Open Mike 15/11/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 15th, 2017 - 133 comments
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133 comments on “Open Mike 15/11/2017 ”

  1. patricia bremner 1

    jacinda appears to be having an impact on those she meets.

    • cleangreen 1.1

      We have sent a request to jacinda to come to meet our community groups in Gisborne/HB over our own “local government’s support to retore/re-open our mothballed rail services.”

      We are currently awaiting Jacinda’s acceptance to meet our committees in Napier & Gisborne, as we are happy if jacinda does want to be a ‘mover & shaker’ when these “roadblocks” are in everyone’s way.

      We see this morning our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has committeed $3 million dollars to give to the Manus Island refugees.

      Three million dollars is half we need to get our railn re-opened and it would only cost $6 million to re-open our Gisborne/Napier rail service without improvements, we are advised byour engineers.

      So we are seeing jacinda’s offer to communities needing help as a positive Patricia. “lets do this”.

      • OnceWasTim 1.1.1

        Yep. And hopefully the money saved from corporate welfare (perhaps all the stuff that isn’t dressed up as ‘PPP’s ) will more than cover it.
        Once that Soimun no-Brudges vanity projek the Tauranga Expressway is paid off (the four lane thing that never sees traffic in one direction having vehicles parallel to each other in both lanes, even during peak hours) could have its tolls contribute to more sensible options (going forward).

        …. and then we have the Auckland East-West link. (and Judith Collins desperately trying to defend it in parliament today pulling out her best she-devil, would-be crusher, desperately trying to be sensible persona).

        • OnceWasTim 1.1.1.1

          Ekshully @CG, now I think about it, it’d have been a fucking sight cheaper to have provided a kind of roll-on roll-off link between Murapara and (port of) Tauranga using rail than that elephant (no disrespect to elephants) that’s dressed up as a road ‘highway’. Do you know how many tunnels on that line there are that might need lowering? I can’t find any

  2. Andre 2

    An interesting and nuanced take on the 2016 Dem primary. Among other things, it makes a solid argument that Sanders was actually the biggest beneficiary of the cleared Democrat field.

    Because the fewer competitors there are trying to get your attention, the easier it is to grab a big chunk of it. If more solid competitors like Biden and Warren had also been in the race, then Sanders would have been relegated to the ineffectual fringe grumpy role he’s had his entire career.

    https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/14/16640082/donna-brazile-warren-bernie-sanders-democratic-primary-rigged

    • Good article. Interesting to read the Clinton rigged it lines being pulled apart and given actual context rather than just a clintonhate vibe.

    • Sumsuch 2.2

      You don’t understand the last 40 years. Biden is the flake , not Sanders. ‘Mr Vice-President’. You don’t understand the people v. the powerful. Our great grandfathers’ generation it was a flora of the guts we couldn’t deny.

  3. Ed 3

    It’s like I fell asleep and woke up in a different country.
    Kim Hill and John Campbell. What a dream start to the day!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=291ET6Py6H8

  4. Ed 4

    ‘Daunting’ Antarctic sea ice plummet could be tipping point.

    ‘A dramatic drop in the amount of sea ice around Antarctica has scientists wondering if the continent has hit a tipping point.

    There has been a record 30 percent decrease in the total amount of sea ice, and this summer it’s disappearing from the Ross Sea at a rate not seen in more than 30 years.

    The rapidly changing conditions are having a major impact on this year’s scientific research at Scott Base, with scientists describing the changes as “unusual”, “unprecedented” and “daunting”.

    One of the affected scientists is Antarctic oceanographer Dr Natalie Robinson, who studies sea ice and what lies beneath it.

    “We had about 200km of sea ice to play with last year, but this year we’re down to about 25-30km, so it’s certainly a very different ball game,” she told Newshub.’

    http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2017/11/daunting-antarctic-sea-ice-plummet-could-be-tipping-point.html

    • cleangreen 4.1

      yes Ed ageed,

      Kim & John are a wonderful duo I have always had a deep respect for kim going back years as she has been an enduring soul who presents a simply delightful presentation of every item covered.

      long live Kim Hill, she should be made Radio NZ Production Manager ( and paid suitablly for this) and begin to teach all other presenters on public media the art of being neutral in presentation of issues, without bias!!!!!!

      As Kim & John are the only ones we hear that possess “neutrality without bias.”

      We hope they do cover this Antartica melting ice cap to the south of us as we will be dramatically affected by this within five years everywhere in our low lying global regions.

    • tc 4.2

      That and the northwest passage is pretty much never frozen over to prevent shipping anymore.

      Both ends are ‘burning’ in relative terms.

  5. Wyndham 5

    Kim Hill is a living treasure !

  6. Ed 6

    If I were the government, I’d deal with the neoliberal reserve bank.
    This is meddling by the banking and finance industries and they need to be reminded who is boss.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/343835/govt-reserve-bank-clash-over-kiwibuild-numbers.

    • patricia bremner 6.1

      Yes Ed, they are part of the “grumpy neo-liberal crowd” who have their snouts in the housing trough and do not want competition of any kind. Banks have grown fat on interest on inflated loans.

      The fact that the government will back developments by buying the smaller units and townhouses up to 20% of builds, to help meet demand, helps secures developer’s futures.

      Further, the freeing up of land assures no bottle necks, and the proposed fast tracking of pre-approved basic designs should speed up council approvals.

      These are co-operative ventures, not destructive ones competing for fewer homes as they are for differing parts of the market, and ensure continuity. Great!!

      • cleangreen 6.1.1

        100% Patricia,

        The greedies can’t get used of loosing control can they?

        We ask these ‘greedies’;

        “How much is enough”?

      • alwyn 6.1.2

        “Yes Ed, they are part of the “grumpy neo-liberal crowd” who have their snouts in the housing trough and do not want competition of any kind. Banks have grown fat on interest on inflated loans.”

        Do really not understand who, and what, the Reserve Bank is and what they do?
        They don’t loan money to people to buy houses.
        Actually they once used to, many, many years ago. They apparently would make loans to their staff. That was back in the sad old days when wages were low, tax rates were enormously high and perks were not taxed.
        Long, long, long ago though.

        • Draco T Bastard 6.1.2.1

          They don’t loan money to people to buy houses.

          No, they loan it out to private banks after the private banks have loaned out so much money that they’re insolvent and need propping up.

          Actually they once used to, many, many years ago. They apparently would make loans to their staff. That was back in the sad old days when wages were low, tax rates were enormously high and perks were not taxed.
          Long, long, long ago though.

          Not just to their staff but to the general public to build houses. It was the old Housing Corp loan that many people used to buy/build their first home with minimal interest rate. This was discontinued when the government decided that corporate profit was more important than people.

          We could do it again. Done properly it would be far better than what we have now and better than what we had then as well.

          • Psycho Milt 6.1.2.1.1

            Yep, the Housing Corp was awesome. Lent us money to buy a house when we were a shop assistant and a postgrad student – not many couples like that buying a house these days, unless they’ve rich relatives.

        • KJT 6.1.2.2

          What old days when wages were low.?

          Another right wing alternative planet.

    • millsy 6.2

      Another example of the pushback that Labour is going to get when pushing through even then most modest of changes.

    • DH 6.3

      Twyford seems to have his finger on the pulse of it, this should provide a boost in developments by virtue of more funding.

      Banks won’t lend on a construction, they’ll only lend against a secure asset like the land. Developers usually need to find at least 40% of the cash to fund a development. Since it’s super high risk few will lend them the dosh and those that will charge usurious rates of interest.

      If the Govt is minimising the risk, as Twyford claims, then we should see more developments, not less, as more funding taps are turned on for them.

    • alwyn 6.4

      That’s funny Ed.
      Less than a week ago the Reserve Bank were being lauded as being the fountain of wisdom, on this site no less.
      Are you really advocating that they shouldn’t be allowed to carry out their job which is to give free and frank advice to the country?
      Look at all the enthusiasm for them and their opinions just a few days ago.
      https://thestandard.org.nz/reserve-bank-predicts-economic-growth-under-new-government/

      • cleangreen 6.4.1

        Alwyn;

        “Are you really advocating that they shouldn’t be allowed to carry out their job which is to give free and frank advice to the country?”

        That is a big stretch to believe the RB really know what’s in ‘our best interest’, when they have been ‘overseeing’ us buying overseas funds fro forien banks to prop our “emergency funding” for disasters ect’ when other countries were using their RB to print money so now we are paying $6 Billlion annually in ‘interest only” on our huge crown debt now because of this when some of the ’emergency” funding had been printed by our RB instead.

        We advocate that the reserve ;bank act; be ammended and go back to as it was when the last time we had to print money.

        And the last time was under the first labour Government of Michael Joseph Savage when he and he pulled us out of the spiralling depression then doing it.

        Alwyn did you watch parliament yesterday when the $11.7 billion dollar man (S Joyce) asked David Parker if he had the cost figures for the Christchurch re-build?

        Parker said he believed it to be around $60 billion, so if true we are really being loaded up with so much overseas bank debt like Greece was, until we may finally go the same way as Greece.

    • Why do I get the distinct impression that the RBNZ doesn’t understand economics?

      The RBNZ would be right if the numbers of builders remained the same. Considering Kiwibuild always planned on better technology and training more builders this obviously isn’t the case and thus they’re wrong.

  7. eco maori 7

    I did not no my what my name was till my great grandmother died I stayed with the name she preferred to call me . But staying with the name I have has done me no favours as a person can tell I’m Maori and I don’t try and hide that fact.
    Good name for the new Kiwi In Rotorua I have a niece with that name and she has excellent parents her father has worked for DOC for 20 od years and her mother is a Teacher her future will be bright we have the same sir name.

    Do we really want OUR Warriors franchise or any sports franchise sold to Foreigners as OUR sports stars are one of the reason we have a big influence In OUR worlds Society.
    They could have ulterior motives and the only motive we want for OUR sports stars is to win fairly and for them to be good role models for our Moko’s and all the Moko’s around OUR world Ka pai

  8. Ed 8

    Yesterday Guyon found a racist thug called Ian who was happy to brutalise the inmates at Manus for 18 months.
    Guyon the Tory amplified this guard’s voice to smear Jacinda and Labour. No difficult questions were asked of Ian.

    This morning people were allowed to challenge the view of Ian.

    Why was such a thug allowed a platform in the first place, RNZ?

    • OnceWasTim 8.1

      I noticed Ian pulled out the old “I’m not racist BUT….” line.

      He might consider too that if you treat people the way they have been on Manus, and after the trauma they’ve already suffered, they’re not necessarily all going to be the compliant little beings Ian thinks they should be

    • Carolyn_Nth 8.2

      Well, it shows RNZ is truly public service, and gives space to diverse political views.

      And, public service media needs to do this. Fine if we then get some other interviewers at RNZ coming at the same issue from a different angle.

      It can’t be all liberal/left.

    • gsays 8.3

      I was amused to hear a security guard pontificate on immigration and human psychology, too.
      From where do they get these experts?

  9. eco maori 9

    I’m putting this out there to protect my sibling and there Moko future .
    To the largest forestry management company in New Zealand the first letter in there name is P F.
    Can you make sure that my sibling get the best deal possible for there forestry estate harvest as they no nothing about forestry But I no a lot about this subject and I don’t want to use the Thunder .
    Because my sister is so stubborn she won’t admit she need my help just about but not quite . So I just use my wisdom to guide them in the right direction and they are listening to my lectures as my children put it I am there only wise protector who has there best interest at hart and I will not be happy if I see them being ripped off.
    As I no that some people see the innocent people as $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ .P.S I was going to run and build a house on there estate but this action would not have been good for my Moko’s future and It’s there future that matters the most to me. Yes I could have challenged the estate but I don’t like being negtive on people especially with them so close to my Hart and I don’t like pissing money on Lawyers
    Kia kaha

  10. vto 11

    If wealth is pushed to the top, society collapses

    If wealth is pushed to the bottom, society prospers

    Why is this so hard to understand?
    Why is it so hard to action?

    • cleangreen 11.1

      VTO That was brilliant. thanks for that.

    • eco maori 11.2

      +100

    • Why is this so hard to understand?

      Some people don’t want to understand that as they like to think that they’re special and that’s why they’re rich and everyone else is poor.

      Why is it so hard to action?

      Now, that’s a very good question. Why do our governments always kowtow to the rich and what they want and don’t listen to everyone else?

      • eco maori 11.3.1

        It’s because money has got power and they have a lot of money.
        Money has power because We give the power to money it would be toilet paper if we did not worship money over everything else in OUR WORLD SOCIETY Ka Pai

  11. Pete 12

    The changes to paid parental leave has given Hosking a chance to show what an arse he is.

    “National were never fans of expanding paid parental leave” he says so that means he can declare that Labour are “telling us how to live our lives and how to raise our kids.”

    • ianmac 12.1

      Hoskings seems increasingly weird. Perhaps he should have a chat with J Kirwin and seek help.

      • Sumsuch 12.1.1

        Enjoy his teeth. And , given he grew up in the welfare state like me , I have no polite reluctance in hacking his ankles with the most forceful blows. Vive us.

  12. Morrissey 13

    See if you can watch this appalling performance by New York’s
    moronic governor Andrew Cuomo without screaming at your screen.

    Imagine if, in the 1950s, New York Governor Averell Harriman had attacked the Montgomery bus boycott, or if Governor Rockefeller in the ’70s had attacked the anti-apartheid movement. They didn’t, of course, which makes them morally and ethically very different to the intellectual pygmy that currently sits in Albany….

    http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201711140214-0025544

    • ianmac 13.1

      Freedom to bear arms Morrissey. Solid.
      Freedom of free speech. Ummm. Not really.

    • alwyn 13.2

      Give the poor guy a break.
      He’s a Democrat and they really aren’t very smart.
      As Will Rogers put it so well.
      “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat”.
      Cuomo is pretty good evidence of that statement.

      • red-blooded 13.2.1

        Truly? Trump isn’t a Democrat, and neither are any of his voters or the various morons he’s appointed to key positions. Are you sure you’re attacking the right party? (And this from the guy who today announced that he didn’t know what the Reserve Banks does and yet a few minute later thought his comments on their activities should carry some weight…)

      • Morrissey 13.2.2

        Thanks alwyn, your point is a very good one. Because the Democratic Party is dominated by the likes of the Cuomo and Clinton families, we can look forward to indefinite Republican Party rule in the United States

        • alwyn 13.2.2.1

          “indefinite Republican Party rule in the United States”

          Now I am really getting scared. I don’t think very much of the leading lights in the Democratic Party but the Republicans are generally even more ‘barking at the moon’ types.

          I will confess my personal choice, if I had been able to vote in the US, would have been Republican Governor Kasich of Ohio but he is definitely an odd one amount among his party. The rest of the people who ran for President were pretty flaky and Trump was the worst. He could end up getting us into a war.

          Even Hillary would have been much, much better.

  13. Ad 14

    Dance all around the world.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdjggnZmsCY

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

  14. ianmac 15

    Anyone wonder if Jacinda is loosing weight? The pace that she has adopted since becoming the Leader and PM must be taking a toll. Take care Jacinda.

    • cleangreen 15.1

      Yes, Ianmac, jacinda has lost weight.

      I noticed this too.

      Jacinda; – while you stress stop & be kind to your body to please.

      Get a daily massage to mobilise the toxins & take a hyrotherapy bath every day as i do, by adding backing soda, and other times use hyrogen peroxide (H2O2) (about a half of a honey pot filled or more of H2O2.

      The hydrogen peroxide forces oxygen (like a hypobaric chamber in reverse) into your body and this energises the body, while it destroys all the free radical cells we take in our polluted environment every day, which can cause toxicity and more extreme symtoms.

      “Lets do this.” ilovejacinda.

      • Stunned Mullet 15.1.1

        “The hydrogen peroxide forces oxygen (like a hypobaric chamber in reverse) into your body and this energises the body, while it destroys all the free radical cells we take in our polluted environment every day,..”

        Um no it really doesn’t..

    • Anne 15.2

      Yes, she has lost weight and it shows in her face. I’m sure her partner Clarke will be preparing nourishing meals for when she returns. She’s had a frenetic two and a bit months. Amazing to think what has happened in such a short space of time. I’m still pinching myself for confirmation it is all true. 🙂

      • veutoviper 15.2.1

        I am still pinching myself also. Jacinda is certainly looking a bit thinner, particularly in her face – but it is hardly surprising with not just the frenetic pace of the political side of her life, but losing both her beloved grandmother and her adored cat in the midst of it all. But Clarke is on to it and has the fish as part of healthy food in hand …

        https://twitter.com/NZClarke/status/930591243461042176

    • OnceWasTim 15.3

      Yep. But at the same time I’ve been wondering whether Mr Creosote is expanding.
      I’m pretty sure Ms Adern will cope, I’m not so sure about Brownlee.

    • weka 15.4

      Stress is a killer. Look at the state of Obama’s body by the time he left the White House.

  15. Bearded Git 16

    This is good news. Will reverse some of the sly pro-developer anti-landscape rules the previous government slipped through under the radar of most people.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98853157/david-parker-plans-to-reverse-nick-smiths-resource-consent-nonnotification-law

    Nick Smith and his cronies have a lot to answer for.

  16. adam 17

    For lprent – This is starting them very young on the world of coding. https://kano.me/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s6VmMr5DFU&ab_channel=LinusTechTips

  17. Puckish Rogue 18

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98887491/opposition-making-a-sport-out-of-question-time

    Not sure about Jane Cliftons political allegiances but surely even the most one-eyed, dyed-in-the-wool leftie can’t be impressed by how the new government is going

    • Bearded Git 18.1

      After 9 years of lies and evasion under a weak and biased Speaker this looks pretty good to me.

      I would have thought you would have been applauding Labour’s pragmatism on CRPTPTPPC or whatever it is, Pukish

      • Puckish Rogue 18.1.1

        I think its a good move by Labour/NZFirst because we need to trade, simple as that. But I’m not a leftie, I didn’t vote for a party that was protesting the TPPA, I voted for a party that supported the TPPA

        I will agree that Trev (and Tolley…TnT perhaps?) have made a good start as speaker and deputy speaker and long may it continue

    • Robert Guyton 18.2

      Clifton’s column didn’t read “unimpressed” to me; she notes that the “keepers” are keeping mum while their bosses are away; very wise, I’d have thought, and that Trevor Mallard has the measure of even the slimiest of the Nats, citing Bridges attempt at humour/smarminess; Clifton notes that no Nat dared try him on his Hurrumph ruling. I reckon you’re wrong in your claim that no one is impressed by the Government’s performance, very wrong indeed. As an aside, isn’t it wonderful not to have to be be exposed to Key’s snide, immature schoolyard taunts and put-downs. What a pill he was! What a joy too, listening to Trevor Mallard bring respect back to the Speaker’s role. We suffered some appalling years with Carter plonked onto that seat.

      • Puckish Rogue 18.2.1

        “she notes that the “keepers” are keeping mum while their bosses are away; very wise, I’d have thought”

        Yes better to be thought a fool etc etc

        (Nope, no irony there at all)

        • alwyn 18.2.1.1

          “while their bosses are away”.
          Are you sure? I doubt that Heather Simpson, who I gather is back in the PM’s office, was off on the jaunt overseas with Ardern.
          She will certainly have been cracking the whip over the Cabinet members. Trevor started off quite well on day 1. After that though I’ll bet he got called in and fed the riot act. He’ll now turn into a fawning wimp like Margaret Wilson. Nobody would dare offend H2 twice.

    • Carolyn_Nth 18.3

      probably bending over backwards trying to show she is objective:

      Jane Clifton and Trevor Mallard wed (2014).

      • alwyn 18.3.1

        Very sad isn’t it?
        Jane Clifton has certainly had appalling taste in men during her life.
        Shame, as her columns are most interesting and would indicate that she is an intelligent woman.

    • Sumsuch 18.4

      You haven’t noticed? She’s an agreer and supporter of 1984. After all it’s been good for the top 10 %. That is to say, as a thinker, she’s consciously repudiated the 90 %. No problem except for her being a NZer. I admire her quickness , where I failed as a journalist, but few of the middle class pooped up by their unprivileged parents had enough imagination for their parents circumstances.

  18. The Chairman 19

    Next month the company will promote a New Zealand webpage for agents and property developers who want to raise their profile and advertise properties in China before the change.

    “This campaign is really trying to assist those Chinese buyers who do have a real need to invest in New Zealand, whether because their children are studying in New Zealand or their families and relatives already live there and they’re potentially looking to migrate there in the future.”

    With new builds exempt from the new ban, Jane Lu said interest from China in the New Zealand market would remain strong.

    “We do believe, of course, with the new policy change it will … push the overseas Chinese buyers into the new development sector.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/343811/foreign-buyers-set-for-rush-to-beat-cutoff.

    So Labour’s so-called ban on offshore investors is expected to drive them towards new developments, which will create a ripple effect keeping upward pressure on housing costs.

  19. If you’ve got the bandwidth and the screen this goes up to 4k

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fYKMCCPh28

  20. Carolyn_Nth 21

    RNZ: Clare Curran says the government won’t be selling off TVNZ.

    Response to OIA docments showing TVNZ’s declining revenue:

    Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran is alarmed the previous government did nothing to address TVNZ’s declining revenue, despite being warned about it by officials earlier this year, she says.


    However, Ms Curran said the government had been left with an organisation that had been neglected and had no ministerial oversight.

    “I feel some alarm at the strategic challenges that the previous government was aware of and did nothing about.

    “[We’ll be] seeking some urgent advice from Treasury and we’ll be wanting to explore a full range of options from talking to officials and also the board of TVNZ as to approach its strategic challenges.

    • Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran is alarmed the previous government did nothing to address TVNZ’s declining revenue, despite being warned about it by officials earlier this year, she says.

      Sounds like typical National. Run it into the ground in preparation for selling it on the cheap to their donors.

  21. Colonial Viper 22

    A whole lot of people fell for yet another round of anti-Assange/Don Trump Jnr smears yesterday, this time fired up by The Atlantic and then repeated all around the world.

    Firstly, Assange openly tweeted about communicating with Don Jnr way back in July

    https://twitter.com/JulianAssange/status/884853347815235584

    Secondly, the Atlantic appears to have deliberately misrepresented the material between Assange and Don Jnr by multiple selective edits and omissions.

    https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/the-atlantic-commits-malpractice-selectively-edits-to-smear-wikileaks-65ecd7c2468f

    The author of the Atlantic article, Julia Ioffe, put a period rather than a comma at the end of the text about not wanting to appear pro-Trump or pro-Russia, and completely omitted WikiLeaks’ statement following the comma that it considers those allegations slanderous. This completely changes the way the interaction is perceived.
    This is malpractice. Putting an ellipsis (…) and then omitting the rest of the sentence would have been sleazy and disingenuous enough, because you’re leaving out crucial information but at least communicating to the reader that there is more to the sentence you’ve left out, but replacing the comma with a period obviously communicates to the reader that there is no more to the sentence. If you exclude important information while communicating that you have not, you are blatantly lying to your readers.

    • Bill 22.1

      The damage has been done CV, and this was just yet another grain of sand put atop an increasingly large heap (and Assange is in the company of many, many others who’ve been buried in such a way).

      Picking up on and arguing against every instance of it happening won’t lead anywhere…not even if you eventually win every argument.

      People think (or choose to believe) that that which is heaping the grains of sand is a force of good – that, though perhaps flawed, it’s essentially benevolent.

      That belief runs deep and it’s that that needs challenged. Picking up on particular singular causes and running with them breathlessly can, for a number of reasons, be counter productive.

      It’s a tricky one to navigate.

      • weka 22.1.1

        The main reason I commented about it yesterday is because of the reputation of Wikileaks (don’t actually care that much about Assange one way or the other). In that sense I think these things are worth bring into discussion and seeing what happens. Wikileaks appears to be increasingly less reliable and I don’t think that’s all down to a pile of sand grains.

        • Bill 22.1.1.1

          When you say “less reliable”, what do you mean?

          From memory, there have been accusations that information being made public ought not to have been made public.

          But, as far as I know, there has never been any suggestion that information coming through Wikileaks (and they are basically, though not wholly, a conduit for information) has been false.

    • Andre 22.2

      For anyone more interested in the big picture of the forest, rather than examining the vein patterns on leaves, here’s something to consider.

      http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/14/politics/trump-jr-wikileaks-russia/index.html

  22. Andre 23

    The old saying is “follow the money”. So what are the money trails that might lead Putin to supporting Comrade Combover? Here’s some possibilities…

    http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/14/opinions/why-does-vladimir-putin-hate-me-browder-opinion/index.html

  23. Muttonbird 24

    Here’s what David Farrar’s website is saying about the Prime Minister today.

    5,167 COMMENTS
    Rich Prick

    That fucking bitch has sold us out in her march for UN virtue points. Enjoy applying for visas and attending the embassy for interviews, just to pop over to Sydney for the weekend people. Stupid fucking bitch. Ask yourself, are those restraints on our freedom worth it for the 150 rapists and criminals Cindy wants to bring home?
    Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1REPLY REPORTNOVEMBER 14, 2017 11:21PM

    • Rosemary McDonald 24.1

      Farrar’s Ferals at their very, very best. (/sarc btw)

      What rips my undies is that our State Broadcaster, the otherwise relatively tolerable Natrad, insists on having Farrar as a regular guest.

      My tinfoilhatwearingnutbar alter ego kinda figured that it was part of some nefarious deal with Those Who Will Not Be Mentioned in order to maintain their pathetic level of funding.

      Farrar’s actually worse than that other right wing commentator they have on from time to time…

      • Muttonbird 24.1.1

        There’s a level of endorsement from Farrar for comments like that because they are unmoderated. He might claim the views of his commenters don’t represent his but by leaving them up he is accepting of that kind of language towards the PM.

        • james 24.1.1.1

          Not really – using your logic it would mean that “the standard” (or its owners / moderators) have a level of endorsement for post that they leave up (assuming you are being even handed in your application of moral outrage)

          Remember when a poster on here said that Ashburton WINZ murder should be held up as a hero ?

          https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02092014/#comment-878213

          As this is a moderated blog – and that the comment was left up – would you be saying that there is a level of endorsement from the people that run this website?

          No – of course not. What that poster (as well as the Rick Prick” posted above) is disgusting and the people making those comments should be ashamed of themselves.

          Regardless of political leanings – there is no need for that level of comment.

          I dont post on kiwiblog – but if I did I would be downticking Rick Pricks comment to get it hidden.

          But it needs to be seen for what it is – the view (all be it a poor one) of a commentor and its not the blog stating it.

          [Farrar is well known for allowing content that wouldn’t be acceptable here. e.g. the comment that Muttonbird quotes would almost certainly get moderated here. That’s because we don’t tolerate misogyny.

          Read the bit in the policy that says “What we’re not prepared to accept are pointless personal attacks, or tone or language that has the effect of excluding others” and consider what it is like for many women to have to be around men that call women stupid fucking bitches or align themselves with rape culture advocates. And what it is like for those women to be in spaces where that is passively endorsed.

          Farrar sets the standard at his blog. There is a standard at The Standard too, so I’m pointing out that we have active moderation here to inhibit bigots of many kinds because they’re basically antisocial and bad for political discussions as well as being generally harmful to society – weka]

          • Rosemary McDonald 24.1.1.1.1

            James, James, James.

            To support your argument you pull out a comment from years ago which, if we actually go and have a look, provoked a shit ton of opprobrium for the original commentator and led to a very interesting and thought provoking debate.

            The debate was…nuanced…which is not a characteristic of Farrar’s little cesspit dwellers.

            • james 24.1.1.1.1.1

              Rosemary – you are missing the point of my post.

              But hey – there are plenty of other post on here calling National MP’s names, picking on their appearance or weight.

              My point was commenters do not speak for the site – its a basic concept.

              • weka

                No, but the owners and authors of the site do have a responsibility for the comments. So death threats and threats of violence are usually removed. Stuff that is grossly sexist or racist likewise. I’ve moderated people for fat phobia. You probably don’t see the stuff that gets removed.

                Farrar doesn’t care because he wants a reactionary blog that foments hatred. So that’s what he gets.

          • weka 24.1.1.1.2

            There are two moderation notes in this thread for you, one requires a response.

            I am curious about this comment though, and if you can come up with any examples other than the Tully comment. I’m guessing not. It doesn’t surprise me that people who vote for a party that had a leader for 8 years that supported rape culture can’t tell the difference between KB and here. But there is a difference. I think you are focussed on the things you don’t like, but that’s not how it works. It’s about creating spaces that are safer and more attractive to a range of people. Farrar obviously wants misogynists and that’s what KB gets.

        • Rosemary McDonald 24.1.1.2

          “There’s a level of endorsement from Farrar for comments like that….”

          We can only assume that the comments he fails to moderate are actually from real individuals. If I were on a mission to promulgate a certain narrative then using such a site would be an ideal way of spreading the word under the guise of vigorous and open debate.

          The site certainly attracts those with a propensity to hate speech.

          Who knew there were so many of them with enough time on their hands…?

      • cleangreen 24.1.2

        I stand with you solidly Rosemary;

        David Farrar must go, and we understand the revamp of the public broadcaster Radio NZ will rout these National Party lobbyists such as Farrar, Hooten, and any other biased National puppets, because the public broadcaster was abused and used by national for nine years and manipulated by the chief National Propagangist Steven Joyce as his propaganda platform illegally.

        So we welcome the removal of these propagandists from our public funded media.

        This can’t happen fast enough.

    • james 24.2

      No – thats not what his website is saying about the prime minister – its what a commenter said about her. (for the record – I think the comment made is disgusting)

      Just like some of the filth that has been put on this site by commentators is not being said my the standard.

      • joe90 24.2.1

        Where can I find this filth that has been put on this site by commentators?.

        edit: oh, and I think you’ll find millsy has often been roundly condemned for his obnoxious posts.

        • alwyn 24.2.1.1

          For joe90.
          Try having a look at this one as an example.
          https://thestandard.org.nz/al-jazeera-on-nz-homeless-watch-it-and-weep/#comment-1216824
          I would normally list a few of the comments from it but I really don’t think you should have such utter rubbish as this pushed into your face.
          If you have a strong stomach you can follow the link though.

          • joe90 24.2.1.1.1

            Oh do fuck off .

            You know full well that since the day the woman won the leadership, the demented fucks have been throwing truly vile misogynist insults, targeting everything from her looks, her health, her private life, her body shape through to her choice of attire and hair style, and smearing her character, honesty, motivations and intelligence, surpassing any thing they threw at Clark.

            I’m no shrinking violet and I like putting the needle in but this shit is truly nauseating 4chan/gamergate style hate speech that’s arrived, fresh from the fetid swamp that is US political discourse.

            And Farrar publishes it, so fuck him too.

            • alwyn 24.2.1.1.1.1

              Did you read my link?
              Are you really going to say that the sort of comment I linked to doesn’t count as filth?
              Do you really think that Key should have been burnt to death or that Bolger should be shot? Fair comment do you say?

              Would you really hold the administrators of this site responsible for comments like the one I pointed to?
              I certainly wouldn’t, just as I wouldn’t hold Farrar responsible for the crap some people post on Kiwiblog about Ardern or Clark.

              It is, unfortunately an innate fact of life on the Internet.

              • joe90

                Your whataboutism doesn’t wash because occasional unhinged comments by unhinged folk ain’t the same as day in day out, page after page of vile4chan/gamergate style hate speech authored by multiple contributors, specifically targeting women.

                And yes, I want publishers to be responsible for the crap some people post on their sites. A day or so ago over at the sewer there was an actionable comment, that still stands, and one day Farrar or some other publisher will be called to account and required to turn over their visitor logs stats. The sooner the better, I reckon.

                • alwyn

                  “occasional unhinged comments by unhinged folk”.
                  What was occasional about these sort of comments?
                  Just search for “Key treason” and see how many hits you get.
                  Or just look at anything by “Wild Katipo”.

                  • I found 879 hits when I searched on ‘alwyn foolish’ does that help?

                    • alwyn

                      That is an amazing number, really it is.
                      I tried it in the search panel on this blog.
                      I didn’t find nearly as many as that and I discovered that in every case it was me using the word, usually about people like you. I didn’t see a single case where someone had used it to describe me.
                      I shall have to expand my vocabulary. Perhaps I should stop describing you as “foolish” for a while and simply call you an idiot.
                      Would you prefer that?

                    • ☺ good you tried it out i thought you would – just trying to help you with the moaner you were on – no need for that level of abuse mate pull your head in.

                  • cleangreen

                    Alwyn cool it please;

                    We are all trying to help a new government succeed making NZ a kinder, gentler, society after the nine cruel toxic years of a National party hate campaign.

              • McFlock

                It’s funny – I actually went to KB and couldn’t find muttonbird’s quote. I did find piles of similarly disgusting comments in the most likely threads, though.

                Whereas I’m actually surprised the comment you found slipped through the mods’ radar, and it’s most definitely an exception to the norm.

              • weka

                “Would you really hold the administrators of this site responsible for comments like the one I pointed to?
                I certainly wouldn’t, just as I wouldn’t hold Farrar responsible for the crap some people post on Kiwiblog about Ardern or Clark.”

                We remove stuff like that all the time. Pay attention. And yes, admin and the authors here take it seriously and actively moderate. Stop trying to be an apologist for Farrar’s really shitty politics.

                I’m going to edit the Bolger comment now. The Key one can stand, it’s a metaphor.

            • james 24.2.1.1.1.2

              “the demented fucks have been throwing truly vile misogynist insults, targeting everything from her looks, her health, her private life, her body shape through to her choice of attire and hair style, and smearing her character, honesty, motivations and intelligence, ”

              And you think that commenters on here havn’t done the same about Paula Bennett or Judith Collins?

              again – Im simply pointing out that people who make comments do not speak for the website – is that a hard concept for you to grasp?

              edit: And as a “righty” – I’m pretty confident that you will not find comments like that about Jacinda from myself.

              [I’d like to see some examples of comments on TS about Bennett or Collins that are similar to ones at KB. Three examples, with quotes and links, thanks – weka]

            • marty mars 24.2.1.1.1.3

              + 1 Joe – you nailed it. Filthy scum over there.

        • james 24.2.1.2

          There have been some very rude comments about National MP’s for years – not hard to find them.

          and indeed – Millsy was – Im not arguing that. What I was pointing out is that the commenter is making the statements and its not what the blog is saying or endorsing.

  24. joe90 25

    Irrefutable……oops…..such an easy mistake to make.

    //

    This is the irrefutable evidence that there is no struggle against terrorism as the whole global community believes. The US are actually covering the ISIS combat units to recover their combat capabilities, redeploy, and use them to promote the American interests in the Middle East.

    https://www.facebook.com/mod.mil.rus/posts/2007062896203123

    “At the same time, the refusal of the US command to strike November 9 against the columns of terrorists IGIL (the outdated name of the IG-TASS commentary) retreating in the Bu-Kemal area is an objective fact recorded in the transcripts of the talks, and therefore well-known to the American side, just like and the active counteraction by the US aircraft of the air force of the Russian Air Force, which was ready to destroy the IGIL terrorists, regrouping for new attacks on government forces in the Bu-Kemal area, “the military department said.
    Earlier, the Ministry of Defense spread the message that the US refused to strike at the IG militants on the Syrian-Iraqi border, and published photographs of the column of terrorists. However, Internet users noticed that the screenshots are screenshots made from the computer game AC-130 Gunship Simulator: Special Ops Squadron.

    https://translate.google.co.nz/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/4728484&prev=search

  25. rhinocrates 26

    On the degradation of citizens to consumers, via The New Yorker.

    The background: Keurig temporarily withdrew advertising from Sean Hannity’s show after he voiced support for paedophile Republican Senate candidate, Roy Moore. In protest, other Moore supporters posted videos of themselves destroying their Keurig coffee machines. Also, Nazi website The Daily Stormer proclaimed Papa John’s the “official pizza of the alt. right,” for some obscure reason related to NFL protests.

    how moored our notions of civic engagement have become to our sense of ourselves as consumers, and how easy that fact is to aggravate and exploit…. In his Keurig video, Snoop Bailey is selling something, too.Before he busts up his coffeemaker, he touts the qualities of the golf club he’s using, and then later instructs his viewers to buy a competing brand of coffee, one that’s owned by military veterans. What looks at first like a strange act of suburban rage is really just another commercial.

    https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/keurig-papa-johns-and-the-politicization-of-american-junk

  26. Ad 27

    Simon Wilson writes a nice long article wanting a kind of radical centrism for New
    Zealand:

    “A radical centre in New Zealand would not be Macronist, because we are not France. It would have its own guiding principles, and they might look something like this:

    -T he economy and the environment are one.
    – Long-term planning is fundamental to the purpose of government.
    – Fiscal surpluses are invaluable for that long-term planning.
    – The state doesn’t need to do everything.
    – Government exists to safeguard and enhance the values of society and the rights of citizens, not to cut taxes.
    – Low inflation is a foundational tool for creating opportunity for all.
    – A developed economy should be a high-wage economy.
    – Poverty and all its bitter handmaidens can be defeated, and they must be. Not sometime, when we can, if we can; but as a result of policies we put in place right now.”

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/14-11-2017/new-radicals-the-challenge-for-nz-politics-in-the-time-of-corbyn-and-trump/

    • greywarshark 27.1

      Blah, blah, utopian wet dream and we don’t know what Simon means when he makes certain statements:

      A developed economy should be a high-wage economy. Behind that large poster there is embedded poverty and people’s smarts twisted on how to screw a life out
      of the crusts that have been thrown to them. Perhaps his standard will be reached by letting them die in the cold. Take out the no-wage then the low-wage and you get a nice self-satisfied bunch of strivers.

      Perhaps they will all be like Alex the conniving finance dealer in the Peattie & Taylor cartoons. The look of things is important and that his peers can see that he can afford the best. He tells his wife off for buying expensive silk alluring underwear.
      Don’t worry dear she says, no-one but you will see it. ‘That’s what’s bothering me’
      he replies.

      Poverty isn’t so dreadful, some people might like to live simply, but there need to be options to earn enough for it, plus a basic pension. What we need is everyone who is receiving government help being asked to do a few hours put-in, and that is all rich and poor. And this be regarded well as being good citizens by all and they receive a thank you certificate at year end.

  27. Andre 29

    😆

    Apparently this chart explains why the Department of Justice is corrupt because it’s not still investigating Hillary and Uranium One. Put together and shown to congress and the world by Louie Gohmert, one of the ever-helpful Republican caucus.

    https://www.vox.com/world/2017/11/14/16652876/louie-gohmert-conspiracy-chart

    I’m having a bit of trouble grasping what I’m supposed to take away from it. Anyone here want to help with some interpretive assistance?

    • marty mars 29.1

      Fast and furious was not such a great movie unless you like cars and this led to executive privilege with prejudice and thus clintion is bbbbbbad to the bone.

  28. eco maori 30

    What a load of BS pay 2 parents to look after children you no that would cost to much and there are other more urgent problems that need resources to fix the stuff ups of the last 9 years who’s chain is bull pulling. Kia Kaha

    • james 30.1

      eco Maori – I think you will find in the proposal from National that they share the parental allowance – so there is no additional cost – just flexibility should both parents want to be there.

      so no BS – no additional cost

      • cleangreen 30.1.1

        Paula Bennett lost her composure today and even the deputy speaker Anne Tollley had to pulll her up for inappropriate behaviour. Then Paula said wildly “I just got carried away”

        Search on the parlaimametary site, speaking time, around 3.20pm today please.

        It was so offensive that I had to turn off the sound.

        National appear to be finding it very hard to live now without all that previous power they had to abuse the public any time they freely wanted.

        Very sad performance today.

  29. cleangreen 31

    https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20171115_20171115_08

    Scroll down for Bennett’s content in her speech.
    It was the way she said it all, that was offensive, as she was wildly ranting on wildly.

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    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
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    5 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
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    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
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    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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