalition talks’ are probably now right off the table?
How sad 🙁
Not sure how telling the voting public the TRUTH is ‘defacing’ billboards?
If the mainstream media isn’t going to provide accurate information in order to better enable the voting public to ‘cast an informed’ vote – then this ‘piggy-backing’ technique seems fair to me.
I mean – it’s not like the National billboards have been physically damaged / knocked down?
hmmmm……….. maybe it’s just that the TRUTH hurts?
I predict that National’s apparently total reliance on fomer Wall St Bank$ter, ex-foreign exchange advisor for the (privately-owned) New York Federal Reserve, former Head of Derivatives for Merrill Lynch, current Bank of America shareholder – NZ Prime Minister John Key – is going to be their downfall in this 2011 election.
As one of my banners (yet to be published by mainstream media), but which has been publicly-displayed in the wilds of the Epsom electorate, states rather succintly –
“The KEY thing in life is sincerity.
(Same election hoarding photo of arguably ‘shonky’ John Key)
Once you can fake that – you’ve got it made.”
A week is a VERY long time in politics.
Eleven days to go…………..
🙂
Penny Bright
Independent Candidate for Epsom
Campaigning against ‘white collar’ CRIME, CORRUPTION (and its root cause – PRIVATISATION) and CORPORATE WELFARE.
If there was any justice National would be in court for their bill boards.
They should be required to tell the truth.
Vote National. We will steal your wealth and assets and leave you to pay our debts..
Ignoring arts and culture
National aren’t the only party putting arts and culture on the to do list though. An overall lack of any substantial policy creation has been highlighted in a current issue of the Listener.
Naomi Klein: Capitalism vs. the Climate.
Claiming that climate change is a plot to steal American freedom is rather tame by Heartland standards. Over the course of this two-day conference, I will learn that Obama’s campaign promise to support locally owned biofuels refineries was really about “green communitarianism,” akin to the “Maoist” scheme to put “a pig iron furnace in everybody’s backyard” (the Cato Institute’s Patrick Michaels). That climate change is “a stalking horse for National Socialism” (former Republican senator and retired astronaut Harrison Schmitt). And that environmentalists are like Aztec priests, sacrificing countless people to appease the gods and change the weather (Marc Morano, editor of the denialists’ go-to website, ClimateDepot.com).
Single page
Did I hear – “Sorry Russel, I had a brain storm and encouraged the vandalisation of about 700 National billboards”? Just the sort of activist the Green Party doesn’t need. Someone who outsources their brain work obviously.
Radiation release unaccounted for
The radiation is apparently not from Fukushima and the Czech Republic is adamant that none of their reactors have released radiation that would account for the higher levels of Iodine 131 in the atmosphere. So where the hell did the radiation come from?
Why NZ can never compete in the modern world economy. Rakon a NZ business has had a 14 per cent rise in revenue but its profits cut by a rise in the exchange rate to 81 cents when it was 10 cents lower last year. Then it made a $5 million profit, this year on more revenue, a measly $569,000.
Listen to the Radionz business report and get the details, and then you will understand why we are forever falling behind. Films occasionally show a person being dragged on the ground behind a horse. If we think of our country like this, being dragged along by a mendacious and vicious financial system we can get a true and instant image of our position.
Why should, how can businesses stay in this country that pays lip service to wanting a thriving, innovative country but then allows the profit to be siphoned off through whimsical runs or drops in the exchange rate as a result of playing with our currency by the the financial masses, leaving us an uncertain amount that no planning can define.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5968560/Rakon-returns-to-the-red-shares-slump
I think the statement that we can never compete in a modern world economy is false but educated. If we really looked into this we would see that economies of scale and trade terms have a very distorting impact. Contrary to popular belief “free trade” deals rarely do anything fair for the smaller nations, in fact they merely open them up to anti competitive practices.
One of the biggest problems we have is the differential of “slave” wage levels, for example we could never compete with Chinese wages because they are so low. Consequently we should in an ideal world create equal opportunity by tariffing them. It wont happen….but what will is that energy scarcity will level the playing field to a high degree in the near future. Those with adequate energy resources to leverage versus raw manpower will come out ahead.
Come 2020 my forecast is that we will have a very hungry world, the petro chems needed to fertilise and plow will be in short supply…and then there will be the effects of climate change. Ugly picture but we will still in NZ be doing that one thing we are really good at is growing grass all year round and turning it into protein for export. That’s a distinct competitive advantage.
Bored – I am blinded by tears from seeing our exchange rate swoop about like an out-of-control rocket. It’s seeing the carry trade et al buying and selling our money for short-term gains. We are quite small in the world economy yet I think we are 11th most traded, when there are over 100 countries.
It just makes me despair as we keep watching our balance and footing as we run on this treadmill no-one ever admitting that we will never get ahead. Relying on big splashes in our small pond from oil shocks and climate change is dangerous. We will have given away our ability to grow what we want to Monsanto by then. The cretins in charge of our economy, the idiot savants, won’t recognise a tipping point if they fall over it.
I hope the greens are going to compensate national.
Akshully. National should be prosecuted under the commerce act for false advertising on their bill boards. And thanking those who changed them, for helping them avoid prosecution..
😈
Is a coalition agreement what you had in mind for ‘compensation’?
I hear Key is relaxed about it.
So we have our very own kiwi curtain twitchers club–“Snitchline” over at blubbers blog. Disgusting, the ultimate neighbourhood watch. Not quite Stasi junior but given their political masters Search and Surveillence Bill who knows where such snooping will go.
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2011/11/information-please/#disqus_thread
Would expect anything less from the sickness beneficiary.
comment deleted
[sprout]
I missed what he said sprout – was it mildly insulting?
Not from that fine fellow, surely!
A humorous little story on stuff – Key’s bus crashes at the first corner .
Not so humorous is the fact that two apparently legally parked vehicles “were broken in to police and shifted to allow the bus to pass” (in Stuff’s unparalleled sub-editing paucity). Isn’t that unlawfully interfering with a motor vehicle? Shouldn’t they just have driven the bus out the same way they brought it in? Arrogant fucktards.
” The 1% are the very best destroyers of wealth the world has ever seen” George Monbiot, The Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/07/one-per-cent-wealth-destroyers
The Green party is tested over National’s billboard revelations and it is interesting to contrast the way Russel Norman dealt with the situation compared to Key’s handling of the Standard and Poors debacle:
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/11/green-leadership-tested-over-billboards.html
History repeats itself on Wall street
.http://i.imgur.com/5zlio.jpg
National’s Election Hoarding’s 13
On September 2nd John Key opened the Customs’ Integrated Targeting and Operations Centre, saying: “Anyone who is innocent has nothing to fear.”
Quick, someone get me some tissues. (*sniff*)
I think it’s time we passed the hat around.
The National Government will organise that.
Closeup tonight is bringing in a lip reader.
“I’m not sure what he’s saying but he’s definitely drunk”
heh. Is it possible to lip read much by watching a face from side on?
Yeah! Key talks out the side of his mouth so should be easy.
And he sits on his brain (what little there is)
Its all a joke to the born-to-rule.
This does provide an explanation with why Key was reportedly injudicious with his comments, however.
What was Key’s prior engagement to turning up at the cafe? Why was he drinking at it?
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution
Incredible live stream from the police raid on Zuccotti Park and the Occupy Wall Street people
Just been to Meet the Candidates meeting for the Waitakere Electorate in Glen Eden this evening. I just wish someone had planted a recording device in the vicinity of Paula Bennett and Winston Peters – they were having a few intimate discussions with a few giggles along the way!
Paula and Winston being intimate
*shudder*
Please no more detail, have mercy.
Campbell, that was my original reaction too!
John Key announces brand new hoarding’s
After a large number of National’s election hoardings were vandalized, John Key decided he would have to commission some more appropriate artwork for his re-election campaign to be successful. His brief was to design a new set of hoardings that captures exactly what the National party really stands for…