Out of the ‘stories that should of been done pre election file’ tv3 have had the guy who runs one of the big property websites in Asia saying NZ is high on investors hit list because of our lack of capital gains and controls on foreign ownership.
This government primarily works for the wealthy, with a few good social policies from previous Labour government kept for political cunning expediency. We the people that vote such a government in are really dumb. It isn’t the fault of the rich foreign property buyers.
They don’t need to when Len brown came on straight after and rabbited on about how many low cost house’s were being built (how under 500k is classed as low cost has me buggered) and how many consents have been issued.
“Children suffer: Welfare’s outdated ideas on relationships”
Excerpt:
“New Zealand’s social security framework is based on outdated ideas of the nature of relationships and too often fails to protect the needs of children in the 21st century, says Child Poverty Action Group.”
“There are major inconsistencies in the use of relationship in the welfare system. It is difficult to justify a policy that pays less to a couple than to two individuals who share accommodation and costs. ”
“The report finds that tests for the degree of financial interdependence and emotional commitment, needed for the relationship to be treated as ‘in the nature of marriage’, are subjective and inconsistent. There is often a degree of surveillance that is far from open and transparent. Moreover the appeal processes for anyone accused of being in a relationship are very unsatisfactory. A sole parent may even be given a prison sentence with scant regard to the impact on her children.
SSJ makes a good point about someone flatting having the same costs as someone in a relationship.
I’d like to point out that section 20C of the Social Securities Act, Sole Parent Support: split custody (this is when one or more of the children from a relationship live with one parent, and the others live with the other parent) only provides benefit support to one parent.
In working terms this ususally means the person who applied first, not necessarily the most in need, and can fail children who are caught in the middle of two bewildered parents who didn’t realise this was the case or who are using the benefit system to get back at an ex partner and the children who chose to live with them. Nasty stuff.
These federal reserve outfits have the most power of all. They direct the things that happen in the world and hence they know better than any what is likely to occur next.
In about 6 months time the first review is due to get underway of NZ’s Security and Intelligence Agencies. One aspect that I hope is looked into is the extent that citizens who are concerned about the environment are being subjected to surveillance, in their search for what Mr Finlayson has called “Eco-terrorism”. He was being questioned on TV One’s Q&A program a week ago, then in regard to unwarranted surveillance.
From what he said, it seems to be the call of whoever is doing the surveillance do decide whether those under surveillance are wanting to protest against something, or may “cross the line into eco-terrorism.”
So their new increased powers dont appear to have worked… On the other hand the last time the ozzie police brandished a plastic ceremonial sword as proof of terrorism in oz, without telling anyone it was plastic…
Sometimes its best to wait 24 hours to find some real facts… Sometimes 24 days.
So Phil Goff, I guess on behalf of the Labour Party, says yesterday in the SST that we should stop people going to fight for organisations like ISIS that commit crimes against humanity.
How does Phil Goff square that away with joining the US when the US also commits crimes against humanity?
And, is Dick Cheney the biggest joke on the planet?
“we need someone from the far left to make it a balance against crusher”
“what about Goff?”
“oh thats a better idea, get someone kinda sorta on the left but on the far right of Labour and who wants to be auckland mayor then we dont upset the advertisers, hell they may increase”
We know the US (or it’s proxies) runs operations all over the planet to destabilise regimes they don’t like or are inconvenient. This is a matter of historical fact.
What makes anyone think NZ is somehow immune? I can think of at least one local example within the last decade.
Exactly. Not to mention that the US (and their Saudi allies) stoked up Islamic fundamentalism in the first place as a counter to secular, progressive forces in the Arab world and in Afghanistan.
After the Cold War, the fundamentalists struck out on their own, biting the hand that fed them. Still, by doing so, they provided successive US administrations with a new enemy against which to try to cohere fragmenting American society and the west in general under US leadership. Not that it’s working out all that well for the US ruling elite. . .
PS: When I said “Exactly” in the email above, it was in response to this from VTO: “How does Phil Goff square that away with joining the US when the US also commits crimes against humanity?” Forgot to quote VTO.
John Minto good on Morning Report on where to now for the Mana Party
…personally I am sorry the Internet part or Party has been dropped for now…I think Mana will be the poorer for it…especially as an Internet Party is being established in the USA… Minto says he has no regrets as regards the Internet Party coalition..it was a risk worth taking ( imo it certainly focused issues for intelligent New Zealanders)
MInto, always a clear and concise communicator , gave good reasons as to why Internet/Mana did not make it into Parliament
…Labour Party and other parties in cahoots with Nactional ganged up on Hone, found Int/Mana party and all it stood for it too threatening
….and a concerted msm attack on Dotcom….SHAME! ( I hope the msm attacks can be catalogued for future historians and generations to see exposed)
5 weeks out from the Election Internet/mana was doing very well indeed and could have had 3-4 seats in parliament
Yip sure was. Minto would be better forming another party, Mana is a dead duck. Hone has got Warner Bro’s millions stashed away where they can’t get it, and will spend up on himself.
@ Skinny
I am not sure why your remark wouldn’t be actionable as slander against Hone. What Warners millions and are you peeved because you stood for election and couldn’t get enough funding for promotion of your cause? Or what? You remind me of the end of a hippotomus I once saw – while it did its business it flapped its little tail and spread it all around (in your case you do it with your little tale.)
pu…thanks…OK you are right ( this time)…I got the wrong link and stupid old David Slack “spouting simplistic shit”…why Suzie Ferguson would want to interview David Slack on Internet /mana Party I do NOT know ….( maybe to obfuscate and muddy the waters!!!?…maybe they didnt like what Minto said earlier…too hard hitting for Morning Report !?)..David Slack wanted to start a David Party for Christs sakes ….pleeeeze! ( it starts with Minto though)
“an Internet Party is being established in the USA”
Couldn’t buy NZ voters so lets try with the yanks.
“it was a risk worth taking”
Really?
“Labour Party and other parties in cahoots with Nactional ganged up on Hone, found Int/Mana party and all it stood for it too threatening”
1.5% of those who voted must be right. All the other must just be scaredy cats. 🙄
“and a concerted msm attack on Dotcom”
As forecast and quite predictable really, so no point crying about it. If a dunce like me got it right, why did no one in mana?
“5 weeks out from the Election Internet/mana was doing very well indeed and could have had 3-4 seats in parliament”
That’s what happens when you count chickens before they hatch like one does with millions of dollars of donations.
The joint campaign was a bit of a disaster with mixed messages and puffed up little shit episodes. It was bound to end in tears and did.
the best thing about Internet /Mana is that it gave those at the bottom of the heap a Party with a sophisticated futurist look..they were winners and tech savvy and concerned with democracy and internet freedom… and it was a foil / counter to corporate controlled culture with a permanent underclass
…it gave lie to the Nact myth that those at the bottom of the heap are no- hopers
…and a socialist type party is dead and in the past history
….Int/Mana was ahead of its time and ahead of the game
….as it is now the under-thirties ( the intelligent, dynamic and beautiful) who John key Nact and corporate right wing govts around the world are now making the new underclass …with huge tertiary loans, insecure and poorly paid work and no hope of ever owning a home … i see Mana combined with an Internet Party as the way of the future
….Dotcom and Mana are to be congratulated for trying….and next TIME your time will have come !
Dan Carlin had some very interesting talking points about CIA Torture & the related political lines given, especially the way Obama was elected to change the excesses of the Bush administration, and then proceeded to double down on them. See Common Sense 285 – Torturing our values http://www.dancarlin.com/common-sense-home-landing-page/
If you haven’t listened to his podcast before, you’re in for a treat, Carlin is easily one of the best political commentators on the left (the real left) in the USA. He is incisive, cuts through the noise, analyses situations and compares them to the historical context.
It looks like iwi are going to charge people to enter 90 mile beach. Coupled with the recent locking out of hunters out of the Ureweras it is another reason why the left should oppose the handing over of conservation land to iwi because they WILL restrict access.
Well, it is about time for some entity to ‘control’ access to 90 Mile (Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē).
It takes a hammering daily from large tourist buses travelling at 100kmh, the drivers know the conditions well and it is hammer down. You just have to be on the beach to feel it. It is about reasonable access and use.
I wonder why Tuhoe want to restrict Hunters from killing game on their historic territory, and land that they hold pretty sacred, their sanctuary, the place they retreated when the colonial army came to slaughter them for not rolling over and coming to the table.
Tuhoe never signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Their land was systematically stolen from them. They still hold the Ureweras to be their land. How is it any different from a hunter coming on to your land and shooting your ducks? Restricting hunting hardly seems like the crime of the century.
Context is important here. But on another note, I totally disagree with Maori, or anyone for that matter restricting access to beaches, or charging members of the public to use their tracks to the beach. It’s important though, that everyone treats their land with respect, afaik the Iwi just want to charge commercial operators, the same guys who drive big buses across their land, it’s not a big ask for commercial operators who are making money off of bringing tourists across private owned land to be asked to pay a small fee for entry.
Thanks for context. Makes a big difference to discussion.
There was an interesting piece on Native Affairs this year about the charge for commercial operators for taking tourists through the “hole in the rock”.
Of course, the operators continued the line that although it was private land “above”, the “hole” was not owned by anyone and therefore no fees needed to be paid.
…if this is true, then tourist operators should be able to set up large flying foxes across the volcanic cones of Auckland, – taking money from those who want to do close flyovers of the residences of the 1%.
I have no doubt the framing of public access and private property would be entirely different to that which is trotted out whenever iwi land is involved.
Are they looking at charging people, or charging cars? Particularly with tourist companies making money from trips up and down the beach, why shouldn’t the locals get something?
As for Tuhoe, I read what they’d decided at the time and agreed with them. It isn’t so much a lockout, but a reorganisation of licensing.
Of course if you want Kiwi not Iwi, move to Epsom and your vote will be counted.
In the wake of the OECD report there has been some discussion on tax and GST. While tax havens have been around for some time, there has certainly been a big growth of them in recent years – part of the process where capital can move freely (and hide) while workers are locked into national frontiers (and can’t hide for long from the immigration police).
OMG, Mathew Hooten (on Nine to Noon) is suggesting to break Fonterra into TWO organisations to COMPETE? Why does RNZ continue to have this very silly man on. I don’t even know where to start.
He can have a go at Fonterra, but not for that reason…Fonterra has critical mass, which is its major strength. Maybe he should put his free market ideology aside and challenge whether Fonterra’s “GDT” system is losing NZ dairy farmers value???
well I dont think Fonterra is doing that good a job for dairy farmers…they should have another co-op that sells to Russia…so agree with Possum Hooton on this
Terrorists holding hostages in Sydney coffee shop outlines exactly why we should completely stay out of The Middle Eastern Wars. Make that call John Key show some leadership before we stuff a similar fate here in New Zealand.
IMO, John Key and National would use such an incident to increase surveillance on the populace. In other words, he’d see such an incident as an opportunity rather than the failure on his and National’s part that it would be.
We don’t actually know yet who the guy holding people hostage is. It’s a very strange sort of terrorist act. They usually commit random acts of violence, designed to shock and scare people. Hours of a hostage situation is more like an armed robbery gone wrong. We might know in about 30 years.
But here is the thing. Overall, an individual journalist may be doing a great job. An individual’s stories may be fair, balanced, insightful. But the impression given by a publication as a whole may not be. Where are those stories placed? What is the overall “tone” of a publication? In short, editorial choices can do plenty to undermine the content of a story.
I hope those who railed at the ethics of hager publishing and maybe profitting from, stolen emails are now railing at fairfax and apn for using some of those hacks to sell newspapers and online ads
Good journalism awards from Bruce Jesson Foundation..
Bruce Jesson Awards:
Max Rashbrooke & Chloe Winter
The Bruce Jesson Foundation recently announced its 2014 Journalism Awards:
The Senior Journalism Award of $4000 for a proposed work of “critical, informed, analytical and creative journalism or writing that will contribute to public debate in NZ on an important issue or issues” was awarded to Max Rashbrooke for an e-book on wealth inequality in NZ;
About – http://www.maxrashbrooke.org.nz/about-me/ http://www.bwb.co.nz/books/the-inequality-debate ebook $14.99
Inequality: A NZ Crisis ebook $39.99
The Emerging Journalism Award of $1000 for “outstanding published work of critical, informed, analytical and creative journalism or writing by NZ print journalism students which will contribute to public debate in New Zealand on an important issue or issues” was awarded to Chloe Winter of Massey University, Wellington, for her article “War against killers we face at work”, published in the Herald on Sunday on 3 November 2013. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11150665
The 2014 Bruce Jesson Lecture Mike Joy – Paradise Squandered; New Zealand’s Environmental Asset Stripping
Posted on 10 October 2014 by bjf_admin
New Zealand’s lakes, rivers and most of our groundwater are in a critical state. Decades of misguided regulation and a free-for-all on diffuse pollution have encouraged agricultural intensification and driven our increasing reliance on imported feed and fertiliser.
The inevitable consequences have been devastating environmental impacts as well as increasing economic and biosecurity risks.
The solutions are many but require a paradigm shift; a move away from dependence on imported feed and fertiliser to keeping nutrients on farm and adding value to products, and strong leadership to move away from short-term thinking that accepts the massive ecological debt we are running up.
‘David Bain’s legal team has been in confidential discussions with the Minister of Justice over his bid for compensation.’…hope Adams has got the steel to stand up to the Bain industry.
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Family First NZ is welcoming the Government’s intention to tackle the harms of pornography, and are also continuing to call for a truly independent Expert Panel to investigate and provide solutions for families. ...
"For too long central government has layered additional responsibilities onto local government with little consultation or acknowledgement of the essential work councils do. Combined with the lack of support and funding, this top down attitude ...
Joining local Green candidates at their campaign launch on Sunday at the Highbury Whanau Centre Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson will say, “I’m very proud to join Green candidates Teanau Tuiono, Renee Dingwall and Brent Barrett in calling ...
The Campaign for Better Transport ( CBT ) is pleased to hear the government has announced the start of train services from Hamilton to Papakura but is concerned about some of the features of the proposed service. ...
Family First NZ is supporting a call by the Police to raise the drinking age, which echoes previous calls by the NZ Medical Association, but says that other factors around price, availability, penalties and addiction services must be part of the ...
West Papua solidarity activists met yesterday and resolved to call on the Prime Minister to step up to help resolve the escalating crisis in West Papua. ...
Landmark Report Released into Maori Aging and Disabilities “Manaaki Pakeke” – New Zealand Maori Council calls for a policy shift and greater focus The New Zealand Maori Council has released a comprehensive policy statement challenging the ...
MANATŪ TAONGA MINISTRY FOR CULTURE AND HERITAGE MEDIA RELEASE 25 August 2019 Privacy breach identified with the Tuia 250 Voyage Trainee website Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage is investigating a serious digital privacy breach involving ...
‘Original Sin’ of Land Confiscation at Ihumātao is a wrong that can be put right by Government says Justice & Peace Commission of Catholic Diocese of Auckland ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a press conference on August 19 that her government is likely to impose new restrictions on prisoners’ rights to send letters. She said the law could be changed in “weeks.” ...
Heart-warming images of House Speaker Trevor Mallard cradling a baby in Parliament have been welcomed around New Zealand, but the Public Service Association warns most families can only dream of such support in the workplace. ...
Applying New Zealand’s international human rights commitments, particularly those in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, can help in resolving the situation at Ihumātao, Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt says. ...
Climate campaigners impersonating bank staff have taken to the streets this week to expose ANZ Bank’s sponsorship of the fossil fuel industry. In the series of satirical actions in Wellington, Dunedin, and Auckland, the ‘bank staff’ promoted ...
Auckland Action Against Poverty joins the Children’s Commissioner , The Green Party , The New Zealand Drugs Foundation , Child Poverty Action Group and other organisations in the calls for an immediate end to the drug testing benefit sanctions. ...
Negotiations between Port Otago workers represented by the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) and management failed today and the unions have issued notice of an overtime ban from Saturday 7th September. ...
Queenstown Lakes District Council’s comments that it has applied for a consent to pollute waterways to avoid 'prosecutions by the Otago Regional Council' are unacceptable,’ Fish & Game New Zealand Chief Executive Martin Taylor says. ...
On March 15, the real world impact of online hate became abundantly, horrifically clear. As a shooter opened fire at two Christchurch mosques, the online image board 8chan anticipated, celebrated and amplified his killing spree. ...
Friday, 23 August: Government delegates from around the world, including New Zealand, are meeting in New York for the third of four meetings at the United Nations to agree a Global Oceans Treaty that could help to protect 30% of our oceans by 2030. Greenpeace ...
The excuses about a reportedly unwanted $57,000 payrise for Dunedin City Council CEO Sue Bidrose are laughable, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has launched the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” committing to no more than 2% annual rate hikes over the next Council term, and has written to all Mayoral and Council candidates asking them to sign. The pledge will ...
This Saturday, Pakuranga Hunt Day at the Ellerslie Racecourse will see anti-horse racing protesters demonstrating at the corner of Ascot Avenue and Greenlane East. ...
Mayoral candidate John Tamihere will meet with Pacific Island leaders and community elders today at Puhunui Reserve in South Auckland to commit to a Pasefika Cultural Centre. ...
Cruel and invalid Forced Swim Tests carried out at Victoria University of Wellington, will be exposed at the University Open Day today, so prospective students can be warned about the flawed and unethical research being conducted at the institute. ...
The organiser of the annual YWCA Equal Pay Awards has expressed her disappointment with the latest Gender Pay Gap figure for New Zealand workers. The figure rose slightly from 9.2% in 2018 to 9.3% for the quarter ended 30 June 2019. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) is urging firearms owners to pass on information to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques now that the period for submissions has been extended to 27 September. ...
An application was filed in the Employment Relations Authority in Wellington today, seeking an injunction to prevent the Board of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation from removing the President from office. ...
The Government’s commitment to support literacy and numeracy training in the workplace is a strong signal from Government on recognising the importance of upskilling, reskilling and increasing productivity alongside their commitment to address the challenges ...
“The infrastructure sector sees a major role for the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission/Te Waihanga in lifting the nation’s sagging infrastructure performance,” says Paul Blair, incoming CEO of Infrastructure NZ. ...
The AA is calling on the Government to bring forward critical highway projects while time is spent properly developing the plans for a rapid transit system in Auckland. ...
Between 2015/16 and 2017/18, DHBs spent $280 million treating patients due to adverse drug reactions, reveals the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union in its latest briefing paper on health productivity . ...
The Pay Equity Coalition Auckland (PECA) is pleased the gender pay gap has decreased slightly. Statistics released today show the gap is now 11.9%, nearly 2 percent less than last year. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) is urging firearms owners to make sure they pass on any information they have to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques before submissions close tomorrow (Friday). ...
The big electricity companies consider solar energy “disruptive” and want pricing to suppress it. In contrast, advocates of local energy say that solar, energy efficiency, and other local energy solutions are the cheapest ways to reduce carbon emissions. ...
The Earthquake Commission and Shine Lawyers are delighted to announce that EQC has reached an agreement with the Gibling family, agreeing to cover the cost of repairs of remaining earthquake damage on their property. ...
Four months into the inquiry, the Royal Commission is gathering significant information and continues to receive valuable submissions from the public, from current and former State servants, experts and community groups. ...
While Fish & Game New Zealand is pleased to see Federated Farmers Environment Spokesperson Chris Allen say that 'we all want good, fresh water', he conveniently overlooks some key facts. ...
What: Wellington demo “Save the Amazon Forest/Salve a Amazônia!” When: Friday, 6 September 2019 from 12:30-13:30 Where: Embassy of Brazil in Wellingtona ...
Rt Hon Trevor Mallard, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, welcomes the visit of His Excellency Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal. ...
A cross political Mental Health and Addictions Wellbeing group will be launched on Wednesday 28 August hosted by Sir John Kirwan and Moe Milne (ONZM) who have both been at the forefront of our country’s often difficult conversations about mental ...
Confirmation that the government will be progressing an independent Parliamentary Budget Office is great news for democracy and transparency, Federated Farmers says. ...
Ruby Porter on the first novel by acclaimed Vietnamese-American poet Ocean Vuong. I came across Ocean Vuong’s poetry collection Night Sky With Exit Wounds last year. I read it twice in one day. I was staying outside of New York, at the time, and taking the train in each morning. I ...
A War Story is one more attempt in a long line of art to make sense of 9/11 – this time from a uniquely Kiwi perspective.The coordinated terrorist attacks on September 11 2001 cut a razor-sharp divide between the relatively carefree time before and everything after, bleeding into ...
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.Privacy breach at Ministry for Culture and Heritage Audrey Young (Herald): How latest privacy breach ...
Auckland mayoral rival John Tamihere is pitching himself as a low-cost candidate but the incumbent Phil Goff says Mr Tamihere lacks a basic understanding of finances. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elyse Methven, Lecturer in Law, University of Technology Sydney As the state election loomed last year, the NSW government rushed through a new crime targeting drug suppliers. A person who supplies a prohibited drug for profit can now be prosecuted for homicide ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julia Talbot-Jones, Lecturer, Victoria University of Wellington Last week, voter enrolment for the 2019 local government elections closed in New Zealand and concerns about low voter turnout resurfaced. During a panel discussion run by Auckland Council, the idea was raised to pay ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Dunk, Research Fellow, University of Sydney Last week, one of the world’s leading medical journals declared the medical community must act now to limit the health effects of climate change. In a stark editorial, readers of the New England Journal of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan Institute Australia’s young high achievers are turning their backs on teaching. They want to make a difference in their careers, and they are interested in teaching, but when it comes to the crunch they choose ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carl Grodach, Professor and Director of Urban Planning & Design, Monash University Since 2000, planning authorities in Australia have overseen a massive rezoning of inner-city industrial land to make way for mixed-use residential development. They claim central industrial space is obsolete in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lara Owen, PhD Candidate, Monash University Last week, menstrual pad brand Libra launched their Blood Normal commercial in Australia, running it during prime time television shows including The Bachelor, The Project, and Gogglebox. Australia is a little late to the party: Blood ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Govt rejects idea to ban petrol car imports in 2035, firefighters say they’re facing a workforce crisis, and Tamihere pledges rate freeze.A strange sort of stoush erupted at the end of last week around petrol and diesel car sales. On Friday, Newsroom reported ...
Kiwi boxer Troy Garton, who defied medical advice to produce one of the most remarkable performances in NZ sport, now has her sights set firmly on the Tokyo Olympics. ...
Victoria University of Wellington's Anne Goulding discusses the paradox of New Zealanders wanting to safeguard our personal data, while frequently and freely giving it away. ...
Lisa McMillan is an adrenaline junkie. Instead of skydiving or driving race cars, she collects rooms full of naked strangers. Josie Adams went along to the Naked Dinner and found it stimulated all the wrong hormones.In a tealight-lit lounge in a rented Symonds Street flat, I milled around with 23 ...
Brazil’s rainforests are ablaze, and even from the distance of New Zealand, many of us are losing sleep. For the climate and for humanity, we can do something profound and simple, writes Kena DuignanI’ve asked my dad to look after my kids yesterday so I could write this, after a ...
Meng Foon has been a fixture in Gisborne local government for more than two decades. Today he starts a new role, as race relations commissioner. Alice Webb-Lidall heads over to his Gisborne home for dinner, to find out what he’ll miss as mayor, and how he’ll approach his new jobThis ...
In the final of our series on the loss of faith in free market economics we ask New Zealand business leaders how they’re grappling with the almighty power of a technology that barely existed 20 years ago. Hands up who’s read the Financial Markets Authority’s website. Come on, be honest.No, of ...
Is New Zealand in danger of becoming a bio-tech backwater because of our strict GE rules, or should we retain them to sell our clean image overseas? ...
ANALYSIS:By David Robie Indonesia’s harsh policies towards West Papua ought to be scrapped. Whatever happened to the brief window of enlightenment ushered in by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2015 with promises of a more “open door” policy towards foreign journalists and human rights groups? They were supposed ...
The House - The grammar of being an MP is harder than you might think. MPs in Parliament choose their words with care, and it just got more complicated. ...
As a format it predates almost all reality TV, and that’s precisely why it works in 2019, writes Duncan Greive.There’s something deeply comforting about watching Celebrity Treasure Island. It is a very pure form of escapism, largely because it explicitly recalls a world without the internet, and before everything started ...
Residents in Los Angeles and Orange County warned to check for symptoms after an infected NZ teen visited theme parks including Disneyland and Universal Studios earlier this month.Californian health authorities have issued warnings to residents and visitors after a New Zealand teenager was found to have spent five days in ...
When you crave fresh, bright flavours but summer veges seem far away, throw together this simple salad.Growing up we often ate this salad, or one very similar to it. My mum is a fantastic cook and this dish is one she still makes to this day – though I must ...
Analysis of New Zealand media headlines reveals a lot of people slamming a lot of other people.Slamming is at epidemic levels in New Zealand news. Drawn from just the last month, we present a selection of slamming.On July 27A union boss slammed David ClarkOn July 29Police slammed a dangerous photographerOn ...
Vana Manasiadis wrote a collection of poetry in the wake of her mother’s death. In this essay, ahead of her appearance at the Going West festival, she argues that as a nation Aotearoa needs to learn to make space for mourning. When Mum died in Athens, I cried loudly and publicly ...
The giant hand that captivated, delighted and disgusted the nation is now settling into its new Wellington home. For City Gallery Wellington’s blog, Spinoff arts editor Megan Dunn talked to Ronnie van Hout, the man who made Quasi.“Quasi is in the wrong place,” wrote art critic Warren Feeney in 2016, ...
At school camp, the children are banned from having phones, laptops, lollies, chocolate, money, cotton clothing or independent thoughts. They, are, however, allowed home baking – but it’s gotta be hearty. How hearty are you? We are packing for a school camp. If you’re thinking that the middle of winter is ...
Phil Goff’s rival has already pledged an 0800-Jacinda homeless hotline and an 18-lane harbour bridge. What’s next? The two most important people in the 2019 campaign for the Auckland mayoralty faced each other down on Wednesday night across the desk in the NZME debate: Bernard Orsman and Simon Wilson. Correction: it ...
Split Level View Finder: Theo Schoon and New Zealand Art is the exhibition that sparked a protest over issues of cultural appropriation and institutional representation. Theo Schoon is a divisive historical figure. But is his art any good? Martin Patrick reviews.British novelist L.P. Hartley once wrote that “the past is ...
Ahead of debuting her solo show at New Zealand Fashion Week, Korean-NZ couture designer Cecilia Kang talks about growing up ‘feminine’, being influenced by the LGBTQ+ community, and why an ‘administrative error’ at Fashion Week left her so shaken up. ‘I like something big,” says Cecilia Kang, gesturing to the giant ...
The Labour Party is distancing itself from one of its members who is strongly pro-Beijing and has caused controversy in the Chinese community by standing for local office in Auckland. ...
Faced with staff shortages, equipment failures, cancer risks, and a jump in critical calls that can leave them traumatised, some firefighters are wondering if it’s time to hang up the hose. Gareth Shute reports on the dissatisfaction inside Fire and Emergency New Zealand.The state of our nation’s fire service is ...
“She comes over. You’re my mother, she says. Yes, I say. I don’t know you, she says”: a mother and child seaside story by Wellington author Jan Pryor. Photo by Peter Black. ...
On Monday the government announced its new five-year strategy to reduce the Māori prison population. Emilie Rākete looks at another ‘kaupapa Māori’ prison initiative that degrades prisoners and asks if Corrections are capable of seeing it through.On August 19th, the Department of Corrections announced Hōkai Rangi, its new strategy intended ...
By Michael Andrew The Indonesian media is contributing to resentment and racism toward Papuans, according to a human rights researcher and former journalist. Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch Jakarta told Pacific Media Watch many Indonesian journalists either view Papuans as enemy “separatists” or deviants and their reporting tends to convey these ...
Analysis - The prime minister puts a stake in the ground over petrol prices, National balks at having its election promises costed and the government puts millions into helping the homeless. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danilo Ignacio de Urzedo, PhD candidate, University of Sydney Record fires are raging in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, with more than 2,500 fires currently burning. They are collectively emitting huge amounts of carbon, with smoke plumes visible thousands of kilometres away. Fires in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sean Docking, Post-doctoral researcher, La Trobe University Basketball fans around the world were recently sickened by the footage of NBA star Kevin Durant’s Achilles tendon rupturing during a game. But while many think it’s only elite athletes who suffer from Achilles tendon ...
Open mike 15/12/2014 
Open mike is your post.
My wife and I have had dogs for the whole of our 52 years of married life – and that has meant sharing our lives with our little furry friends. Because we usually spend a good part of our evenings watching television, it also means that our dogs have learned ...1 day ago
. . Former Police, Corrections, and Justice Minister in the previous John Key government, Judith Collins, has been ridiculed on social media after posting a comment on Twitter that was patently untrue; . Wrong!! National did not remove Prisoners’ ability to vote. Parliament voted through a Private Member’s Bill ...2 days ago
Speaker Trevor Mallard was left to look after Jones, while his usual caretaker, Winston Peters, underwent surgery. A truly adorable scene from Parliament yesterday has gone viral, after Speaker Trevor Mallard cradled an extremely drunk Shane Jones in his arms while the House was in session. Loud “awwww”s could be ...3 days ago
Western media have defended their decision not to cover the fires so as not to give them any oxygen. Social media outrage continues to grow around the sentiment that mainstream western media is devoting too little coverage to an ongoing series of fires in the Amazon rainforest, and in doing ...3 days ago
A Long Time Ago, In A Parallel Universe Far, Far Away: The political journalist scratched his head in confusion. Only then did he notice the name of the building: ‘The Jacinda Ardern Presidential Library and Public Resource Centre’. Making his way inside to the information desk, he asked the librarian ...3 days ago
3 days ago
Nothing from me tody - I'm off to Christchurch to pretend to be other people for a weekend. Normal bloggage should resume on Tuesday. ...3 days ago
Spark is bracing for a customer backlash as rugby fans all across the country struggle to get a picture on their wireless router. With the Rugby World Cup fast approaching, an elderly Taranaki couple are furious after being told that they still won’t be able to watch the tournament, even ...4 days ago
Several explosions have been reported across Auckland, as well-meaning environmentalists have already begun purchasing too much petrol Starting from next week, customers will no longer need a car to purchase petrol directly from the pump, a development that two major fuel providers are billing as an opportunity to help fight ...4 days ago
A new study claims to find that a mother’s exposure to fluoridated water during pregnancy may decrease the IQ of male children – but is it correct? (Photo: Getty Images) Anti-fluoride campaigners are promoting ... 4 days ago
by Jan Rivers More than 30 years ago a Commission of Inquiry was held in New Zealand to investigate, amongst other things, whether women with cervical cancer were aware that they had been part of a research project and whether they were properly informed of the treatment options ...6 days ago
Everyone Wants To Be Fuhrer: When fascist groups are discussed, the image conjured-up in the minds of most New Zealanders is one of pathetic misfits. This negative impression is reinforced by the latter’s idiotic embrace of the swastika. Even in the second decade of the twenty-first century, the baleful legacy ...6 days ago
In the previous two posts, I laid out the context and set the theoretical framework to answer a question: whether indigenous economies should take the LEAP. This final part outlines ways to conceive of practicing mana motuhake within the existing legal system by carving out special jurisdictions that enable Indigenous ...1 week ago
Fully Informed? Labour’s 2017 promises raised expectations that were little short of revolutionary. Unfortunately, they were never adequately shaken through the fiscal sieve. The hard economic work was not done – and it shows. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s critics have long complained that her grasp of the way the New ...1 week ago
You cannot expect to pound communities into the ground day after day, year after year, decade after decade and just expect them to take it lying down. There’s a point at which the place will explode. And we’re faced with some very big ructions on both sides of the Atlantic ...1 week ago
1 week ago
Going Down? Once truth and propaganda become fused in the minds of one’s followers, debate and discussion become redundant. If one’s opponents are all outrageous liars, then engaging with them in any way is pointless. Rather than waste its time, a political party should, instead, target all its messages at ...1 week ago
We need to fundamentally reframe our systems settings to address the drivers causing and underpinning inequality; structural change in systems especially financial. The Equality Network Hui was held in Wellington on 27 June 2019. The hui covered important topics such as child poverty; a living wage; taxation; public health; mental ...2 weeks ago
The views-per-page for some of my recent postings:Depressing, isn't it? Provide thoughtful and wise commentary on the mainstream of British politics and no-one notices. Make a passing reference to Tommy DICKHEAD Robinson in a thread title and you get hundreds of views. Write something about anti-Semitism and you get another ...2 weeks ago
The government has announced plans to move the Treaty of Waitangi and other taonga to a new site. Great news! So where are they going? Right next to the old one:The new plan will see a new 22,000-square-metre archive built on the former site of Defence House - the former ...2 weeks ago
Back in June, StatsNZ went public about a project to track population data on an hourly level by using people's cellphones. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked - they were receiving no individual data, only counts by suburb - but there was still a huge consent problem, so ...2 weeks ago
I did an interview on the TVNZ Breakfast Show about the situation in Hong Kong. I tried to frame the issue as a collective action problem between two sides with very different end games. The video is here. Because of time constraints we could not discuss the fact that the ...2 weeks ago
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ... 2 weeks ago
Alone, Alone. All, All Alone: Will it be a good or a bad thing, when humanity’s bright blue spacecraft is stricken by the civilisation-destroying problem of Climate Change, that no Huston Control will be standing-by to rescue the crew?“WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HUSTON.” These were the words used by the ...2 weeks ago
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...2 weeks ago
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...2 weeks ago
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...2 weeks ago
Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement with Switzerland, Revenue Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Mr Nash and the Swiss Ambassador David Vogelsanger have today signed documents to update the double tax agreement (DTA). The previous DTA was signed in 1980. “Double tax ...3 weeks ago
The New Zealand Maori Council has been provided with the soon to be released coronial data on suicide in New Zealand. The fact is the suicide rate has risen again and is out of control. The Executive Director of the New Zealand Maori Council (and former ...36 mins ago
The National Party plans to scrap 100 regulations and a number of the current government's policies if voted into power next year. ...10 mins ago
Ruby Porter on the first novel by acclaimed Vietnamese-American poet Ocean Vuong. I came across Ocean Vuong’s poetry collection Night Sky With Exit Wounds last year. I read it twice in one day. I was staying outside of New York, at the time, and taking the train in each morning. I ...50 mins ago
The National Party plans to scrap 100 regulations and a number of the current government's policies if voted into power next year. ...1 hour ago
Lines company, Chorus, has seen its full year net profit drop, hit by lower revenue and increased interest costs to pay for the roll-out of fibre. ...2 hours ago
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
University law revues can be clever, satirical, and entertaining. Not this one, some say. ...7 hours ago
In this week's MediaRoom column Mark Jennings looks at the big changes at Sky TV. ...7 hours ago
Kiwi boxer Troy Garton, who defied medical advice to produce one of the most remarkable performances in NZ sport, now has her sights set firmly on the Tokyo Olympics. ...8 hours ago
Victoria University of Wellington's Anne Goulding discusses the paradox of New Zealanders wanting to safeguard our personal data, while frequently and freely giving it away. ...8 hours ago
If the Government gave everyone an extra $1000 to spend, would we all be better off? Bernard Hickey looks into the theory of helicopter money. ...8 hours ago
Conservationists say a bill aimed to save freshwater fish fails to protect thousands of eels from being minced in hydroelectricity dam turbines. ...8 hours ago
Investigations into alleged offending on aid project in Vanuatu find new "persons of interest" - including an NZ citizen. ...8 hours ago
Is New Zealand in danger of becoming a bio-tech backwater because of our strict GE rules, or should we retain them to sell our clean image overseas? ...8 hours ago
ANALYSIS: By David Robie Indonesia’s harsh policies towards West Papua ought to be scrapped. Whatever happened to the brief window of enlightenment ushered in by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2015 with promises of a more “open door” policy towards foreign journalists and human rights groups? They were supposed ...19 hours ago
As a format it predates almost all reality TV, and that’s precisely why it works in 2019, writes Duncan Greive.There’s something deeply comforting about watching Celebrity Treasure Island. It is a very pure form of escapism, largely because it explicitly recalls a world without the internet, and before everything started ...22 hours ago
Residents in Los Angeles and Orange County warned to check for symptoms after an infected NZ teen visited theme parks including Disneyland and Universal Studios earlier this month.Californian health authorities have issued warnings to residents and visitors after a New Zealand teenager was found to have spent five days in ...1 day ago
Vana Manasiadis wrote a collection of poetry in the wake of her mother’s death. In this essay, ahead of her appearance at the Going West festival, she argues that as a nation Aotearoa needs to learn to make space for mourning. When Mum died in Athens, I cried loudly and publicly ...1 day ago
The giant hand that captivated, delighted and disgusted the nation is now settling into its new Wellington home. For City Gallery Wellington’s blog, Spinoff arts editor Megan Dunn talked to Ronnie van Hout, the man who made Quasi.“Quasi is in the wrong place,” wrote art critic Warren Feeney in 2016, ...2 days ago
At school camp, the children are banned from having phones, laptops, lollies, chocolate, money, cotton clothing or independent thoughts. They, are, however, allowed home baking – but it’s gotta be hearty. How hearty are you? We are packing for a school camp. If you’re thinking that the middle of winter is ...2 days ago
Phil Goff’s rival has already pledged an 0800-Jacinda homeless hotline and an 18-lane harbour bridge. What’s next? The two most important people in the 2019 campaign for the Auckland mayoralty faced each other down on Wednesday night across the desk in the NZME debate: Bernard Orsman and Simon Wilson. Correction: it ...2 days ago
Split Level View Finder: Theo Schoon and New Zealand Art is the exhibition that sparked a protest over issues of cultural appropriation and institutional representation. Theo Schoon is a divisive historical figure. But is his art any good? Martin Patrick reviews.British novelist L.P. Hartley once wrote that “the past is ...2 days ago
Ahead of debuting her solo show at New Zealand Fashion Week, Korean-NZ couture designer Cecilia Kang talks about growing up ‘feminine’, being influenced by the LGBTQ+ community, and why an ‘administrative error’ at Fashion Week left her so shaken up. ‘I like something big,” says Cecilia Kang, gesturing to the giant ...2 days ago
The Labour Party is distancing itself from one of its members who is strongly pro-Beijing and has caused controversy in the Chinese community by standing for local office in Auckland. ...2 days ago
Faced with staff shortages, equipment failures, cancer risks, and a jump in critical calls that can leave them traumatised, some firefighters are wondering if it’s time to hang up the hose. Gareth Shute reports on the dissatisfaction inside Fire and Emergency New Zealand.The state of our nation’s fire service is ...2 days ago
“She comes over. You’re my mother, she says. Yes, I say. I don’t know you, she says”: a mother and child seaside story by Wellington author Jan Pryor. Photo by Peter Black. ...2 days ago
On Monday the government announced its new five-year strategy to reduce the Māori prison population. Emilie Rākete looks at another ‘kaupapa Māori’ prison initiative that degrades prisoners and asks if Corrections are capable of seeing it through.On August 19th, the Department of Corrections announced Hōkai Rangi, its new strategy intended ...2 days ago
By Michael Andrew The Indonesian media is contributing to resentment and racism toward Papuans, according to a human rights researcher and former journalist. Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch Jakarta told Pacific Media Watch many Indonesian journalists either view Papuans as enemy “separatists” or deviants and their reporting tends to convey these ...3 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danilo Ignacio de Urzedo, PhD candidate, University of Sydney Record fires are raging in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, with more than 2,500 fires currently burning. They are collectively emitting huge amounts of carbon, with smoke plumes visible thousands of kilometres away. Fires in ...3 days ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sean Docking, Post-doctoral researcher, La Trobe University Basketball fans around the world were recently sickened by the footage of NBA star Kevin Durant’s Achilles tendon rupturing during a game. But while many think it’s only elite athletes who suffer from Achilles tendon ...3 days ago
Out of the ‘stories that should of been done pre election file’ tv3 have had the guy who runs one of the big property websites in Asia saying NZ is high on investors hit list because of our lack of capital gains and controls on foreign ownership.
yes – out of the horse’s mouth. How is this going to be spun do you think?
This government primarily works for the wealthy, with a few good social policies from previous Labour government kept for political cunning expediency. We the people that vote such a government in are really dumb. It isn’t the fault of the rich foreign property buyers.
“..We the people that vote such a government in are really dumb..”
+ 1..
..as in really really fucken ‘dumb’..
You gotta ask…what will wake them up?
dunno..the fucken idiots vote time and time again for the bastards who are screwing them/the planet over..
..hard to see/get past such bone-headed stupidity..
..and yes..politicians are lying bastards..
..the media are complicit clowns..
..and the people are really really fucken dumb..
..’tis an unholy trifecta..
..and i dunno what ‘will wake them up’..
They don’t need to when Len brown came on straight after and rabbited on about how many low cost house’s were being built (how under 500k is classed as low cost has me buggered) and how many consents have been issued.
Hi b waghorn. I hope you received this reply I left you on yesterday’s Open Mike
“Children suffer: Welfare’s outdated ideas on relationships”
Excerpt:
“New Zealand’s social security framework is based on outdated ideas of the nature of relationships and too often fails to protect the needs of children in the 21st century, says Child Poverty Action Group.”
“There are major inconsistencies in the use of relationship in the welfare system. It is difficult to justify a policy that pays less to a couple than to two individuals who share accommodation and costs. ”
“The report finds that tests for the degree of financial interdependence and emotional commitment, needed for the relationship to be treated as ‘in the nature of marriage’, are subjective and inconsistent. There is often a degree of surveillance that is far from open and transparent. Moreover the appeal processes for anyone accused of being in a relationship are very unsatisfactory. A sole parent may even be given a prison sentence with scant regard to the impact on her children.
Susan St John says, “it is worrying to see how often sole mothers face both imprisonment and a lifetime of repayments.” ” http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1412/S00165/children-suffer-welfares-outdated-ideas-on-relationships.htm
SSJ makes a good point about someone flatting having the same costs as someone in a relationship.
I’d like to point out that section 20C of the Social Securities Act, Sole Parent Support: split custody (this is when one or more of the children from a relationship live with one parent, and the others live with the other parent) only provides benefit support to one parent.
In working terms this ususally means the person who applied first, not necessarily the most in need, and can fail children who are caught in the middle of two bewildered parents who didn’t realise this was the case or who are using the benefit system to get back at an ex partner and the children who chose to live with them. Nasty stuff.
mr sellout on the tpp..and the minister for doing nothing about climatechange..groser..
..on the telly spinning for all his worth..
.denying the fact that groser/nz was on the side of the villains in peru..
..lining up with the other big-polluters to argue against them having to cut their polluting at all..
..lying/spinning bastard…
Grose can release our Pledge before christmas then, to prove he is on the side of the angels
Bricking over the lower windows of the Fed + survival kits ordered. Something catastrophic about to happen in the US?
http://www.brotherjohnf.com/archives/356927
They’re pulling up the drawbridge …….
These federal reserve outfits have the most power of all. They direct the things that happen in the world and hence they know better than any what is likely to occur next.
and john key is our ‘man from the fed’..
..and him becoming prime minister..
..must rank as one of their most successful placements/trojan-horse-operations..ever..
the editor from metro doing a mea culpa over slagging little as a possible/viable leader for labour..
..i wd like to note that i went on the record at the same time as that metro-slagging…supporting little for the role..
..purely on the grounds that we had not yet seen what he had to offer..
..whereas with robertson and parker…we already had..
In about 6 months time the first review is due to get underway of NZ’s Security and Intelligence Agencies. One aspect that I hope is looked into is the extent that citizens who are concerned about the environment are being subjected to surveillance, in their search for what Mr Finlayson has called “Eco-terrorism”. He was being questioned on TV One’s Q&A program a week ago, then in regard to unwarranted surveillance.
From what he said, it seems to be the call of whoever is doing the surveillance do decide whether those under surveillance are wanting to protest against something, or may “cross the line into eco-terrorism.”
Corin repeatedly asked, “Who draws the line?”
And each time, he failed to give a clear answer.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1412/S00095/definition-of-foreign-fighters-is-tolerably-clear.htm
Thanks for this. A law passed with no definition for the key parts…
Breaking news
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-30473983
So their new increased powers dont appear to have worked… On the other hand the last time the ozzie police brandished a plastic ceremonial sword as proof of terrorism in oz, without telling anyone it was plastic…
Sometimes its best to wait 24 hours to find some real facts… Sometimes 24 days.
i was wondering if anyone else who watched the final of the nation yesterday..
..also suffered from spontaneous gastric-reflux every time ‘squeeg’ gower referrred/spoke to those two rightwing trouts nash and marks..
..as ‘stuey’..and ‘ronnie’..
..i know i did..
that gushing–yeah yeah yeah–we’re teamsters! we know how it really is…
yeah..the ‘in-crowd’ feel of the whole thing was also nausea-inducing..
..it’s all just a game..
..and we are the ones who are being ‘played’..
So Phil Goff, I guess on behalf of the Labour Party, says yesterday in the SST that we should stop people going to fight for organisations like ISIS that commit crimes against humanity.
How does Phil Goff square that away with joining the US when the US also commits crimes against humanity?
And, is Dick Cheney the biggest joke on the planet?
phil goff has us standing alongside the torturers..
..phil goff was a major driver for us to go to afgnanistan to be spear-carriers for the americans..
..our troops captured afghanis..
..and handed them over to be tortured..
..we help the drones with their targeting..(of innocent men/women/children..at a rate of 28 innocents killed for every ‘terrorist’..)
..how the fuck can phil goff come within a bulls roar of taking the/any high moral ground on this..?
..his hands are stained with the blood of the tortured..
..and of the bombed/killed innocents…
Gof, like Collins, is writing on behalf of Goff.
The SST seems to get their brief mixed up
“we need someone from the far left to make it a balance against crusher”
“what about Goff?”
“oh thats a better idea, get someone kinda sorta on the left but on the far right of Labour and who wants to be auckland mayor then we dont upset the advertisers, hell they may increase”
There are some boundaries NZ politicians are not allowed to step over.
Why? What would happen?
We know the US (or it’s proxies) runs operations all over the planet to destabilise regimes they don’t like or are inconvenient. This is a matter of historical fact.
What makes anyone think NZ is somehow immune? I can think of at least one local example within the last decade.
Gough Whitlam in the 70s was unseated
What’s that I can’t recall anything local……. although my memory sure isn’t what it used to be.
Hmmm. That brings up the very simple and age old dilemma so aptly illustrated by Shakespeare’s “to be or not to be”.
Do we turn a blind eye to suffering and accept the stolen treasures?
Or do we stand up for what is right despite the fact it may lead to our own detriment?
Do we remain like our dirty stained Aussie ‘cousins’? Or do we become a happy and good Cuba?
It is no wonder the USA is so hated by so many and is on such a steep downward trajectory on every front in the eyes of the rest.
Exactly. Not to mention that the US (and their Saudi allies) stoked up Islamic fundamentalism in the first place as a counter to secular, progressive forces in the Arab world and in Afghanistan.
After the Cold War, the fundamentalists struck out on their own, biting the hand that fed them. Still, by doing so, they provided successive US administrations with a new enemy against which to try to cohere fragmenting American society and the west in general under US leadership. Not that it’s working out all that well for the US ruling elite. . .
Phil
Here’s a thing about the US and Bin Laden that first appeared in the bulletin produced by the old Middle East Information and Solidarity Collective in Christchurch over a decade ago: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/how-the-west-created-osama-bin-laden/
Phil
PS: When I said “Exactly” in the email above, it was in response to this from VTO: “How does Phil Goff square that away with joining the US when the US also commits crimes against humanity?” Forgot to quote VTO.
John Minto good on Morning Report on where to now for the Mana Party
…personally I am sorry the Internet part or Party has been dropped for now…I think Mana will be the poorer for it…especially as an Internet Party is being established in the USA… Minto says he has no regrets as regards the Internet Party coalition..it was a risk worth taking ( imo it certainly focused issues for intelligent New Zealanders)
MInto, always a clear and concise communicator , gave good reasons as to why Internet/Mana did not make it into Parliament
…Labour Party and other parties in cahoots with Nactional ganged up on Hone, found Int/Mana party and all it stood for it too threatening
….and a concerted msm attack on Dotcom….SHAME! ( I hope the msm attacks can be catalogued for future historians and generations to see exposed)
5 weeks out from the Election Internet/mana was doing very well indeed and could have had 3-4 seats in parliament
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20161080/back-to-the-drawing-board-for-mana-movement-and-internet-party
it’s not minto..it’s um! um! ah! ah! david slack..
..and he’s um! um! ah! ah! spouting simplistic shit…
minto gets a line in the intro..it is 90% slack..
..did you listen to it..?
I really wish that Hone, Laila, Minto and Sykes were in parliament this term.
@ Clem…+100…and we would probably have a Labour led coalition ( Labour sure as hell fucked that one up!)
btw…there is something funny going on with the sequence of comments..it is not working …LPrent…where are you?…help)
it happened this morning too with icebergs comment suddenly appearing before vto on the sorry thread
Yeah, they got screwed, and as a consequence NZ got screwed.
Yip sure was. Minto would be better forming another party, Mana is a dead duck. Hone has got Warner Bro’s millions stashed away where they can’t get it, and will spend up on himself.
“..Hone has got Warner Bro’s millions stashed away ..”
..could you expand on that..?
this is a reply to skinny..above..comment sequencing is on the blink..
@ Skinny
I am not sure why your remark wouldn’t be actionable as slander against Hone. What Warners millions and are you peeved because you stood for election and couldn’t get enough funding for promotion of your cause? Or what? You remind me of the end of a hippotomus I once saw – while it did its business it flapped its little tail and spread it all around (in your case you do it with your little tale.)
I wish you’d keep your racist crap stashed away.
@ pu ….see my reply above at 9.1.1…i got the wrong link. here is the correct link
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20161066/internet-mana-alliance-formally-dissolved
pu…thanks…OK you are right ( this time)…I got the wrong link and stupid old David Slack “spouting simplistic shit”…why Suzie Ferguson would want to interview David Slack on Internet /mana Party I do NOT know ….( maybe to obfuscate and muddy the waters!!!?…maybe they didnt like what Minto said earlier…too hard hitting for Morning Report !?)..David Slack wanted to start a David Party for Christs sakes ….pleeeeze! ( it starts with Minto though)
here is the correct link
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20161066/internet-mana-alliance-formally-dissolved
“I think Mana will be the poorer for it”
And Laila Harre
“an Internet Party is being established in the USA”
Couldn’t buy NZ voters so lets try with the yanks.
“it was a risk worth taking”
Really?
“Labour Party and other parties in cahoots with Nactional ganged up on Hone, found Int/Mana party and all it stood for it too threatening”
1.5% of those who voted must be right. All the other must just be scaredy cats. 🙄
“and a concerted msm attack on Dotcom”
As forecast and quite predictable really, so no point crying about it. If a dunce like me got it right, why did no one in mana?
“5 weeks out from the Election Internet/mana was doing very well indeed and could have had 3-4 seats in parliament”
That’s what happens when you count chickens before they hatch like one does with millions of dollars of donations.
The joint campaign was a bit of a disaster with mixed messages and puffed up little shit episodes. It was bound to end in tears and did.
zzzzz…feel tired and sleepy
Probably because all that brain power you exerted on thinking up a load of old bull has worn you out. 😉
gone to sleep…did you speak in my dream?…inwhich case i will have to go into a deeper more profound level of sleep….zzzzz
Good reply, but try again after a nap if you want me to take you seriously.
I dont like using this analogy, but the Internet-Mana party has been officially strangled at birth, now that it has been de-registered.
Thank you, politcal establishment, with special mention to the mistakes made by several people on IM’s part.
And meanwhile the Chinese contine to buy the National party and noone bats an eyelid.
that was the real big lie they got away with..(one of them..)
..that dotcom was ‘money influencing politics’..
..whereas national are owned lock stock and barrel by ..’money’..
..and have always been that way..
..key must deserve an acting award for pushing that one..and being able to still maintain a straight face..
the best thing about Internet /Mana is that it gave those at the bottom of the heap a Party with a sophisticated futurist look..they were winners and tech savvy and concerned with democracy and internet freedom… and it was a foil / counter to corporate controlled culture with a permanent underclass
…it gave lie to the Nact myth that those at the bottom of the heap are no- hopers
…and a socialist type party is dead and in the past history
….Int/Mana was ahead of its time and ahead of the game
….as it is now the under-thirties ( the intelligent, dynamic and beautiful) who John key Nact and corporate right wing govts around the world are now making the new underclass …with huge tertiary loans, insecure and poorly paid work and no hope of ever owning a home … i see Mana combined with an Internet Party as the way of the future
….Dotcom and Mana are to be congratulated for trying….and next TIME your time will have come !
Dan Carlin had some very interesting talking points about CIA Torture & the related political lines given, especially the way Obama was elected to change the excesses of the Bush administration, and then proceeded to double down on them. See Common Sense 285 – Torturing our values
http://www.dancarlin.com/common-sense-home-landing-page/
If you haven’t listened to his podcast before, you’re in for a treat, Carlin is easily one of the best political commentators on the left (the real left) in the USA. He is incisive, cuts through the noise, analyses situations and compares them to the historical context.
It looks like iwi are going to charge people to enter 90 mile beach. Coupled with the recent locking out of hunters out of the Ureweras it is another reason why the left should oppose the handing over of conservation land to iwi because they WILL restrict access.
Well, it is about time for some entity to ‘control’ access to 90 Mile (Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē).
It takes a hammering daily from large tourist buses travelling at 100kmh, the drivers know the conditions well and it is hammer down. You just have to be on the beach to feel it. It is about reasonable access and use.
It about shitting on the kiwi tradition of a day at the beach.
Beaches should be publicly owned and free for the public according to our egalitarian soceity.
But not for cars.
Yes, this is something that cuts across party lines
I wonder why Tuhoe want to restrict Hunters from killing game on their historic territory, and land that they hold pretty sacred, their sanctuary, the place they retreated when the colonial army came to slaughter them for not rolling over and coming to the table.
Tuhoe never signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Their land was systematically stolen from them. They still hold the Ureweras to be their land. How is it any different from a hunter coming on to your land and shooting your ducks? Restricting hunting hardly seems like the crime of the century.
Context is important here. But on another note, I totally disagree with Maori, or anyone for that matter restricting access to beaches, or charging members of the public to use their tracks to the beach. It’s important though, that everyone treats their land with respect, afaik the Iwi just want to charge commercial operators, the same guys who drive big buses across their land, it’s not a big ask for commercial operators who are making money off of bringing tourists across private owned land to be asked to pay a small fee for entry.
Thanks for context. Makes a big difference to discussion.
There was an interesting piece on Native Affairs this year about the charge for commercial operators for taking tourists through the “hole in the rock”.
Of course, the operators continued the line that although it was private land “above”, the “hole” was not owned by anyone and therefore no fees needed to be paid.
…if this is true, then tourist operators should be able to set up large flying foxes across the volcanic cones of Auckland, – taking money from those who want to do close flyovers of the residences of the 1%.
I have no doubt the framing of public access and private property would be entirely different to that which is trotted out whenever iwi land is involved.
Spot on Molly. Well said.
+1
Of course, the real analogy would be tunnels dug under the private property, maybe with glass ceilings? Yuck.
Are they looking at charging people, or charging cars? Particularly with tourist companies making money from trips up and down the beach, why shouldn’t the locals get something?
As for Tuhoe, I read what they’d decided at the time and agreed with them. It isn’t so much a lockout, but a reorganisation of licensing.
Of course if you want Kiwi not Iwi, move to Epsom and your vote will be counted.
In the wake of the OECD report there has been some discussion on tax and GST. While tax havens have been around for some time, there has certainly been a big growth of them in recent years – part of the process where capital can move freely (and hide) while workers are locked into national frontiers (and can’t hide for long from the immigration police).
Anyway, here’s an interesting article on tax havens: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/tax-havens-natural-and-inescapable-product-of-capitalism/
And here’s an article on the roles of direct and indirect tax under capitalism and why capitalists like indirect tax: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/understanding-gst-and-tax-policy/
Phil
OMG, Mathew Hooten (on Nine to Noon) is suggesting to break Fonterra into TWO organisations to COMPETE? Why does RNZ continue to have this very silly man on. I don’t even know where to start.
He can have a go at Fonterra, but not for that reason…Fonterra has critical mass, which is its major strength. Maybe he should put his free market ideology aside and challenge whether Fonterra’s “GDT” system is losing NZ dairy farmers value???
What he should be suggesting is the NZs beef and lamb producers get together and create something like Fonterra
But too many egos involved for that to happen I guess…
Yep….agree. Ruth Richardson also put her spanner in the works….looking after herself.
well I dont think Fonterra is doing that good a job for dairy farmers…they should have another co-op that sells to Russia…so agree with Possum Hooton on this
Terrorists holding hostages in Sydney coffee shop outlines exactly why we should completely stay out of The Middle Eastern Wars. Make that call John Key show some leadership before we stuff a similar fate here in New Zealand.
IMO, John Key and National would use such an incident to increase surveillance on the populace. In other words, he’d see such an incident as an opportunity rather than the failure on his and National’s part that it would be.
Yep, justification for the spy bill will be the predictable spin line.
Won’t be long until the cries of False Flag are heard
Without proof that would be a bit silly, but then even if it were a black flag op, it’s not like you’ll get access to the truth, is it?
+100 Skinny
We don’t actually know yet who the guy holding people hostage is. It’s a very strange sort of terrorist act. They usually commit random acts of violence, designed to shock and scare people. Hours of a hostage situation is more like an armed robbery gone wrong. We might know in about 30 years.
Civil liberties going to zero in 3…2…1
The 4th Estate and Dirty Politics.
Raises some interesting questions about our MSM.
I hope those who railed at the ethics of hager publishing and maybe profitting from, stolen emails are now railing at fairfax and apn for using some of those hacks to sell newspapers and online ads
Good journalism awards from Bruce Jesson Foundation..
Bruce Jesson Awards:
Max Rashbrooke & Chloe Winter
The Bruce Jesson Foundation recently announced its 2014 Journalism Awards:
The Senior Journalism Award of $4000 for a proposed work of “critical, informed, analytical and creative journalism or writing that will contribute to public debate in NZ on an important issue or issues” was awarded to Max Rashbrooke for an e-book on wealth inequality in NZ;
About – http://www.maxrashbrooke.org.nz/about-me/
http://www.bwb.co.nz/books/the-inequality-debate ebook $14.99
Inequality: A NZ Crisis ebook $39.99
The Emerging Journalism Award of $1000 for “outstanding published work of critical, informed, analytical and creative journalism or writing by NZ print journalism students which will contribute to public debate in New Zealand on an important issue or issues” was awarded to Chloe Winter of Massey University, Wellington, for her article “War against killers we face at work”, published in the Herald on Sunday on 3 November 2013.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11150665
For Mike Joy’s speech (and other annual ones from people of renown)
go here http://www.brucejesson.com/?page_id=349
The 2014 Bruce Jesson Lecture Mike Joy – Paradise Squandered; New Zealand’s Environmental Asset Stripping
Posted on 10 October 2014 by bjf_admin
New Zealand’s lakes, rivers and most of our groundwater are in a critical state. Decades of misguided regulation and a free-for-all on diffuse pollution have encouraged agricultural intensification and driven our increasing reliance on imported feed and fertiliser.
The inevitable consequences have been devastating environmental impacts as well as increasing economic and biosecurity risks.
The solutions are many but require a paradigm shift; a move away from dependence on imported feed and fertiliser to keeping nutrients on farm and adding value to products, and strong leadership to move away from short-term thinking that accepts the massive ecological debt we are running up.
‘David Bain’s legal team has been in confidential discussions with the Minister of Justice over his bid for compensation.’…hope Adams has got the steel to stand up to the Bain industry.
When did household income peak in the USA? For many counties, it was at least 15 years ago…
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-14/when-income-peaked-americans-best-days-are-behind-them