A police investigation into a campaign of harassment against prominent China researcher Anne-Marie Brady has widened to include apparent efforts to sabotage her car.
University of Canterbury professor Brady, who gained international profile over the past 18 months for her work exposing China’s influence campaigns – including in New Zealand – was subjected to a series of mysterious break-ins at her home and campus office in February.
These burglaries, apparently targeting electronic media including phones, computers and USB drives, sparked high-level interest with the Prime Minister expressing concern, and the Police began a nine-month – and still ongoing – investigation involving Interpol.
The vehicular sabotage represents an escalation for the case, coming on the heels of recent vitriolic editorials in local Chinese-language media describing the professor and New Zealand-Chinese democracy activists as “anti-Chinese sons of bitches”…..
……Commentary in local Chinese-language media has been an especially heated, with a recent op-ed by Morgan Xiao – published simultaneously by SkyKiwi, the Mandarin Pages and the New Zealand Chinese Daily News – describing Brady and other New Zealand-Chinese democracy activists as “anti-Chinese sons of bitches” who should “get out of New Zealand”.
+1 Ed – harassment, illegal activity like stealing data for foreign powers, (or worse) should NOT be acceptable in NZ and there should be a lot more resources on it.
We have had the French agents blowing up Rainbow Warrior, Isrealis stealing our passports and now Chinese agents apparently taking data/harrassment/stealing from NZ researchers and worse.
Is the Labour government going to say meh, or are they going to apprehend the perpetrators and prosecute them???? Considering the taxpayer funded budget of the SIS and GCSB you have to wonder how hard can it be and are they competent to do the job?
In addition NZ needs to step up with regards to espionage in NZ… look at the mess the Brits are in, when they are so internally focused they turn a blind eye to espionage in their own country. No wonder there are blatant assassinations going on around the world from foreign powers, as there as there does not seem much interest from governments in protecting citizens anymore.
Mysterious factory break-in raises suspicions about Chinese visit
“It was an unusual burglary, in which four or five laptops were stolen from a Scottish renewable energy manufacturer in the dead of a March night in 2011. So innovative was the company that it had been been visited by a 60-strong delegation led by China’s then vice-premier only two months before.
Nothing else was taken from the company and the crime, while irritating, went unsolved and forgotten – until a few years later pictures began emerging that showed a remarkably similar project manufactured in the world’s most populous country.”
I’ve read that China’s acquisition of IP developed elsewhere is estimated as the largest transfer of wealth ever.
If you look at the R&D costs over time, resources, infrastructure, trial and error you’d skip its a staggering value in today’s currency they’ve bypassed.
The xian y-20 compared to the us c-17 being one the most blatant as they got sprung using a Canadian based expat to highlight the files/folders from compromised servers for lift and shift to China.
@TC, yep and use that money to buy up assets like significant amounts of NZ and OZ…
While the west politicians are getting selfies and self promoting in magazines and MSM or firing off on Twitter, the Chinese government are to be admired in a way as they steadily and carefully advancing their cause, gathering power and strategic assets, partnerships and soft power…
Natz can be bought for $100k, how cheap is that?
Sadly our government in NZ has become greedy and/or naive self promoters hoping for a crust of bread and a pat on the head, as 30 years post Rogernomics our politicians and the general discourse being promoted is that Kiwis are only good at Rugby and a few other sports and incapable of self governing, working or running our own businesses, assets or countries successfully.
So very easy for the Chinese to step in to help, self govern NZ and their businesses and assets in the face of greed, disinterest and brainwashing of the NZ political elite and MSM.
We have also given up our security to others in particular the US in real terms and so now at the mercy of others.
There is a difference between collaboration/friendship and throwing your hands up and leaving it all up to other governments and paper agreements to decide your future and fate and NZ seems to be erring on the lazy second option with no plan B of self management.
Don’t blame them actually. Most US patents are not innovation, just blatant privatisation of others ideas. Parenting rounded corners on a cell phone. FFS.
Rentier capitalism at it’s worse.
US prosperity begins, by ignoring all previous British property rights.
Is the Labour government going to say meh, or are they going to apprehend the perpetrators and prosecute them?
All indications are that they’re going to say ‘meh’ so as to keep up Fonterra’s exports. Apparently maintaining NZ for NZers under NZ control comes a distant second to that.
It occurs to me that Ed is continually bringing up foreign problems and ctiticising the USA and China etc. Whereas I want to see this blog continue and look at what is happening here. If Ed steps on enough toes and makes enough wild assertions about the large dominating foreign powers, it takes time away from us. If it incurs enough wrath Ed’s stuff alone could make it a likely target to be taken to court or closed down.
And groups can get infiltrated; we have wondered who is behind these extra right regulars. There is something driven about them, and the same could apply to those supposedly speaking for the left. I’m just a concerned left-leaning twit myself. I wonder about Ed and others.
It occurs to me that Ed is continually bringing up foreign problems and ctiticising the USA and China etc. Whereas I want to see this blog continue and look at what is happening here.
There are parallels.
We know that the previous National government pretty much copied social policy from the UK and that they copied charter schools from the US. So, seeing what’s happening to them can give us an idea of the damages that National will do next time they’re in power.
This is normal for anyone who dares to criticize the new Mao, Chairman Xi. My main reading is Chinese web news sites in NZ. This is mild compared to everyday comments in Chinese language media. ANY opposing view that even slightly is against Community Party views is considered as being traitor. Yet many on this blog say how great China system is! It is not!
I am called a traitor to China by my own family and Chinese friends in NZ as I am in the process of applying for NZ Citizenship. This is what the Community Party has done to the people in my country.
Thank you for your brave words. The CCCP is indeed a soft tyranny of a nature the western world struggles to understand properly.
My only small objection is that I do not think a majority of us here are admirers of the Chinese regime and it’s expansionist ambitions. Most of us loath empire wherever it appears.
Yes, China is an empire, although few Kiwis see that. Mr Xi is step by step becoming Mao. The ‘Thoughts of Chairman Xi’ is now a reality that rivals the ‘Thoughts of Chairman Mao’. Unlimited term as leader. Increased censorship. Imprisonment and ‘re-education’ of Uyghurs. But in China most people support him still. Economically very good.
Forced abortion when already have one child was common 20 years ago. When I studied nursing, the man on the autopsy table was a criminal, a bullet hole clearly in his forehead. We thought this was right, but it is not. Bribery to get into hospital – yes this is the great Community Party state that so many Kiwis still think is a utopia. There are many things that were and in many parts of China, especially local places, are pure evil. But this was all we knew. Young Chinese people very very different. The future for China will be interesting I think.
Yes that is true, but in China even an emergency, life in danger, in many places you will not even get admitted to hospital. This is very true. And drugs you must pay for. In NZ, I do not have health insurance or my son, yet we get a higher level of care than in China.
In 2016, I spent 4 months in China. My son had been injured in an accident. His father and I paid for pain relief and antibiotics. NZ not that bad!
I haven’t noticed commentators here saying “how great China system is!” I’ve seen some (including myself) criticising it. Polarising into a simple binary view of anything is usually too simple-minded – those who do so lose accuracy in their description. Any political system will have pros & cons. I agree that the international community has been too tolerant of the endemic misbehaviour of the regime for far too long.
As far as your relations are concerned, it may help to frame things in generic terms – the future for China will require adaption to a common-interest framework. National self-interest therefore must be balanced by acknowledgment of the interests of other nations. In respect of China’s attempt to reassert their regional hegemony, we can expect all other nations affected to align in consensus to oppose such re-emergence of imperialism. A balance of equal and opposite forces is therefore eventually inevitable. Naive expectations of success will be replaced by realism. In the interim, any delusional thinking by decision-makers is dangerous…
Yes Chinese political system was necessary for our recent decades of rapid growth. We all pulled in the same direction. No serious opposition was allowed. But now it is still the same, yet the need is no longer there.
You mention my relations, no! Older than me and have never left China, so still have Maos isolationist view of the world.
The biggest challenges for China in the years ahead are the young people, who travel. And the looming huge problem of Xinjiang. And Xizang.
@Fang Zhou – some Kiwis are worried about the Chinese government too, so even if it seems that people might sound anti Chinese be aware most of the time it is directed against the CCP getting a stranglehold into NZ not against Chinese people and also the worry that Chinese residents might be pressured to work for the Chinese government interests even if they didn’t want to on foreign soil, so great might be influence be as our government and industry is asleep at the wheel.
To be fair to the TS, I have not seen anyone say they want the Chinese system. But they do want a return to authoritarian govt control, which could be interrupted as wanting the Chinese system.
A small number on the extreme Left want a authoritarian govt that own pretty much everything. (banks, insurance, utilities, Supermarkets, etc) I think but stand to be corrected that someone wrote that if a person invents something or has a innovative idea they shouldn’t own it but it becomes the property of the state and the people.
Much like what you have in China with the control of central govt over most things and most Chinese corps having some level of govt ownership or control.
China bans facebook and a number of other social sites and developed its own wechat and weibo that can be monitored.
Now we see millions of cameras, name and shame in papers and Huge LED screens around the cities highlighting wrong doing of citizens in real time for example j walking and social credit points for citizens.
I don’t see many on here that want a “Government controlled utopia”. Even the most ardent anti-capitalists still want a democratic Government. Many of the right wingers are open to increased democracy, also.
Government by us.
As for the State owning banks and utilities. When it is a real democratic State it is all of us that own them.
Ownership of patents and innovations very rarely accrues to the innovator. Usually they are acquired by a corporation which uses then for unearned rent for ridiculous lengths of time. Amazons book rights, for example.
You are confusing Democratic ownership with an authoritarian State. At the moment we have an Authoritarian State controlled by corporate donations and influence. And, I suspect, with considerable evidence, a lot of power exerted covertly by the US, Chinese and British Governments. Often in behalf of their corporations.
Good comment – in the long term CCP influence over the NZ Chinese community does not bode well for how that community is perceived by the wider population.
Here’s some interesting information on China and I’m a little concerned at was has happened, but not surprised IRT Professor Brady as the same thing happened to Clive Hamilton when he was trying to get his book published called “The Silent Invasion”.
Here’s some interesting information on China and I’m a little concerned at was has happened, but not surprised IRT Professor Brady as the same thing happened to Clive Hamilton when he was trying to get his book published called “The Silent Invasion
America has spent $5.9 trillion on wars in the Middle East and Asia since 2001, a new study says
The U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan have cost American taxpayers $5.9 trillion since they began in 2001.
The figure reflects the cost across the U.S. federal government since the price of war is not borne by the Defense Department alone.
The report also finds that more than 480,000 people have died from the wars and more than 244,000 civilians have been killed as a result of fighting. Additionally, another 10 million people have been displaced due to violence.
Interesting angle from Jeffrey Kaye on the killing of Khashoggi.
Fascinating.
Khashoggi was ‘the only non-royal Saudi who had the beef on the royals’ intimate dealing with al Qaeda in the lead-up to the 9/11 attacks.’
The 9/11 Commission’s final report went out of its way to absolve the Saudis of direct culpability in the attacks. “Saudi Arabia has long been considered the primary source of al-Qaeda funding, but we have found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organisation,” the report said.
But there remain strong grounds to doubt the veracity of these findings, and allegations of high-level Saudi complicity in terrorism have not gone away. Even former 9/11 Commissioners have spoken on record about how they believed their entire investigation had been compromised by the White House, accusing the US government of wanting to “cover up” the full story of 9/11.
Earlier this year, a US lawsuit on behalf of families of the 9/11 victims linking Saudi officials to the 9/11 attacks was cleared to proceed by US District Judge George Daniels in New York.
“The [Saudi] Ministry of Islamic Affairs in the United States and other parts of the world had government officials who conspired with al-Qaeda to support them and to support the 9/11 hijackers,” said Andrew Maloney, a lawyer for the 9/11 victims’ families.
“The 9/11 Commission back in 2003 and 2004 either didn’t pursue, didn’t want to pursue, covered up for the Saudis or just never got around to finishing the investigation. That’s where we picked it up, and we’ve collected a lot more information and evidence since then.”
It’s the facts they’ve agreed too though. That a official signed off on a warrant for K. That they wanted to rendition K. That they targeted K when he sought a marriage licence, thus attacking the ability to legally start a family, nasty.So who paid for the flights. Who told the embassy to stock up on plastic sheets. Sorry but I can’t believe that a they got the go head without serious authority being involved, and that’s before you consider who was most irate and irritated by K. The idea that S.A. will walk away thinking people global don’t now know what they do in their embassies, that we all now sanction by allow those embassies on our soil. And then it gets worse, not only attacking the family of K, his future family, not only renditioning him, or murdering premeditively, but he was a top journalist resident of the USA. Their is serious no way Trump can stop action. So their laughable fake news conference, that only exposes a whole new raft of questions while reinforcing the view that a whitewash was in train, a whitewash protecting a ruthless man. And who could that be, the leprosy of Qatar, the evil in Yeman, and the how dare he get married. If the US does continue to dither, then its even worse, the moral ethical outrage, of the holy land for Islam, coupled to K, coupled to Israel new US embassy… …And then add the explosive that wars mean men don’t come home, mean four wives… …it’s not to hard to see soldiers getting fessup of being fodder, realizing their job actually is to die so their betters can have a extra wife.
If I were a progressive S.A. leader, I’d end multiple wives, pull out of Yeman, reengage Qatar… get Trump to backtrack on embassy… but all we get is dangerous dithering from Ryad.
Upper Hutt Posse, their frontman Dean Hapeta, at the end of his speech called out ‘Free Palestine’ condemned trump and called out government for sending our troops to fight fake wars over oil among other political messages.
Dean has never been afraid to speak his mind, “E Tu” & the Dam Native years all righteous stuff. Now await the vitriol coz a brown guy dare speak his truth…
Those names are a blast from the past.
I loved the first two upper hutt posse albums.
Cheers student radio.
Well ahead of its time, preceeding rage against the machine with the fusion of rock, rap and injustice.
The message was spot on although some stuff was hard to hear through pakeha ears.
Can you just clarify for me what wars we currently have troops fighting in? Motivation aside I can’t think of any current deployments that involve combat troops.
Government over the years and decades have sent troops to locations in the middle east to assist the USA lead wars. Which more often than not have one thing in common, oil. Peace isn’t profitable.
Pretty sure the speech made referenced Afghanistan.
Wonder if there is a clip of the full speech. The political part is at the end of the speech, will see if I can find later,
I think the question was ‘what wars we currently have troops fighting in’?
I have lost touch too Crashcart. Our Radionz news is full of what is happening in the USA but I don’t think we have any action within that country thank goodness. But elsewhere? What do the military buffs know?
@ grey: Just as MoBIE, MSD and others in gubbamint are concerned , AND in the interests of ‘open gubbamint’ (going forward), [Maybe, oneday lprent could give us his impressions and experiences on a thread we could call ‘technophobia’]
Maybe the NZDF might care to publish their activities (across the 3 – almy, navvie and ear force), and with all due deference (to ‘the 5’) on a website.
With a cuzzie that once served in ‘peace keeping’ in the Sinai, and Singapore, and in the spooks for a quite a while thereafter till the alcopops and the liver got the better of him, I’ve also lost track
It does seem reasonable though that they could keep all the plebs appraised of their activities (all within the bounds of keeping shit secret in our Neshnool interest)
I’ve lost touch too both @ Crashcart and @Grey[non]warshark – not that I ever wanted to have such ‘touch’ in the first place.
I did appreciate however being told not to go near a Bainimarama’s Fiji a decade ago – based on the passport I held at the time. As it happens ,it now makes me even more cynical about various ‘competencies’ in our public service – the silos, the politicisation, the egos, the incompetencies, the agendas, the conflicted interests ……
Yes, going off at a tangent here, again, I thought about our police and how they wouldn’t venture into Pike mine at the beginning and now they are playing it safe again. And how much grief and extra cost that has caused. And they wouldn’t provide backup when trained miners wanted to make a series of reccies.
Thinks, would the Thai cave success be equalled if it happened here? Of course it isn’t the same as Pike because there may be a case to be heard in Court. That would have eaten a large part of the police and justice budget allocation. I wonder if the departments were under instruction to curb their enthusiasm?
/Agreed.
(At the time, and probably/possibly still), completely the wrong agency to have been leading any rescue effort. Peter Cowan – nice enough bloke and all that, and a good cop, but in that situation, out of his depth and encumbered with the wrong sort of mission.
I think the decision not to go ahead with attempting a rescue of miners who were almost certainly dead, risking a lot more deaths, was the correct one.
I doubt that the police made the decision without expert advice.
Talking to one of the mine rescuers afterwards. He said the police probably saved his life, restraining them from rushing in.
Certainly it is unfair to judge the person who had to make that sort of decision in the moment, with the information available at the time, using information they didn’t have.
The picture of men, waiting for a rescue that didn’t come, is a powerful one. But the ones in charge had to weigh up the real risk to rescuers, against the, slight, possibility of survivors.
Not a decision I would like to have to make. Though I am aware it may happen.
And where’s that PM even if it was a fake acting one up here. I’ve got some words for you.
All of our armed forces and military that have been fighting in these fake wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for oil, for USA imperialism; get out of there!
What you need to be doing is going to Palestine to fight against the racist terrorism of the Israeli State, that’s where all of our fighting energy needs to be.
And also, even more, death to the Mexican USA border and defend that caravan of indigenous people seeking refugee status at the United Snakes of America kkk.
They are seeking refuge because their countries have been wrecked by that colonial power known as the USA.
The largest current deployment by far is the training team in Iraq (over 150). Just renewed by the current govt for another 12 months.
All about training Iraqi forces to defeat ISIS.
If you think ISIS should not be opposed (with military force) well that’s your view. But obviously Jacinda et al do not share that view.
I am pretty sure the majority of New Zealanders would think ISIS has to be militarily opposed and that NZ should, at least to some extent, be part of the international coalition. The training team was probably the right level of commitment. There were polls on thiols at the time of the initial deployment when John Key was PM which showed clear support.
I was actually surprised that Jacinda and the Cabinet renewed the mandate for another 12 months. After all, ISIS has largely been defeated in Iraq. So presumably it was about NZ showing our partners that we are a reliable partner, notwithstanding the change of government.
Dean Hapeta at the Music awards would well have represented the Green Party view (and the left of Labour) but it is a minority view.
“I am pretty sure the majority of New Zealanders would think ISIS has to be militarily opposed and that NZ should, at least to some extent, be part of the international coalition. ”
And that is based on what? Polling, focus group, personal preference?
“It was a decision that surprised Victoria University professor of strategic studies Robert Ayson, who believed there was good reason for a withdrawal from Iraq, given Isis was “no longer the battleground force it once was”.
“You need a compelling reason in Iraq to stay, and I’m not entirely sure that is there, so I think that now would have been a time to say, ‘Right, we’ve done what we said we were there to do’.”
My recollection is at the time of the initial deployment the public polls were clearly in favour.
As for the current extension, I essentially said what Dr Ayson said. But that is not the only consideration for the extension of the deployment. NZ does not like to be the first out of an international coalition, and that is pretty much what we would have been.
I suspect the Govt thought the deployment was sufficiently Ok that the extension would not to cause any significant local reaction. And they were right. It didn’t.
I may be doing you a disservice but I suspect your claim that it was an acceptance of the majority view that was the deciding factor in the deployment decision was more a case of wishful thinking rather than any knowledge of such.
Anything to do with the, almost, total lack of information on troop deployments from our news media.
So much so, that we learn about them first through the Ozzie papers.
And the constant propaganda about big bad Iraq. Which was OK until they threatened the petrodollar. Like Libya. And indeed, Iran’s Government in the 50’s. Too Democratic for the Western powers, replaced by the Shar, and Savak.
To begin with they also funded the mujahadeen.
This was to try and save putting soldiers on the ground.
The purpose to overthrow despot rigimes in both cases costly mistakes!
“Vanity projects and kamikaze loggias: Tbilisi’s architectural disaster
The centre of the Georgian capital has long been the plaything of outsize egos – but can its architecture biennial inspire useful debate about the city’s future?
Joseph Alexander Smith, a Briton who has lived in Tbilisi for the last six years, was driven by what he witnessed to stand for local election last year on a platform of environmental activism, campaigning against chronic traffic problems, pollution and the unabated development that has blighted much of the city. “We have lost one of the city’s oldest streets, Mirza Shafi,” he says, “and now developers are hand-in-glove with politicians, intent on destroying everything that is left. Everyone has a right to air, not just the right to breath clean air, but to look out of their window and not be confronted by the concrete wall of a new illegal building.”
Is this going to be Phil Goff, John Key, Brownlee’s fate…. exile with criminal charges for corruption and in NZ case, gross stupidity as well???
“Saakashvili behaved like a king, just picking his favourites with no competition or discussion,” says Zhvania. “He dismissed any opposition voices as retrogrades, standing in the way of modernisation.”
The former president may now be living in exile in the Netherlands, wanted on multiple criminal charges back home, but his physical legacy is still very much felt – and others have eagerly picked up where he left off.”
“Why? Because the council officials understood that a councillor’s reputation was built upon his or her ability to get things done for the people who voted them into office. Repeated failure to fix their problems would very soon lead to gripes about Councillor So-and-So being “useless”. The slightest whisper that such an opinion was abroad in the electorate would have the impugned councillor knocking very loudly on the door of the Town Clerk, demanding to know what the hell was going on. That’s why action almost always followed.”
“Councillors are reduced to a browbeaten collection of rubber-stampers: prey to private sector contractors, condescending legal advisers, and over-mighty CEOs. The final indignity being that, having signed up to the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, these poor souls are forbidden from speaking out angrily, or publicly, about their powerlessness.”
I think in Phil Goff’s case, he is being used by the CEO and private sector to be a front man on the attack against local government and democracy. How else do you fathom taking off 2 elected councillors from Auckland Transport (that gets the lions share of ratepayers rates, but has a poor and dismal service record)?
A continuation of the observation that the vast majority of voices are increasingly ignored in western democracies…..and we wonder why ‘populism’ gains currency.
The establishment brings it upon itself and only they can solve it.
When less than 50% of voters bother to vote this happens.
Then people moan endlessly but go out and drum up support for representation on council no!
You get what you don’t vote for the status quo!
Skippy’s public service reform should extend to local bodies.
Never was that being ‘forbidden from speaking out’ about what is best described as muppetry more evident in Wellington recently in a Simon Wolf – Lavery exchange.
It’s a case of ‘officials’ throwing elected representatives ‘under a bus’ if anything.
And even when those ‘officials’ are legally in the wrong, they’re apt to push things to the limit, often in the knowledge that people don’t have the resources to face them off.
Someone near me must get a hell of a lot of texts. There’s at least of couple of tuis doing the Samsung default alert, and a few years ago they were doing the Nokia alert.
Looks like service is already declining, tired of public services being cut or not funded appropriately for population and tourist growth that the government is so keen on, while our taxes are used to further private profits that are publicly funded!
Urgent answers needed after rescue helicopter unavailable
How come these communicators with the public can lie and never get called out on it? They need to be confronted, their organisation which is probably contracted to do government work, at their profit, should be exposed and tarred and feathered or made to walk through the streets with their trousers down looking stupid.
Brazilian military now taking over all the major roles in the Brazilian government. The US has been backing the coup with US, European and Brazilian corporates benefiting.
“I think what we are seeing is a massive transfer of Brazil’s natural resources to the north right now. Brazil is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources.Its petroleum, its minerals, its gold, its fresh water – they are talking about privatising the world’s largest acquifier to Coca Cola right now.”
How shameful “privatising the world’s largest acquifier to Coca Cola right now’
pity Jacinda is not using her status to question the fairness of bad deals and public asset transfer to private business, rather than actually promoting the practise of ‘FREE trade’ around the world. How bout they rebrand to FREEBIE trade agreements, it would be kinder and more honest.
Tellingly even with the excitement when apparently Mike Pence wanted to sit next to Arden, did she use the moment to discuss her supposedly nuclear free moment of climate change or urge US to uphold the Paris agreement and help the environment, nope instead it is reported that she focused on unsuccessfully pressing New Zealand’s case for an exemption on US tariffs on steel and aluminium which are mostly foreign owned multinational companies.
So who would even benefit from the lift of US tariffs on steel and aluminium – well mostly the profits of overseas firms.
Who owns NZ steel, well BHP, formerly known as BHP Billiton, is the trading entity of BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton plc, an Anglo-Australian multinational mining, metals and petroleum dual-listed public company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and owns significant amounts of the formally known New Zealand Steel.
The raw material for NZ steel is ironsand which is disappearing fast around the world and can not be replaced and has virtually zero studies on the long term effects on the eco systems.
Who owns NZ Aluminimum, NZAS is 79.36 per cent owned by Pacific Aluminium which in turn is owned by Rio Tinto Group an Anglo-Australian multinational and one of the world’s largest metals and mining corporations and 20.64 per cent owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical Company.
So when our politicians have the ear of world leaders are they really thinking of the people of NZ or international peace and well being and climate change and environmental issues, or just promoting the short term profiteering of multinational big business???
It seems clear to me where Labour’s focus is, either intentionally or unintentionally!
Collective bargaining works! Funny we all happy when sports people do it – but outside of a few select sectors how many people are organised collectively?
Big ups to the truckers in Iran. This is the second round of strikes and after the government arrested some of these same protestors – it takes real guts (unlike fake ponytail pulling guts) to carry on a strike in the face of a government used to suppressing working people.
Maine has its first taste of ranked choice voting for US House seats. On election night, the incumbent Repug won a plurality of first choice votes, but second (and maybe third) choices tipped it to the Dem. So naturally the loser Repug is suing.
Ranked choice is slowly spreading to other states as well. So despite all the crap around gerrymandering, voter suppression and loads of other noxious anti-democracy actions, there are still some pockets of progress towards better democracy in the US.
When it was revealed on Wednesday morning that the mysterious figure was Steve Bannon, few were surprised. The invitation was a predictably out-of-touch move by an institution that was once renowned for its impactful and passionate debates but is now more commonly visited by professional footballers, comedians on publicity tours and extremists looking for establishment credentials.
In his reasoning for the invite, the president of the union, Stephen Horvath, presented the standard, free-speech argument that “it is only through listening to the opinions of others that we can fully understand those opinions”. The idea being that a group of university students would be able to hold fascism to account through a one-hour debate on a Friday afternoon.
“Chinese speaking buyers offered first dibs on ‘top secret’ luxury apartment planned for Auckland
A “top secret” 24-storey luxury apartment tower planned for Auckland’s North Harbour has been snapped up by exclusive buyers months before the public gets a look in.
The 72.5 metre apartment planned for Kaipiho Lane, Albany will feature more than 280 apartments, 11 lifts, a helicopter landing pad, residents’ cinema, swimming pool, clubhouse, ballroom, 24 hour concierge and robotic valet parking.
A website marketing the development in Chinese, http://www.kaipiho.co.nz, said the apartments “caused a subscription frenzy” when they were promoted on Chinese social media app WeChat.:
P>S> clearly the government and councils measures to curb the housing shortages futile as seen in this example, but actually creating more poverty for Kiwis who end up subsidising the roads, congestion, Leaks, public transport, pollution etc that all these new developments for speculators who don’t even live here, are generating.
Chinese people want to get their money out of China and into gold bricks before their currency devalues or worse they take down the banks with lending, Kiwi housing investments should not be part of the solution of cash China 1.5 billion people, because our people and environment is the casualty of poor risk planning as is more exposure ‘If China Sneezes Will the Rest of the World Catch a Cold”.
And there aren’t even jobs for car valets. Perhaps someone will be able to hack their garage systems and send cars to be parked outside, or go to be serviced or such like. Just annoying glitches. We have plenty of those in NZ and would love to share them around.
I think you do not understand that whether you like it or not, NZ needs Chinese capital to flow in to correct balance of payments and keep Kiwi dollar high. Most Chinese property owners are resident in NZ, at least most of the time. We are a positive contribution to NZ, yet you paint us as fleeing China before the currency collapses. Maybe you should learn more about China and spend an extended period there before you preach the collapse of the Yuan.
Yes, corruption is sadly still normal in China, and at all levels. However, the younger Chinese not so much. But you seem to assume that the capital coming in to NZ is from corruption. This is, to me, if that is your thinking, not only wrong but racist wrong.
Many Chinese people are extremely wealthy not from corruption, but from riding the rapid growth of China economy. Look at Jack Ma, now one of the wealthiest men in the world. Not from corruption, but from business. There are 1.4 billion Chinese in China. 1 in 25 people in the world live within China’s borders. There are many many little Mr Ma’s, not wealthy from corruption but from hard work and smart work. Many of these want a better life in NZ, and many share their time between China and NZ, but invest in NZ and run business in China. This is good for NZ.
Please do not think all Chinese rich people are corrupt. They are not.
“Please do not think all Chinese rich people are corrupt. They are not.”
I don’t think all Chinese are corrupt, what is wrong with NZ is our NZ immigration policy is so pathetic and the criteria is not robust that our government has been bringing in all types of migrants or migrant workers who are corrupt, dishonest and liars, and they when they find out that they are all of that, they just let them stay here… all the while when we could have a robust policy to attract the best migrants here who could make a greater difference…
I don’t blame the Chinese, because it is not the Chinese fault that NZ government is stupid and does not discriminate against honest and dishonest people who come to NZ to live, work or study.
Should be, commit a crime in NZ, lie on your immigration forms or are found guilty of corruption and you are straight out the door and never to be allowed back into NZ whether you are Chinese, Korean, English, EU, Indian, or Russian or what have you. Not a ethnic based policy but a moral one.
Due to the isolation of NZ and our lack of robust immigration measures we do seem to attract our fair share of criminals trying to hide out here, or commit identity theft.
I didn’t say ‘the capital coming into NZ is from corruption’. I said corruption comes with the capital.
The other thing about Chinese wealth is the conditions under which it has been generated. Scant regard for human rights, political rights, worker rights, justice, and the environment has been the foundation upon which the Chinese capitalist economy has grown at such a fast pace.
You might have realised you are commenting on a forum which is inspired by the labour movement and so worker rights, and recently the environment, are high on most commenters’ list of priorities. I doubt whether a forum like The Standard would exist for very long in China and so when I look at the huge increase in wealth in that country I see it as tainted by injustice. You won’t find the same concerns on NZ blogs from the other side of the political divide.
Now, you might say it is the West’s consumerism which has partially funded the explosion of wealth in China and you would be right. I buy ‘made in China’ – it is difficult to not – so I too am guilty in a sense.
There will no doubt be some very good people emigrating to New Zealand but there will be a significant trail of corruption also and that is why we must ask questions, review settings, and be watchful.
You are right: The Standard (or any non-government blog) would not last very long in China.
And yes, I do realise I am commentating on a forum inspired by the labour movement. I also support that, but that does not mean blindly! A wrong by a socialist is just as bad as a wrong by a capitalist. Maybe worse, as the capitalist does not pretend what their motivation is.
The corruption I would disagree. In my experience, most Chinese coming here are reasonably young and well educated. They have experienced corruption throughout their life and do not like it. The money, including the big money that comes with them, is I think untouched.
Of more concern to NZ should be not the Chinese money coming to NZ, but rather when Kiwi engage in big business in China. It is inconceivable to me that Kiwirail or Fonterra are untouched by this. To do business in China at that level, well, I will not say the rest but you I am sure understand.
The other area of great concern to NZ should be immigration. I would suggest that almost EVERY Chinese that immigrates has been a party to corruption during the immigration process.
@Fang Zhou. It’s the market driven flow of capital and being at the mercy of that capital and bad foreign decisions (ak BNZ floating and having to bail them out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_New_Zealand) that has caused the biggest crashes and poverty in NZ..
the Chinese situation will be exactly the same but worse as NZ has created too much dependancy on both Chinese investment and US security decisions.
Sadly the dominant discourse in NZ is neoliberalism and the pursuit of money, making our government decisions short term, lazy and stupid and allowed too much dependancy on other countries.
I think NZ and China should be friends but NZ becoming dependant on them for investment is a complete mistake.
As for high dollar in NZ, causes people living and working here huge problems, much higher mortgages and lending, less money from exports. Cheaper imports.
“I think you do not understand that whether you like it or not, NZ needs Chinese capital to flow in to correct balance of payments and keep Kiwi dollar high. ”
I don’t know why you should think that. Even if it has been true in specific circumstances at one time, I do not see any need to favour Chinese capital over other capital, but it is also a destructive goal to set long term – if we need capital from immigrants, what does that tell you about wealth inequality within our country – and why wold an immigrant was to enter a country that requires immigrants to purchase capital assets to survive?
Far better that we fix some of the inequalities that currently plague us, that we develop domestic-owned enterprises to force competition on foreign owned companies (banks may be a good start), and recognise that we need to look after our population and leave them a country worth living, working and staying in – regardless of where they come from.
Sorry my bad explaining I think. No, should not favour Chinese capital over capital from elsewhere, but NZ needs capital inflow, regardless of where it comes from. Chinese invest heavily in NZ, certainly compared to many other immigrant groups. And yes, that can push up property prices but also many many Chinese build houses and buy businesses, and that provides work and increases the housing pool. And GST paid and so on.
Chinese, and others, wish to enter NZ as it is a better life here. Despite what many seem to think, the standard of living is about the same for the average person, but quality of life here is much higher.
Yes, I agree with you regarding NZ owned enterprises, looking after the NZ population. Do you not think though that I, coming here and, when I first arrived, buying a business was not also indirectly looking after the NZ population? I paid taxes, employed two part-timers.
It is not that I disagree with you, but ‘how’. Many immigrants just get on with it. Work long hours and invest in the next generation. Kiwi people work hard, but seem to prefer to be employees rather than take risks. Immigrants often have no choice but to risk everything (we did that by coming here!). So we invest, we buy businesses, we try harder. I know that is a generalisation, but that is my experience.
It’s interesting you object to a generalisation by making a generalisation about Kiwis preferring to be employees – none of our family are and are in a quite wide set of infrastructure and construction businesses. Years of long hard earned reputation and resilience has meant we have survived in the face of being undercut on prices and lower standards, some have not. That’s not some prejudiced “opinion”, it’s based on factual events and is something that is sad when it happen. Something NZ should be able to work for as it did historically is to uplift the conditions and prospects of NZers not have that regress by being damned into working longer hours or under conditions that are any longer than what is necessary to get the work done and get it done right and for a fair price.
Agree that many Chinese people are not their Government.
However our dollar is too high. One of the reasons for China’s recent economic ascendancy, is their Government deliberately keeps their currency low, encouraging exports and discouraging imports, into China.
I don’t think pushing house prices up beyound the reach of locals is a positive contribution to New Zealand. And it is USA’ians, British and South Africans, as well as Chinese. Any more than the British wealthy in, Spain hogging all the coastal real estate.
@ Monty, many thanks for that info. I have never heard the term “Robotic Parking” before, so as a result, my decrepit old brain went into overdrive (no pun intended) 🙂
Chinese property investment abroad is a diversification, risk managemrnt, as the domestic market may be in slow down (over supply).
The current or future value of the yuan would have little to do with it.
The development you mention, use of land for property to people not currently residents, shows what the governments relaxation of the its new rules for foreign purchase leads to.
I think the Chinese preference to invest in NZ real estate is that here you own the dirt.
All Chinese land is owned by everyone, it can only be leased.
We can leave our NZ properties to our children, in China it can be left for the duration of a lease but thereafter it resorts to state ownership and Mr Xi decides if continued occupation is desirable.
Having lived in Shanghai and now HKG for over 4 years now. Those type of complexes are common. The developers add these things to attract buyers its like an apartment arms race.
It is good and very convenient for the people living there.
The one I lived in Shanghai had all of that plus a super market, 10 underground tennis courts, couple B ball courts, pools training and resort style, Gym, Spa, Dance and Yoga studios.
The robotic parking was humorous as at least a couple people per week got caught and forgot to get out of the car and got stuck. (mainly their own fault wechatting and not being aware of the surroundings)
But where was she sitting in relation to Pence? Young doesn’t give us the seating plan in detail which is odd because it’s the detail which seems to have got under her skin.
Was the PM one over from Pence? If so I believe that’s as close as Pence will allow any woman other than his wife.
“For several days her officials had been telling New Zealand media that she would be sitting next to Pence at his request.“
What Young points out is the spin. ‘Next to Pence at his request’ is not next to Mrs Pence, whatever the seating plan. This would be nitpicking if those same officials hadn’t made such an issue if it.
I’m more thinking of those few minutes in the dark after both have put their books down, clicked off the Tiffany bedside lamps and while drowsing off Mrs Pence says…
“Have you seen any footage of those abandoned children on Nauru Island honey.”
Probably separate houses but for as long as Mrs Pence is on Mike’s arm at the many events they attend, there is no better path for Jacinda to pursue if she wants Mike to get onboard with something.
Breast-feeding Prime Ministers come with a fair slice of gravitas in the eyes of Washington’s silver vixens.
What about the big health and safety issue of onions on my sausage at Bunnings?
It is amusing when you hear it at first, but you cant deny they are taking safety seriously. Pity Pike river mine management was not as safety conscious as we may not have lost 29 people.
Because some muppet over here in Oz, slip on some BBQ onions with his sausage sanger at Bunnings in NSW or Vic and a filed a WHS complaint. This muppet may’ve even got a payout with WHS the complaint? Just like some of the muppets you slip on fruit/ veggies aisle or at the drinks aisle and try in sue the company for a few quid in the process.
Oh yeah – one of those things that caused so much outrage they u-turned in days.
Seems to be the corporate disease of “if it might mean work for head office, don’t do it”. Hence a memo about the order in which onions are put on sausages might absolve corporate from responsibility.
They could just sweep the spilled food up if the seagulls don’t take it, but whatevs
I see the ADF is purchasing a Squadron’s worth 12- 16 of the Armed version of the General Atom Reaper UAV’s this mornings Oz paper. There was talk of buying these back in 2014 and confirmed in the 2016 Defence White Paper with the impression it at purchase to buy in the early 2020’s, so it makes me wonder why the sudden purchase of these units now?
A New Zealand actor reports, in a tone of high seriousness,
that Israelis see themselves as “an underdog.”
RNZ National, Wednesday 14 November 2018
We’ve dealt before with the contemptible phenomenon of glib and ignorant theatre “luvvies” sounding off about things they lack the competence to comment on. There was the pretentious “theatre-maker” Stella Duffy [1], there was the “sooooo truthful” Tandi Wright [2] and of course who could ever forget the epically pompous stand-up comedian Andrew Clay? [3]
Now, I must report sadly, I have identified another talkative but shallow member of this sorority of the second-rate, this club of the clueless, this brotherhood of the bewildered, this guild of the giddy and guileless, this [That’s enough epithets.—J.A. Napes]. About 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, as I steered the Breenmobile through the suburban dreamscapes of the North Shore, I chanced upon the actor Tim Balme being interviewed by that great gorgeous emptiness Jesse Mulligan. Amongst other things, Balme spoke about his play The Ballad of Jimmy Costello, which is based on the George Wilder story. He mentioned that he had performed it in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Speaking slowly and with as much gravitas as he could summon, Balme stated that Israeli audiences “loved it” because “it’s a play about an underdog, and Israel is a nation that considers itself an underdog.”
Israel “an underdog.” A nation that “considers itself an underdog.”
???????!!??!?!?
The absurdity, indeed the obscenity, of that propaganda seemed to be lost on Tim Balme, and of course it was lost on Jesse Mulligan.
“…. Israel is a nation that considers itself an underdog.”
When the privileged and powerful start making out, that they are the victim, everyone else is in danger.
The fascist rulers of Germany made big play of Germans being the underdog prior to WWII.
The White Minority government of South Africa also played the victim card.
And Trump also plays the, hard done by, victim card in appealing to his base.
All great lies have some truth, Germans suffered the unfairness of the reparations forced on them at the end of the First World War. When it was the German soldiery and sailors who mutinied that brought that brutal imperial conflict to an end.
The Boers painted themselves the victims of British imperialism.
And Trump’s supporters feel squeezed by the ‘elites’ (even though Trump is one of them).
And the present day Zionist rulers of the state of Israel use the excuse of the Holocaust inflicted on European Jews, by Germany, to carry out almost similar levels of repression and murder and dispossession against the Palestinian people.
Jenny, you may have confused Russia with Germany regarding the end of World War 1?
The collapse/rebellion in Germany was mainly civilian, not military. Some sailors joined a dockworkers’ rebellion, but by and large the German military forces, while being forced onto the retreat, were intact, not defeated, and still in French/Belgian territory.
This is why they later believed that they had been stabbed in the back, which helped Hitler.
More moronic comments from the mozz, of course Israel are the under dog. I do dispair with mozzies lack of cognitive reasoning making discourse pointless.
Kia ora Nation Simon & Emma The billion tree planting program from our Coalition Government is a good start but we need to invest more into climate change mitigation.
trump is a puppet his backers oil barons don’t want China’s manufacturing muscle to push oil into our history books as they will lose there control of the people on earth.
It was China that pushed the price of Solar down to a price that’s lower than thermal energy that is produced by coal and oil. China & Elon will push the petrol car into our history books and make energy democratic people producing there own power.
Ka kite ano. .
You see OUR Freedom and democracy is a illusion they keep most peoples reality in a big square box that the wealthy control the people on Mother Earth’s reality
Kia ora Newshub back with the moko’s lost track of time lets hope the The All Blacks test goes our way . The Black ferns Kia Kaha It’s awesome that the wahine World Cup is being hosted by Aotearoa I’m sure we will be good honest hoste . Ka pai to the young foot ball ferns .Looks like all the stories are about Jacinda trip overseas meeting other heads of state I will eaz on giving my of these people for the time being. Mike I read a story in Stuff on the reason why OUR weather is so variable at the minute after a long story the conclusion was human caused climate changes are the main causes
Ka Kite ano
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 ...
. . 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Too Much Of Nothing: In many respects it is the power of a free press to keep history’s images vivid and clear that renders it so important to the life of our democracy. It was the Czech writer, Milan Kundera, who said it best: “The struggle of man against power ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Yesterday the Greater Wellington Regional Council unanimously declared a climate emergency. They've also set themselves a goal of being carbon neutral by 2030, though this only applies to their direct emissions. Still, its a good step, and as usual it invites the question: where is Parliament? When are we going ...
That's the only way to describe the government's plans for a Parliamentary Budget Office to allow opposition parties to get an independent costing of their policies. When the idea was first floated back in 2016 as an office within Treasury, I thought that wasn't independent enough and argued that it ...
Today is a Member's day, and after the third reading of Hamish Walker's KiwiSaver (Oranga Tamariki Guardians) Amendment Bill, Parliament will be continuing the committee stage of David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill. The bigots have put up another pile of amendments in an effort to delay or wreck ...
Television advertising has a huge impact on our lives. Even if we don’t recognise that, we know it has to be true, since otherwise why would advertisers spend so much on it? Its significance, however, is greater than simply the influence it has on what we purchase and consume. It ...
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 ...
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 ...
by Philip Ferguson This weekend just past marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the most famous of the great 1960s music festivals. It was held over the weekend (Friday-Monday) of August 15-18, 1969. Woodstock was a highpoint of the US ‘counter-culture’, and also the beginning of its end. When exploring the ...
It looks like the government has won over the public on its vehicle feebate scheme:A feebate scheme that would transfer hundreds of millions of dollars from buyers of higher-emission cars into the pockets of people buying EVs and other more fuel-efficient vehicles has been winning favour with submitters, the Government ...
When people suggest lowering the voting age, others argue that the young are too uneducated or silly to exercise the duties of citizenship. Australian John Quiggin has just blown that argument out of the water:Looking at the array of ignorant and vindictive old men attacking Greta Thunberg and other young ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Back in May, Destiny Church leaders Brian and Hannah Tamaki launched another political party. Despite consisting entirely of followers of their religion, they grandly called it "Coalition New Zealand", in a vain effort to suggest it was something broader. But when they applied for registration, submitters opposed the name, as ...
The following article is excerpted and translated from two articles in recent issues of Lutte de Classe (Class Struggle), the magazine of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the revolutionary workers group active in France. We don’t necessarily agree with everything in it – for instance, the 1956-62 war for independence involved rather more revolutionary forces than ...
The Pacific is on the front line of climate change, and if we don't cut emissions quickly, some countries are literally going to be underwater. Because of this, small Pacific states had tried to use this week's Pacific Islands Forum meeting to get Pacific countries to agree to ending coal ...
To Limit Another's Rights Is To Limit One's Own: Is it too much to expect senior members of our Government to be capable of explaining that we protect the rights of human-beings precisely because not even the most depraved act can cancel-out the fact that its perpetrator is also a ...
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 ...
This section builds on Part 1 of this series to provide a theoretical basis for the final instalment (part 3 – to come). Self-determination: law or resurgence — or both? International law promotes the principal of equal treatment and self-determination, which includes peoples’ rights to freely pursue their social, cultural and ...
Everyone was outraged yesterday to learn that the Christchurch shooting accused had been able to send mail from prison to his Nazi fans, apparently pushing more hate. "How could this possibly happen", people asked. Simple: because New Zealand is a civilised country, and so we let prisoners send and receive ...
If we are to avoid dangerous anthropogenic climate change, we need to rapidly decarbonise our transport fleet. The good news: its starting to happen:The number of electric vehicles on New Zealand's roads have nearly tripled in the past two years. There are currently 15,453 registered electric vehicles (EVs), up ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Most economists agree that a currently slowing economy could do with some stimulus – and they would also agree that there is no shortage of infrastructure projects which could be brought to productive fruition with help from that stimulus. In view of the current practice of sub-contracting economic policy decisions ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
AN OPEN LETTER FOR SIGN ON BY ORGANISATIONS AND MOVEMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD, ALLIED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST INEQUALITY. This letter was released at the UN Political Forum on 9 July, where the Sustainable Development Goal on inequality was reviewed. The purpose of the letter is to call out the ...
We asked a young gay science student and critic of trans ideology and the trans activists’ assault on women’s and gay rights to outline his views on Redline. Thanks to him for his article. by Cian Ó Catháin Gender identity ideology (Gender ID) is ripping through western society at full ...
The Environment Committee is currently hearing submissions on the Zero Carbon Bill, and Stuff is reporting on the submissions. Today, they're covering yesterday they heard from "NZ" Steel:NZ Steel has told MPs it may be forced to close with the loss of thousands of jobs if changes aren't made to ...
Students are striking against climate change on September 27. And this time, they're asking everyone to join them:Students are taking to the streets, beaches and parks on 27 September, and we're inviting everyone to join us. That's right, this is an intergenerational issue, and you're all invited to put pressure ...
Peter McKenzie has a piece on Newsroom this morning about how local body politics is awash with property developer cash. 70% of all the donations in the 2016 Wellington mayoral election came from property developers. And its pretty obvious what they want in exchange:That’s particularly important in local government, according ...
Source: Unknown, twitter user Recently, I wrote a (relatively) short paper titled as above, to explore what self-determination could like in a practical sense. Maybe I’m a bit of an international trade truther or something, but I absolutely believe trade is at the heart of achieving peace and self-determination. Since ...
In the 1960s, after I had graduated with a first-class Oxford postgraduate law degree, I joined the British Foreign Office as the top entrant of my year. There, I worked for a couple of years on European affairs and was eventually posted to the Embassy in Brussels. After this exposure ...
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 ...
I heard a 45 minute interview with Monica Lewinsky talking to TED’s Chris Anderson on BBC Radio 4 over the weekend, and have listened to it another two times out walking. I recommend it. Highly. Man, I am so impressed with how this woman has integrated her life experiences and ...
Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind: how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure, London, Penguin, 2019, 352pp; reviewed by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s book The Coddling of the American Mind is a timely book, whose ...
When the Justice Committee reported back on the Administration of Justice (Reform of Contempt of Court) Bill, free speech advocates breathed a sigh of relief. As originally introduced, the Bill reitered the ancient offence of "scandalising the court" - basicly, a special sedition law protecting judges from criticism. The select ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. Since then - crickets. Which raises the obvious question: are they actually going to do this, ...
Back in March, the Ministry of Justice conducted a public consultation exercise on whether to hold a review of the Official Information Act. 285 people submitted on it. Now, Stuff has trawled through those submissions, and the case for reform is strong:The Justice Ministry asked Kiwis what they thought was ...
National's prisoner voting ban has gone down as one of the worst laws in New Zealand history. Passed after a farcical debate (including this farcial speech from ACT MP Hilary Calvert), it has subsequently been found to be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act by the High Court, Court ...
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 ...
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 ...
by Daphna Whitmore US social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt spoke on 1 August in Auckland to a crowd of around one thousand people. He is best known for his bookThe Coddling of the American Mind which examines the new climate of trigger warnings and acute sensitivity of Gen Z. ...
What an extraordinarily depressing experience it is to be compelled to watch, at 12,000 miles distance, the contortions and machinations of the British political class as they set about their determined attempt to overturn the decision taken by the British people that they wish to leave the European Union. The ...
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 ...
by Don Franks Way back when British guitar virtuoso Joe Brown was a beginning session guy he got to back a visiting American artist. Young Joe was an able technician but had yet to learn some points of professionalism. Part way through “Five foot high and rising” Joe tired of ...
Since scientists started studying climate change, they have warned that it will reduce food production. And now, its happening:The climate crisis is damaging the ability of the land to sustain humanity, with cascading risks becoming increasingly severe as global temperatures rise, according to a landmark UN report compiled by some ...
The Abortion Legislation Bill just passed its first reading, 94-23. Its a far bigger margin than I expected, even allowing for the Winston factor, and it reflects the overwhelming support there is in this country for reform. but that support isn't a new thing - it has existed for literally ...
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on the Referendums Framework Bill. The Bill does what it says on the label - establishes a framework for referenda. Things you may want to address in your submission: Whether the bill should apply only at the 2020 election, or whether it should ...
The Thompson and Clark / MBIE spying scandal continues to result in fallout, this time in the form of a report on the implementation of MBIE's "Operation Exploration", its internal operation to enforce the infamous Anadarko Amendment which criminalised protests against the oil industry. MBIE's enforcement operation was tainted by ...
So, Winston Peters is defending his last-minute demand for a referendum on abortion by claiming he was "blindsided" by the bill. Really? The bill is a government bill. It has been working through the cabinet approval process since December last year. As part of that process, NZ First was consulted, ...
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 ...
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. ...
At first glance, Simon Bridges’ strident opposition to the government’s proposal to establish an independent office to cost political parties’ election spending plans looks childish and petty. ...
Euthanasia-Free NZ is appalled that Parliament spent so little time debating Part 2 of the End of Life Choice Bill and voted to leave it full of holes. ...
Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance and its nationwide sister group the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is slamming Auckland Mayor Phil Goff for his comments today that John Tamihere would need the Government’s support to ...
A ‘one size fits all’, inflexible and punitive regulatory regime for water quality just gets backs - and costs - up and most importantly will not work, Federated Farmers says. ...
Mediation yesterday between secondary principals and the government has resulted in a deal that the principals' negotiating team is recommending to its members. ...
Clubs New Zealand welcomes the decision of Justice Minister Andrew Little to put forward a bill amending the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act to allow all licensed premises to remain open for Rugby World Cup matches. ...
The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation has ordered a review looking at labelling of added sugars in food and drinks. An option under investigation is ‘a pictorial approach applied to sugary beverages / sugar-sweetened beverages’ ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University The possibility of blackouts affecting half of Victoria has attracted plenty of attention to a document once read only by industry insiders and policy wonks: the Electricity Statement of Opportunities. The Statement, updated ...
George Clooney sold his tequila company for a billion dollars – but is the stuff any good? The Spinoff finds out. Imagine being so stupidly sexy you sneeze and sell a billion-dollar booze company. That’s what George Clooney did last year, flicking off the tequila business he started accidentally with an ...
The departure of "two Pākehā men" from the government's justice reform group will not hurt the quality of its final report, another member of the team says. ...
Open Mike 16/11/2018 
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 ...23 hours 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 ...3 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 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. ...36 mins ago
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
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. ...26 mins ago
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 ...2 hours ago
University law revues can be clever, satirical, and entertaining. Not this one, some say. ...3 hours ago
In this week's MediaRoom column Mark Jennings looks at the big changes at Sky TV. ...3 hours ago
Conservationists say a bill aimed to save freshwater fish fails to protect thousands of eels from being minced in hydroelectricity dam turbines. ...4 hours ago
Investigations into alleged offending on aid project in Vanuatu find new "persons of interest" - including an NZ citizen. ...4 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. ...4 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. ...4 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. ...4 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? ...4 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 ...15 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 ...18 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 ...21 hours 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, ...1 day 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 ...2 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
Internet freedom advocates have slammed the Government for proposing censorship of online gambling sites. ...3 days ago
George Clooney sold his tequila company for a billion dollars – but is the stuff any good? The Spinoff finds out. Imagine being so stupidly sexy you sneeze and sell a billion-dollar booze company. That’s what George Clooney did last year, flicking off the tequila business he started accidentally with an ...3 days ago
As Indonesia cracks down on protests in the disputed West Papua territory, the Government has declined to condemn the violence. ...3 days ago
Concerning news.
Good work by Matt Nippert.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12160570
Some background.
John Campbell takes the time to research in more depth.
+1 Ed – harassment, illegal activity like stealing data for foreign powers, (or worse) should NOT be acceptable in NZ and there should be a lot more resources on it.
We have had the French agents blowing up Rainbow Warrior, Isrealis stealing our passports and now Chinese agents apparently taking data/harrassment/stealing from NZ researchers and worse.
Is the Labour government going to say meh, or are they going to apprehend the perpetrators and prosecute them???? Considering the taxpayer funded budget of the SIS and GCSB you have to wonder how hard can it be and are they competent to do the job?
In addition NZ needs to step up with regards to espionage in NZ… look at the mess the Brits are in, when they are so internally focused they turn a blind eye to espionage in their own country. No wonder there are blatant assassinations going on around the world from foreign powers, as there as there does not seem much interest from governments in protecting citizens anymore.
Mysterious factory break-in raises suspicions about Chinese visit
“It was an unusual burglary, in which four or five laptops were stolen from a Scottish renewable energy manufacturer in the dead of a March night in 2011. So innovative was the company that it had been been visited by a 60-strong delegation led by China’s then vice-premier only two months before.
Nothing else was taken from the company and the crime, while irritating, went unsolved and forgotten – until a few years later pictures began emerging that showed a remarkably similar project manufactured in the world’s most populous country.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/10/mysterious-factory-break-in-raises-suspicions-about-chinese-visit
I’ve read that China’s acquisition of IP developed elsewhere is estimated as the largest transfer of wealth ever.
If you look at the R&D costs over time, resources, infrastructure, trial and error you’d skip its a staggering value in today’s currency they’ve bypassed.
The xian y-20 compared to the us c-17 being one the most blatant as they got sprung using a Canadian based expat to highlight the files/folders from compromised servers for lift and shift to China.
@TC, yep and use that money to buy up assets like significant amounts of NZ and OZ…
While the west politicians are getting selfies and self promoting in magazines and MSM or firing off on Twitter, the Chinese government are to be admired in a way as they steadily and carefully advancing their cause, gathering power and strategic assets, partnerships and soft power…
Natz can be bought for $100k, how cheap is that?
Sadly our government in NZ has become greedy and/or naive self promoters hoping for a crust of bread and a pat on the head, as 30 years post Rogernomics our politicians and the general discourse being promoted is that Kiwis are only good at Rugby and a few other sports and incapable of self governing, working or running our own businesses, assets or countries successfully.
So very easy for the Chinese to step in to help, self govern NZ and their businesses and assets in the face of greed, disinterest and brainwashing of the NZ political elite and MSM.
We have also given up our security to others in particular the US in real terms and so now at the mercy of others.
There is a difference between collaboration/friendship and throwing your hands up and leaving it all up to other governments and paper agreements to decide your future and fate and NZ seems to be erring on the lazy second option with no plan B of self management.
Don’t blame them actually. Most US patents are not innovation, just blatant privatisation of others ideas. Parenting rounded corners on a cell phone. FFS.
Rentier capitalism at it’s worse.
US prosperity begins, by ignoring all previous British property rights.
All indications are that they’re going to say ‘meh’ so as to keep up Fonterra’s exports. Apparently maintaining NZ for NZers under NZ control comes a distant second to that.
It occurs to me that Ed is continually bringing up foreign problems and ctiticising the USA and China etc. Whereas I want to see this blog continue and look at what is happening here. If Ed steps on enough toes and makes enough wild assertions about the large dominating foreign powers, it takes time away from us. If it incurs enough wrath Ed’s stuff alone could make it a likely target to be taken to court or closed down.
And groups can get infiltrated; we have wondered who is behind these extra right regulars. There is something driven about them, and the same could apply to those supposedly speaking for the left. I’m just a concerned left-leaning twit myself. I wonder about Ed and others.
I write on many New Zealand issues.
Inequality
Poverty
Dairy farming
Spying
Housing
Socialism
The environment
The NZ media
NZ banking…..
There are parallels.
We know that the previous National government pretty much copied social policy from the UK and that they copied charter schools from the US. So, seeing what’s happening to them can give us an idea of the damages that National will do next time they’re in power.
Ed does not need this unwarranted atrack grey. Ed is a driving force behind conversation topics on this blog.
Yes maui that’s my point. Why are you not interested in NZ?
The National Party should be investigated as their deep ties look dodgy.
“anti-Chinese sons of bitches”
This is normal for anyone who dares to criticize the new Mao, Chairman Xi. My main reading is Chinese web news sites in NZ. This is mild compared to everyday comments in Chinese language media. ANY opposing view that even slightly is against Community Party views is considered as being traitor. Yet many on this blog say how great China system is! It is not!
I am called a traitor to China by my own family and Chinese friends in NZ as I am in the process of applying for NZ Citizenship. This is what the Community Party has done to the people in my country.
Thank you for your brave words. The CCCP is indeed a soft tyranny of a nature the western world struggles to understand properly.
My only small objection is that I do not think a majority of us here are admirers of the Chinese regime and it’s expansionist ambitions. Most of us loath empire wherever it appears.
Yes, China is an empire, although few Kiwis see that. Mr Xi is step by step becoming Mao. The ‘Thoughts of Chairman Xi’ is now a reality that rivals the ‘Thoughts of Chairman Mao’. Unlimited term as leader. Increased censorship. Imprisonment and ‘re-education’ of Uyghurs. But in China most people support him still. Economically very good.
Forced abortion when already have one child was common 20 years ago. When I studied nursing, the man on the autopsy table was a criminal, a bullet hole clearly in his forehead. We thought this was right, but it is not. Bribery to get into hospital – yes this is the great Community Party state that so many Kiwis still think is a utopia. There are many things that were and in many parts of China, especially local places, are pure evil. But this was all we knew. Young Chinese people very very different. The future for China will be interesting I think.
How else would you describe private health insurance in NZ? It gets some people in front of the same doctors earlier.
Yes that is true, but in China even an emergency, life in danger, in many places you will not even get admitted to hospital. This is very true. And drugs you must pay for. In NZ, I do not have health insurance or my son, yet we get a higher level of care than in China.
In 2016, I spent 4 months in China. My son had been injured in an accident. His father and I paid for pain relief and antibiotics. NZ not that bad!
China appears to have adopted the worst aspects of authoritarian socialism and capitalist meanness.
Yep. We have been colonised by Britain, the USA and looks like, now China.
Time we were independent!
I haven’t noticed commentators here saying “how great China system is!” I’ve seen some (including myself) criticising it. Polarising into a simple binary view of anything is usually too simple-minded – those who do so lose accuracy in their description. Any political system will have pros & cons. I agree that the international community has been too tolerant of the endemic misbehaviour of the regime for far too long.
I’m reading a recent acquisition: Everything Under The Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power, which I recommend to anyone interested in the current regime’s foreign policy. See https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Under-Heavens-Chinas-Global/dp/0385353324
As far as your relations are concerned, it may help to frame things in generic terms – the future for China will require adaption to a common-interest framework. National self-interest therefore must be balanced by acknowledgment of the interests of other nations. In respect of China’s attempt to reassert their regional hegemony, we can expect all other nations affected to align in consensus to oppose such re-emergence of imperialism. A balance of equal and opposite forces is therefore eventually inevitable. Naive expectations of success will be replaced by realism. In the interim, any delusional thinking by decision-makers is dangerous…
Yes Chinese political system was necessary for our recent decades of rapid growth. We all pulled in the same direction. No serious opposition was allowed. But now it is still the same, yet the need is no longer there.
You mention my relations, no! Older than me and have never left China, so still have Maos isolationist view of the world.
The biggest challenges for China in the years ahead are the young people, who travel. And the looming huge problem of Xinjiang. And Xizang.
[citation needed]
Welcome to being a NZer.
The people of China could stop them if they so wished.
@Fang Zhou – some Kiwis are worried about the Chinese government too, so even if it seems that people might sound anti Chinese be aware most of the time it is directed against the CCP getting a stranglehold into NZ not against Chinese people and also the worry that Chinese residents might be pressured to work for the Chinese government interests even if they didn’t want to on foreign soil, so great might be influence be as our government and industry is asleep at the wheel.
Hey,
To be fair to the TS, I have not seen anyone say they want the Chinese system. But they do want a return to authoritarian govt control, which could be interrupted as wanting the Chinese system.
A small number on the extreme Left want a authoritarian govt that own pretty much everything. (banks, insurance, utilities, Supermarkets, etc) I think but stand to be corrected that someone wrote that if a person invents something or has a innovative idea they shouldn’t own it but it becomes the property of the state and the people.
Much like what you have in China with the control of central govt over most things and most Chinese corps having some level of govt ownership or control.
China bans facebook and a number of other social sites and developed its own wechat and weibo that can be monitored.
Now we see millions of cameras, name and shame in papers and Huge LED screens around the cities highlighting wrong doing of citizens in real time for example j walking and social credit points for citizens.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2157883/drones-facial-recognition-and-social-credit-system-10-ways-china
One link but the social credit and city surveillance is scary, but it is how an authoritarian govt maintains control.
Opposing views are not allowed.
Those that want the govt controlled utopia then also accept they will loose freedoms and free speech as the govt controls the narrative.
I don’t see many on here that want a “Government controlled utopia”. Even the most ardent anti-capitalists still want a democratic Government. Many of the right wingers are open to increased democracy, also.
Government by us.
As for the State owning banks and utilities. When it is a real democratic State it is all of us that own them.
Ownership of patents and innovations very rarely accrues to the innovator. Usually they are acquired by a corporation which uses then for unearned rent for ridiculous lengths of time. Amazons book rights, for example.
You are confusing Democratic ownership with an authoritarian State. At the moment we have an Authoritarian State controlled by corporate donations and influence. And, I suspect, with considerable evidence, a lot of power exerted covertly by the US, Chinese and British Governments. Often in behalf of their corporations.
Good comment – in the long term CCP influence over the NZ Chinese community does not bode well for how that community is perceived by the wider population.
Two refugees here have been renditioned back to Saudi Arabia – in 2013 and 2014.
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2018/10/reminder-saudi-arabia-kidnapped-people.html
Here’s some interesting information on China and I’m a little concerned at was has happened, but not surprised IRT Professor Brady as the same thing happened to Clive Hamilton when he was trying to get his book published called “The Silent Invasion”.
Sorry for the double post, can the mods please delete post 1.4
Here’s some interesting information on China and I’m a little concerned at was has happened, but not surprised IRT Professor Brady as the same thing happened to Clive Hamilton when he was trying to get his book published called “The Silent Invasion
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-16/are-china-cheap-loans-to-poor-nations-a-debt-trap/10493286”.
The U.S.A.
A rogue state.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/14/us-has-spent-5point9-trillion-on-middle-east-asia-wars-since-2001-study.html?__source=sharebar|twitter&par=sharebar
Interesting angle from Jeffrey Kaye on the killing of Khashoggi.
Fascinating.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/north-africa-west-asia/nafeez-ahmed/did-us-and-britain-collude-in-murder-of-jamal-khashoggi
Ed did you catch the live presser from the Saudi’s last night? The story re Khashoggi changes so much.
He say’s he’s seeking the death penalty for some involved, but does not want to name them.
It’s a big freaking coverup, Saudis are good at that.
Cheers for the links above, will have a watch over the weekend. Much appreciated.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/saudi-top-prosecutor-seeks-death-penalty-khashoggi-murder-181115103958916.html
It’s the facts they’ve agreed too though. That a official signed off on a warrant for K. That they wanted to rendition K. That they targeted K when he sought a marriage licence, thus attacking the ability to legally start a family, nasty.So who paid for the flights. Who told the embassy to stock up on plastic sheets. Sorry but I can’t believe that a they got the go head without serious authority being involved, and that’s before you consider who was most irate and irritated by K. The idea that S.A. will walk away thinking people global don’t now know what they do in their embassies, that we all now sanction by allow those embassies on our soil. And then it gets worse, not only attacking the family of K, his future family, not only renditioning him, or murdering premeditively, but he was a top journalist resident of the USA. Their is serious no way Trump can stop action. So their laughable fake news conference, that only exposes a whole new raft of questions while reinforcing the view that a whitewash was in train, a whitewash protecting a ruthless man. And who could that be, the leprosy of Qatar, the evil in Yeman, and the how dare he get married. If the US does continue to dither, then its even worse, the moral ethical outrage, of the holy land for Islam, coupled to K, coupled to Israel new US embassy… …And then add the explosive that wars mean men don’t come home, mean four wives… …it’s not to hard to see soldiers getting fessup of being fodder, realizing their job actually is to die so their betters can have a extra wife.
If I were a progressive S.A. leader, I’d end multiple wives, pull out of Yeman, reengage Qatar… get Trump to backtrack on embassy… but all we get is dangerous dithering from Ryad.
The corrupt, no matter their country of origin, always think that they are because they think that they’re better, more intelligent than anyone else.
Good linkies this morning Ed. 😛
Did anyone catch the NZ Music Awards last night?
Upper Hutt Posse, their frontman Dean Hapeta, at the end of his speech called out ‘Free Palestine’ condemned trump and called out government for sending our troops to fight fake wars over oil among other political messages.
Much respect to them for speaking up.
Dean has never been afraid to speak his mind, “E Tu” & the Dam Native years all righteous stuff. Now await the vitriol coz a brown guy dare speak his truth…
Was so awesome to hear his words, felt very proud of him for speaking the truth.
Miss almost 14 had plenty of questions afterwards (she stayed up late to watch), was happy to answer them.
Lyrics about reality rather than money and sex, we need more lyrical reality, kudos to all who use a platform to speak up and inform others.
Those names are a blast from the past.
I loved the first two upper hutt posse albums.
Cheers student radio.
Well ahead of its time, preceeding rage against the machine with the fusion of rock, rap and injustice.
The message was spot on although some stuff was hard to hear through pakeha ears.
This bit G…. “The message was spot on although some stuff was hard to hear through pakeha ears” well said.
Can you just clarify for me what wars we currently have troops fighting in? Motivation aside I can’t think of any current deployments that involve combat troops.
Hey Crashcart,
Government over the years and decades have sent troops to locations in the middle east to assist the USA lead wars. Which more often than not have one thing in common, oil. Peace isn’t profitable.
Pretty sure the speech made referenced Afghanistan.
Wonder if there is a clip of the full speech. The political part is at the end of the speech, will see if I can find later,
I think the question was ‘what wars we currently have troops fighting in’?
I have lost touch too Crashcart. Our Radionz news is full of what is happening in the USA but I don’t think we have any action within that country thank goodness. But elsewhere? What do the military buffs know?
seems to be a vaguely current list.
Might not include special forces deployments though
@ grey: Just as MoBIE, MSD and others in gubbamint are concerned , AND in the interests of ‘open gubbamint’ (going forward), [Maybe, oneday lprent could give us his impressions and experiences on a thread we could call ‘technophobia’]
Maybe the NZDF might care to publish their activities (across the 3 – almy, navvie and ear force), and with all due deference (to ‘the 5’) on a website.
With a cuzzie that once served in ‘peace keeping’ in the Sinai, and Singapore, and in the spooks for a quite a while thereafter till the alcopops and the liver got the better of him, I’ve also lost track
It does seem reasonable though that they could keep all the plebs appraised of their activities (all within the bounds of keeping shit secret in our Neshnool interest)
I’ve lost touch too both @ Crashcart and @Grey[non]warshark – not that I ever wanted to have such ‘touch’ in the first place.
I did appreciate however being told not to go near a Bainimarama’s Fiji a decade ago – based on the passport I held at the time. As it happens ,it now makes me even more cynical about various ‘competencies’ in our public service – the silos, the politicisation, the egos, the incompetencies, the agendas, the conflicted interests ……
Yes, going off at a tangent here, again, I thought about our police and how they wouldn’t venture into Pike mine at the beginning and now they are playing it safe again. And how much grief and extra cost that has caused. And they wouldn’t provide backup when trained miners wanted to make a series of reccies.
Thinks, would the Thai cave success be equalled if it happened here? Of course it isn’t the same as Pike because there may be a case to be heard in Court. That would have eaten a large part of the police and justice budget allocation. I wonder if the departments were under instruction to curb their enthusiasm?
/Agreed.
(At the time, and probably/possibly still), completely the wrong agency to have been leading any rescue effort. Peter Cowan – nice enough bloke and all that, and a good cop, but in that situation, out of his depth and encumbered with the wrong sort of mission.
I think the decision not to go ahead with attempting a rescue of miners who were almost certainly dead, risking a lot more deaths, was the correct one.
I doubt that the police made the decision without expert advice.
Talking to one of the mine rescuers afterwards. He said the police probably saved his life, restraining them from rushing in.
Certainly it is unfair to judge the person who had to make that sort of decision in the moment, with the information available at the time, using information they didn’t have.
The picture of men, waiting for a rescue that didn’t come, is a powerful one. But the ones in charge had to weigh up the real risk to rescuers, against the, slight, possibility of survivors.
Not a decision I would like to have to make. Though I am aware it may happen.
Link…
https://www.threenow.co.nz/shows/2018-vodafone-new-zealand-music-awards/2018-vodafone-new-zealand-music-awards/S1825-116/M26539-595
Political part of the speech at 1:43.50 – 1:45.10
Text below…
“Free Palestine!
And where’s that PM even if it was a fake acting one up here. I’ve got some words for you.
All of our armed forces and military that have been fighting in these fake wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for oil, for USA imperialism; get out of there!
What you need to be doing is going to Palestine to fight against the racist terrorism of the Israeli State, that’s where all of our fighting energy needs to be.
And also, even more, death to the Mexican USA border and defend that caravan of indigenous people seeking refugee status at the United Snakes of America kkk.
They are seeking refuge because their countries have been wrecked by that colonial power known as the USA.
Death to all oppressors.”
Oh I must add when he refers to the PM as a fake one acting, that’s the lady from Jono & Ben who impersonates Jacinda.
Our Jacinda has willingly been involved in a few very good skits with her, including one last night on Jono & Ben.
Anyways she presented an award at the NZMA last night dressed up as Jacinda 🙂
It’s wasn’t a dig at our PM being fake.
Felt I needed to add that context, for those who didn’t see the full NZ Music Awards show last night.
The largest current deployment by far is the training team in Iraq (over 150). Just renewed by the current govt for another 12 months.
All about training Iraqi forces to defeat ISIS.
If you think ISIS should not be opposed (with military force) well that’s your view. But obviously Jacinda et al do not share that view.
“If you think ISIS should not be opposed (with military force) well that’s your view. But obviously Jacinda et al do not share that view.”
Importantly, what is the majority of Kiwis view…..or is that of no consequence?
I am pretty sure the majority of New Zealanders would think ISIS has to be militarily opposed and that NZ should, at least to some extent, be part of the international coalition. The training team was probably the right level of commitment. There were polls on thiols at the time of the initial deployment when John Key was PM which showed clear support.
I was actually surprised that Jacinda and the Cabinet renewed the mandate for another 12 months. After all, ISIS has largely been defeated in Iraq. So presumably it was about NZ showing our partners that we are a reliable partner, notwithstanding the change of government.
Dean Hapeta at the Music awards would well have represented the Green Party view (and the left of Labour) but it is a minority view.
“I am pretty sure the majority of New Zealanders would think ISIS has to be militarily opposed and that NZ should, at least to some extent, be part of the international coalition. ”
And that is based on what? Polling, focus group, personal preference?
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/09/17/240869/nzs-mission-creep-in-iraq-creeps-on
“It was a decision that surprised Victoria University professor of strategic studies Robert Ayson, who believed there was good reason for a withdrawal from Iraq, given Isis was “no longer the battleground force it once was”.
“You need a compelling reason in Iraq to stay, and I’m not entirely sure that is there, so I think that now would have been a time to say, ‘Right, we’ve done what we said we were there to do’.”
Pat,
My recollection is at the time of the initial deployment the public polls were clearly in favour.
As for the current extension, I essentially said what Dr Ayson said. But that is not the only consideration for the extension of the deployment. NZ does not like to be the first out of an international coalition, and that is pretty much what we would have been.
I suspect the Govt thought the deployment was sufficiently Ok that the extension would not to cause any significant local reaction. And they were right. It didn’t.
I may be doing you a disservice but I suspect your claim that it was an acceptance of the majority view that was the deciding factor in the deployment decision was more a case of wishful thinking rather than any knowledge of such.
Anything to do with the, almost, total lack of information on troop deployments from our news media.
So much so, that we learn about them first through the Ozzie papers.
And the constant propaganda about big bad Iraq. Which was OK until they threatened the petrodollar. Like Libya. And indeed, Iran’s Government in the 50’s. Too Democratic for the Western powers, replaced by the Shar, and Savak.
IsIs could re-emerge any time, last time the US pulled back that’s when they got a foot hold.
I doubt even you still believe the fable which is , ISIS…
You realise the US funded ISIS in Syria?
To begin with they also funded the mujahadeen.
This was to try and save putting soldiers on the ground.
The purpose to overthrow despot rigimes in both cases costly mistakes!
Reminds me of Auckland (and maybe Christchurch)
“Vanity projects and kamikaze loggias: Tbilisi’s architectural disaster
The centre of the Georgian capital has long been the plaything of outsize egos – but can its architecture biennial inspire useful debate about the city’s future?
Joseph Alexander Smith, a Briton who has lived in Tbilisi for the last six years, was driven by what he witnessed to stand for local election last year on a platform of environmental activism, campaigning against chronic traffic problems, pollution and the unabated development that has blighted much of the city. “We have lost one of the city’s oldest streets, Mirza Shafi,” he says, “and now developers are hand-in-glove with politicians, intent on destroying everything that is left. Everyone has a right to air, not just the right to breath clean air, but to look out of their window and not be confronted by the concrete wall of a new illegal building.”
Is this going to be Phil Goff, John Key, Brownlee’s fate…. exile with criminal charges for corruption and in NZ case, gross stupidity as well???
“Saakashvili behaved like a king, just picking his favourites with no competition or discussion,” says Zhvania. “He dismissed any opposition voices as retrogrades, standing in the way of modernisation.”
The former president may now be living in exile in the Netherlands, wanted on multiple criminal charges back home, but his physical legacy is still very much felt – and others have eagerly picked up where he left off.”
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/nov/15/vanity-projects-and-kamikaze-loggias-tbilisi-architectural-disaster
Is there a connection with Chris Trotters latests musing?
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2018/11/communication-breakdown.html
“Why? Because the council officials understood that a councillor’s reputation was built upon his or her ability to get things done for the people who voted them into office. Repeated failure to fix their problems would very soon lead to gripes about Councillor So-and-So being “useless”. The slightest whisper that such an opinion was abroad in the electorate would have the impugned councillor knocking very loudly on the door of the Town Clerk, demanding to know what the hell was going on. That’s why action almost always followed.”
+1 Pat & agree with Chris Trotter
“Councillors are reduced to a browbeaten collection of rubber-stampers: prey to private sector contractors, condescending legal advisers, and over-mighty CEOs. The final indignity being that, having signed up to the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, these poor souls are forbidden from speaking out angrily, or publicly, about their powerlessness.”
I think in Phil Goff’s case, he is being used by the CEO and private sector to be a front man on the attack against local government and democracy. How else do you fathom taking off 2 elected councillors from Auckland Transport (that gets the lions share of ratepayers rates, but has a poor and dismal service record)?
A continuation of the observation that the vast majority of voices are increasingly ignored in western democracies…..and we wonder why ‘populism’ gains currency.
The establishment brings it upon itself and only they can solve it.
When less than 50% of voters bother to vote this happens.
Then people moan endlessly but go out and drum up support for representation on council no!
You get what you don’t vote for the status quo!
Skippy’s public service reform should extend to local bodies.
Never was that being ‘forbidden from speaking out’ about what is best described as muppetry more evident in Wellington recently in a Simon Wolf – Lavery exchange.
It’s a case of ‘officials’ throwing elected representatives ‘under a bus’ if anything.
And even when those ‘officials’ are legally in the wrong, they’re apt to push things to the limit, often in the knowledge that people don’t have the resources to face them off.
On a lighter note:
A Tui in my street has learned the sound of a computer booting up.
It has confused several of us thinking our machines are turning themselves on, or have been hacked, or….
It’s a juvenile Tui sitting on a powerpole, laughing at us the little blighter…
When they learn the telephone ring it is a real pain.
Someone near me must get a hell of a lot of texts. There’s at least of couple of tuis doing the Samsung default alert, and a few years ago they were doing the Nokia alert.
Looks like service is already declining, tired of public services being cut or not funded appropriately for population and tourist growth that the government is so keen on, while our taxes are used to further private profits that are publicly funded!
Urgent answers needed after rescue helicopter unavailable
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1811/S00167/urgent-answers-needed-after-rescue-helicopter-unavailable.htm
How come these communicators with the public can lie and never get called out on it? They need to be confronted, their organisation which is probably contracted to do government work, at their profit, should be exposed and tarred and feathered or made to walk through the streets with their trousers down looking stupid.
Brazilian military now taking over all the major roles in the Brazilian government. The US has been backing the coup with US, European and Brazilian corporates benefiting.
“I think what we are seeing is a massive transfer of Brazil’s natural resources to the north right now. Brazil is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources.Its petroleum, its minerals, its gold, its fresh water – they are talking about privatising the world’s largest acquifier to Coca Cola right now.”
How shameful “privatising the world’s largest acquifier to Coca Cola right now’
pity Jacinda is not using her status to question the fairness of bad deals and public asset transfer to private business, rather than actually promoting the practise of ‘FREE trade’ around the world. How bout they rebrand to FREEBIE trade agreements, it would be kinder and more honest.
Tellingly even with the excitement when apparently Mike Pence wanted to sit next to Arden, did she use the moment to discuss her supposedly nuclear free moment of climate change or urge US to uphold the Paris agreement and help the environment, nope instead it is reported that she focused on unsuccessfully pressing New Zealand’s case for an exemption on US tariffs on steel and aluminium which are mostly foreign owned multinational companies.
So who would even benefit from the lift of US tariffs on steel and aluminium – well mostly the profits of overseas firms.
Who owns NZ steel, well BHP, formerly known as BHP Billiton, is the trading entity of BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton plc, an Anglo-Australian multinational mining, metals and petroleum dual-listed public company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and owns significant amounts of the formally known New Zealand Steel.
The raw material for NZ steel is ironsand which is disappearing fast around the world and can not be replaced and has virtually zero studies on the long term effects on the eco systems.
The future of sand mining in NZ
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/104065329/the-future-of-sand-mining-in-nz
Who owns NZ Aluminimum, NZAS is 79.36 per cent owned by Pacific Aluminium which in turn is owned by Rio Tinto Group an Anglo-Australian multinational and one of the world’s largest metals and mining corporations and 20.64 per cent owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical Company.
So when our politicians have the ear of world leaders are they really thinking of the people of NZ or international peace and well being and climate change and environmental issues, or just promoting the short term profiteering of multinational big business???
It seems clear to me where Labour’s focus is, either intentionally or unintentionally!
OMG. The face behind the Trump variety performance.
Collective bargaining works! Funny we all happy when sports people do it – but outside of a few select sectors how many people are organised collectively?
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-11-15/aflw-player-wages-to-rise-finals-prize-money-introduced
I’d add this is the third pay raise over three years, each year these players are getting substantially more.
In more union news.
Big ups to the truckers in Iran. This is the second round of strikes and after the government arrested some of these same protestors – it takes real guts (unlike fake ponytail pulling guts) to carry on a strike in the face of a government used to suppressing working people.
https://libcom.org/news/iww-statement-solidarity-striking-workers-iran-14112018
Maine has its first taste of ranked choice voting for US House seats. On election night, the incumbent Repug won a plurality of first choice votes, but second (and maybe third) choices tipped it to the Dem. So naturally the loser Repug is suing.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/15/politics/democrats-maine-house-ranked-choice-jared-golden/index.html
Ranked choice is slowly spreading to other states as well. So despite all the crap around gerrymandering, voter suppression and loads of other noxious anti-democracy actions, there are still some pockets of progress towards better democracy in the US.
https://thinkprogress.org/utah-cities-ranked-choice-pilot-program-2fec6e710064/
Yep. There, here, and everywhere.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/15/steve-bannon-oxford-union
“Chinese speaking buyers offered first dibs on ‘top secret’ luxury apartment planned for Auckland
A “top secret” 24-storey luxury apartment tower planned for Auckland’s North Harbour has been snapped up by exclusive buyers months before the public gets a look in.
The 72.5 metre apartment planned for Kaipiho Lane, Albany will feature more than 280 apartments, 11 lifts, a helicopter landing pad, residents’ cinema, swimming pool, clubhouse, ballroom, 24 hour concierge and robotic valet parking.
A website marketing the development in Chinese, http://www.kaipiho.co.nz, said the apartments “caused a subscription frenzy” when they were promoted on Chinese social media app WeChat.:
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/11/16/investigation-into-sabotage-of-academics-car-must-finally-start-demanding-answers-about-chinese-influence-in-nz/
P>S> clearly the government and councils measures to curb the housing shortages futile as seen in this example, but actually creating more poverty for Kiwis who end up subsidising the roads, congestion, Leaks, public transport, pollution etc that all these new developments for speculators who don’t even live here, are generating.
Chinese people want to get their money out of China and into gold bricks before their currency devalues or worse they take down the banks with lending, Kiwi housing investments should not be part of the solution of cash China 1.5 billion people, because our people and environment is the casualty of poor risk planning as is more exposure ‘If China Sneezes Will the Rest of the World Catch a Cold”.
And there aren’t even jobs for car valets. Perhaps someone will be able to hack their garage systems and send cars to be parked outside, or go to be serviced or such like. Just annoying glitches. We have plenty of those in NZ and would love to share them around.
I think you do not understand that whether you like it or not, NZ needs Chinese capital to flow in to correct balance of payments and keep Kiwi dollar high. Most Chinese property owners are resident in NZ, at least most of the time. We are a positive contribution to NZ, yet you paint us as fleeing China before the currency collapses. Maybe you should learn more about China and spend an extended period there before you preach the collapse of the Yuan.
Most Kiwis are concerned about the corruption which comes along with that Chinese capital.
Yes, corruption is sadly still normal in China, and at all levels. However, the younger Chinese not so much. But you seem to assume that the capital coming in to NZ is from corruption. This is, to me, if that is your thinking, not only wrong but racist wrong.
Many Chinese people are extremely wealthy not from corruption, but from riding the rapid growth of China economy. Look at Jack Ma, now one of the wealthiest men in the world. Not from corruption, but from business. There are 1.4 billion Chinese in China. 1 in 25 people in the world live within China’s borders. There are many many little Mr Ma’s, not wealthy from corruption but from hard work and smart work. Many of these want a better life in NZ, and many share their time between China and NZ, but invest in NZ and run business in China. This is good for NZ.
Please do not think all Chinese rich people are corrupt. They are not.
@Fang Zhou,
“Please do not think all Chinese rich people are corrupt. They are not.”
I don’t think all Chinese are corrupt, what is wrong with NZ is our NZ immigration policy is so pathetic and the criteria is not robust that our government has been bringing in all types of migrants or migrant workers who are corrupt, dishonest and liars, and they when they find out that they are all of that, they just let them stay here… all the while when we could have a robust policy to attract the best migrants here who could make a greater difference…
I don’t blame the Chinese, because it is not the Chinese fault that NZ government is stupid and does not discriminate against honest and dishonest people who come to NZ to live, work or study.
Should be, commit a crime in NZ, lie on your immigration forms or are found guilty of corruption and you are straight out the door and never to be allowed back into NZ whether you are Chinese, Korean, English, EU, Indian, or Russian or what have you. Not a ethnic based policy but a moral one.
Due to the isolation of NZ and our lack of robust immigration measures we do seem to attract our fair share of criminals trying to hide out here, or commit identity theft.
I didn’t say ‘the capital coming into NZ is from corruption’. I said corruption comes with the capital.
The other thing about Chinese wealth is the conditions under which it has been generated. Scant regard for human rights, political rights, worker rights, justice, and the environment has been the foundation upon which the Chinese capitalist economy has grown at such a fast pace.
You might have realised you are commenting on a forum which is inspired by the labour movement and so worker rights, and recently the environment, are high on most commenters’ list of priorities. I doubt whether a forum like The Standard would exist for very long in China and so when I look at the huge increase in wealth in that country I see it as tainted by injustice. You won’t find the same concerns on NZ blogs from the other side of the political divide.
Now, you might say it is the West’s consumerism which has partially funded the explosion of wealth in China and you would be right. I buy ‘made in China’ – it is difficult to not – so I too am guilty in a sense.
There will no doubt be some very good people emigrating to New Zealand but there will be a significant trail of corruption also and that is why we must ask questions, review settings, and be watchful.
You are right: The Standard (or any non-government blog) would not last very long in China.
And yes, I do realise I am commentating on a forum inspired by the labour movement. I also support that, but that does not mean blindly! A wrong by a socialist is just as bad as a wrong by a capitalist. Maybe worse, as the capitalist does not pretend what their motivation is.
The corruption I would disagree. In my experience, most Chinese coming here are reasonably young and well educated. They have experienced corruption throughout their life and do not like it. The money, including the big money that comes with them, is I think untouched.
Of more concern to NZ should be not the Chinese money coming to NZ, but rather when Kiwi engage in big business in China. It is inconceivable to me that Kiwirail or Fonterra are untouched by this. To do business in China at that level, well, I will not say the rest but you I am sure understand.
The other area of great concern to NZ should be immigration. I would suggest that almost EVERY Chinese that immigrates has been a party to corruption during the immigration process.
I totally welcome you.
Plenty on the left still mistrust Chinese – even after Helen Clark’s apology for decades of racism.
I don’t trust the Chinese government.
But then we’ve never examined US spying here, or British.
We’re a different people since the 1970s and thank God for that.
Most Chinese do not trust the Chinese government! Mr Xi is good for China economically, but he is slowly becoming little Mao.
Agreed.
Mr Xi is getting far too authoritarian.
@Fang Zhou. It’s the market driven flow of capital and being at the mercy of that capital and bad foreign decisions (ak BNZ floating and having to bail them out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_New_Zealand) that has caused the biggest crashes and poverty in NZ..
the Chinese situation will be exactly the same but worse as NZ has created too much dependancy on both Chinese investment and US security decisions.
Sadly the dominant discourse in NZ is neoliberalism and the pursuit of money, making our government decisions short term, lazy and stupid and allowed too much dependancy on other countries.
I think NZ and China should be friends but NZ becoming dependant on them for investment is a complete mistake.
As for high dollar in NZ, causes people living and working here huge problems, much higher mortgages and lending, less money from exports. Cheaper imports.
Kiwirail buys locomotives from Dailian. These are now much cheaper. High dollar both good and bad I think. But I admit economics is not my strength.
Yep they still do buy those locomotives. They may be cheap but we used to value quality and safety in NZ over money…
KiwiRail withdraws 40 trains from service after asbestos discovered in paint
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-01/kiwirail-pulls-40-trains-after-asbestos-discovery/5292902
“I think you do not understand that whether you like it or not, NZ needs Chinese capital to flow in to correct balance of payments and keep Kiwi dollar high. ”
I don’t know why you should think that. Even if it has been true in specific circumstances at one time, I do not see any need to favour Chinese capital over other capital, but it is also a destructive goal to set long term – if we need capital from immigrants, what does that tell you about wealth inequality within our country – and why wold an immigrant was to enter a country that requires immigrants to purchase capital assets to survive?
Far better that we fix some of the inequalities that currently plague us, that we develop domestic-owned enterprises to force competition on foreign owned companies (banks may be a good start), and recognise that we need to look after our population and leave them a country worth living, working and staying in – regardless of where they come from.
Sorry my bad explaining I think. No, should not favour Chinese capital over capital from elsewhere, but NZ needs capital inflow, regardless of where it comes from. Chinese invest heavily in NZ, certainly compared to many other immigrant groups. And yes, that can push up property prices but also many many Chinese build houses and buy businesses, and that provides work and increases the housing pool. And GST paid and so on.
Chinese, and others, wish to enter NZ as it is a better life here. Despite what many seem to think, the standard of living is about the same for the average person, but quality of life here is much higher.
Yes, I agree with you regarding NZ owned enterprises, looking after the NZ population. Do you not think though that I, coming here and, when I first arrived, buying a business was not also indirectly looking after the NZ population? I paid taxes, employed two part-timers.
It is not that I disagree with you, but ‘how’. Many immigrants just get on with it. Work long hours and invest in the next generation. Kiwi people work hard, but seem to prefer to be employees rather than take risks. Immigrants often have no choice but to risk everything (we did that by coming here!). So we invest, we buy businesses, we try harder. I know that is a generalisation, but that is my experience.
It’s interesting you object to a generalisation by making a generalisation about Kiwis preferring to be employees – none of our family are and are in a quite wide set of infrastructure and construction businesses. Years of long hard earned reputation and resilience has meant we have survived in the face of being undercut on prices and lower standards, some have not. That’s not some prejudiced “opinion”, it’s based on factual events and is something that is sad when it happen. Something NZ should be able to work for as it did historically is to uplift the conditions and prospects of NZers not have that regress by being damned into working longer hours or under conditions that are any longer than what is necessary to get the work done and get it done right and for a fair price.
Immigrants have seed capital. Being the more wealthy in China.
Kiwi’s do not. After decades of high living costs and low wages.
Being an employee is not a choice.
Agree that many Chinese people are not their Government.
However our dollar is too high. One of the reasons for China’s recent economic ascendancy, is their Government deliberately keeps their currency low, encouraging exports and discouraging imports, into China.
I don’t think pushing house prices up beyound the reach of locals is a positive contribution to New Zealand. And it is USA’ians, British and South Africans, as well as Chinese. Any more than the British wealthy in, Spain hogging all the coastal real estate.
Pardon my ignorance, but Robotic valet parking? WTF?
It is very common in cities with limited space you can store large numbers of cars within a small space.
Effectively you pull into garage onto a parking pad, hop out and the system lifts then moves the pad to a vertical storage space.
There is NOT little robots running around parking cars.
@ Monty, many thanks for that info. I have never heard the term “Robotic Parking” before, so as a result, my decrepit old brain went into overdrive (no pun intended) 🙂
Chinese property investment abroad is a diversification, risk managemrnt, as the domestic market may be in slow down (over supply).
The current or future value of the yuan would have little to do with it.
The development you mention, use of land for property to people not currently residents, shows what the governments relaxation of the its new rules for foreign purchase leads to.
I think the Chinese preference to invest in NZ real estate is that here you own the dirt.
All Chinese land is owned by everyone, it can only be leased.
We can leave our NZ properties to our children, in China it can be left for the duration of a lease but thereafter it resorts to state ownership and Mr Xi decides if continued occupation is desirable.
Having lived in Shanghai and now HKG for over 4 years now. Those type of complexes are common. The developers add these things to attract buyers its like an apartment arms race.
It is good and very convenient for the people living there.
The one I lived in Shanghai had all of that plus a super market, 10 underground tennis courts, couple B ball courts, pools training and resort style, Gym, Spa, Dance and Yoga studios.
The robotic parking was humorous as at least a couple people per week got caught and forgot to get out of the car and got stuck. (mainly their own fault wechatting and not being aware of the surroundings)
I’m expecting the mic to be ripped out of Audrey’s hand any minute now….
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12160871
But where was she sitting in relation to Pence? Young doesn’t give us the seating plan in detail which is odd because it’s the detail which seems to have got under her skin.
Was the PM one over from Pence? If so I believe that’s as close as Pence will allow any woman other than his wife.
“For several days her officials had been telling New Zealand media that she would be sitting next to Pence at his request.“
What Young points out is the spin. ‘Next to Pence at his request’ is not next to Mrs Pence, whatever the seating plan. This would be nitpicking if those same officials hadn’t made such an issue if it.
It certainly is nitpicking. But then that’s what the Nats and their embedded media are reduced to right now.
@ mutton. + 100.
Well I’ve seen one article by one journalist and nothing from the National Party, so that’s a stretch.
Perhaps either the PM or her officials need to stop giving the “Nats and their embedded media” this kind of material?
Mike Pence would have lobbyists chewing on his ear every waking minute.
The most effective and successful of those lobbyists will be Mrs Pence.
jacinda is dumb like a fox.
Yep. Every word JA said to Mrs Pence Mr Pence will have heard loud and clear.
Whereas Audrey Young is just plain dumb.
I’m more thinking of those few minutes in the dark after both have put their books down, clicked off the Tiffany bedside lamps and while drowsing off Mrs Pence says…
“Have you seen any footage of those abandoned children on Nauru Island honey.”
They sleep in separate rooms, surely.
Probably separate houses but for as long as Mrs Pence is on Mike’s arm at the many events they attend, there is no better path for Jacinda to pursue if she wants Mike to get onboard with something.
Breast-feeding Prime Ministers come with a fair slice of gravitas in the eyes of Washington’s silver vixens.
Eventually, wives always win.
It’s the way it should be: Woman – Smart. Man – Stupid.
Woman: “Lets put a swish kitchen and bathroom into the rental?”
Man: “Don’t you think we need a depreciation nose diving 911 honey?”
Then why claim Jacinda was sitting next to Mr Pence? It just encourages the sort of article that Audrey Young wrote.
Here is the seating plan, Pence is sitting between his wife and another woman and Adern is next to Mrs Pence
https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj3g9GJ69feAhVZcCsKHX3_DR0QjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newshub.co.nz%2Fhome%2Fpolitics%2F2018%2F11%2Fjacinda-ardern-reveals-what-she-talked-about-with-us-vice-president-mike-pence.html&psig=AOvVaw2JrA3Q74DfN2D7ZTaCCUky&ust=1542420706617964
A week before Thanksgiving, members of the same tribe who helped the pilgrims survive 400 years ago stood before the nation’s Capitol Building. But instead of celebrating, they spoke out against the Trump administration’s decision to take their reservation away.
https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/news/give-back-our-reservation-mashpee-wampanoag-and-allies-march-on-the-capitol-O2aeJIbIHkyFyrSwyU_WEw/
This is the precursor to selling of great wads of federal land. Or if your cynical, land not covered by a treaty from the people they stole it off.
Because if you an indigenous American you ain’t worth a damn thing to white settler thinking.
Bernie Sanders took on Amazon for higher minimum wages, and won handsomely.
Now he’s taking on Walmart.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-walmart-minimum-wage_us_5bedc525e4b0443db862a5a8
God it would be great to have an MP like this in New Zealand naming and shaming the big low-wage companies.
Glad you finally jumped on the Bernie train. 😉
Just Biden my time
🙂
We should have a Stein to celebrate.
🙂
What about the big health and safety issue of onions on my sausage at Bunnings?
It is amusing when you hear it at first, but you cant deny they are taking safety seriously. Pity Pike river mine management was not as safety conscious as we may not have lost 29 people.
Because some muppet over here in Oz, slip on some BBQ onions with his sausage sanger at Bunnings in NSW or Vic and a filed a WHS complaint. This muppet may’ve even got a payout with WHS the complaint? Just like some of the muppets you slip on fruit/ veggies aisle or at the drinks aisle and try in sue the company for a few quid in the process.
I love that it’s the same company that refused to have a defibrillator onsite. Maybe they learned from the rucus that caused…
I didn’t know that. Do they have them on site now? They bloody should do.
Oh yeah – one of those things that caused so much outrage they u-turned in days.
Seems to be the corporate disease of “if it might mean work for head office, don’t do it”. Hence a memo about the order in which onions are put on sausages might absolve corporate from responsibility.
They could just sweep the spilled food up if the seagulls don’t take it, but whatevs
What about onions on saus Can you pop a link up so we can have some trivia to lighten our lives?
I see the ADF is purchasing a Squadron’s worth 12- 16 of the Armed version of the General Atom Reaper UAV’s this mornings Oz paper. There was talk of buying these back in 2014 and confirmed in the 2016 Defence White Paper with the impression it at purchase to buy in the early 2020’s, so it makes me wonder why the sudden purchase of these units now?
playing to the base. And aren’t they also getting F35s? Probably after something that works to go with that, lol
A New Zealand actor reports, in a tone of high seriousness,
that Israelis see themselves as “an underdog.”
RNZ National, Wednesday 14 November 2018
We’ve dealt before with the contemptible phenomenon of glib and ignorant theatre “luvvies” sounding off about things they lack the competence to comment on. There was the pretentious “theatre-maker” Stella Duffy [1], there was the “sooooo truthful” Tandi Wright [2] and of course who could ever forget the epically pompous stand-up comedian Andrew Clay? [3]
Now, I must report sadly, I have identified another talkative but shallow member of this sorority of the second-rate, this club of the clueless, this brotherhood of the bewildered, this guild of the giddy and guileless, this [That’s enough epithets.—J.A. Napes]. About 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, as I steered the Breenmobile through the suburban dreamscapes of the North Shore, I chanced upon the actor Tim Balme being interviewed by that great gorgeous emptiness Jesse Mulligan. Amongst other things, Balme spoke about his play The Ballad of Jimmy Costello, which is based on the George Wilder story. He mentioned that he had performed it in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Speaking slowly and with as much gravitas as he could summon, Balme stated that Israeli audiences “loved it” because “it’s a play about an underdog, and Israel is a nation that considers itself an underdog.”
Israel “an underdog.” A nation that “considers itself an underdog.”
???????!!??!?!?
The absurdity, indeed the obscenity, of that propaganda seemed to be lost on Tim Balme, and of course it was lost on Jesse Mulligan.
The decline of RNZ National continues.
[1] /open-mike-03102015-2/#comment-1077820
[2] /open-mike-28082015/#comment-1063760
[3] /open-mike-04122013/#comment-738941
“…. Israel is a nation that considers itself an underdog.”
When the privileged and powerful start making out, that they are the victim, everyone else is in danger.
The fascist rulers of Germany made big play of Germans being the underdog prior to WWII.
The White Minority government of South Africa also played the victim card.
And Trump also plays the, hard done by, victim card in appealing to his base.
All great lies have some truth, Germans suffered the unfairness of the reparations forced on them at the end of the First World War. When it was the German soldiery and sailors who mutinied that brought that brutal imperial conflict to an end.
The Boers painted themselves the victims of British imperialism.
And Trump’s supporters feel squeezed by the ‘elites’ (even though Trump is one of them).
And the present day Zionist rulers of the state of Israel use the excuse of the Holocaust inflicted on European Jews, by Germany, to carry out almost similar levels of repression and murder and dispossession against the Palestinian people.
Jenny, you may have confused Russia with Germany regarding the end of World War 1?
The collapse/rebellion in Germany was mainly civilian, not military. Some sailors joined a dockworkers’ rebellion, but by and large the German military forces, while being forced onto the retreat, were intact, not defeated, and still in French/Belgian territory.
This is why they later believed that they had been stabbed in the back, which helped Hitler.
More moronic comments from the mozz, of course Israel are the under dog. I do dispair with mozzies lack of cognitive reasoning making discourse pointless.
You appear to have chosen your pseudonym well.
Kia ora Nation Simon & Emma The billion tree planting program from our Coalition Government is a good start but we need to invest more into climate change mitigation.
trump is a puppet his backers oil barons don’t want China’s manufacturing muscle to push oil into our history books as they will lose there control of the people on earth.
It was China that pushed the price of Solar down to a price that’s lower than thermal energy that is produced by coal and oil. China & Elon will push the petrol car into our history books and make energy democratic people producing there own power.
Ka kite ano. .
You see OUR Freedom and democracy is a illusion they keep most peoples reality in a big square box that the wealthy control the people on Mother Earth’s reality
Kia ora Newshub back with the moko’s lost track of time lets hope the The All Blacks test goes our way . The Black ferns Kia Kaha It’s awesome that the wahine World Cup is being hosted by Aotearoa I’m sure we will be good honest hoste . Ka pai to the young foot ball ferns .Looks like all the stories are about Jacinda trip overseas meeting other heads of state I will eaz on giving my of these people for the time being. Mike I read a story in Stuff on the reason why OUR weather is so variable at the minute after a long story the conclusion was human caused climate changes are the main causes
Ka Kite ano