If Pat Gregory (failed candidate at the last election) stands in Hamilton West in 2014, so will I.
Every public meeting, forum and photo op, I will be there to remind everyone she’s just a sad bigoted cunt and though as such she may earn our sympathy, not our votes.
TA – This is the sort of attitute which needs to play out…Honest people standing in their local electorate, and communicating the failings, lies and BS etc which the local MP would no doubt have partaken in.
Get stuck into it, imagine the fun to be had!
PS – Colin Craig is not what he seems, when he talks about children, keep yours inside!
The costs over getting the chance to slam into Macindope and idiots like Gregory and failed human – act’s Gary Mallett, are a small price to pay.
What is it they say about cost benefit analysis? đ
At every meeting I’ll endorse my pick and then get back into the gutter so they don’t have to.
I might even get on the tele wearing one of my al1en.org shirts.
My bullshit meter usually heads straight to level five whenever ‘conservative christians’ start taling about children. This prick Craig looks too fucking slick for my liking and I wouldn’t trust him to sit the right way on a lavatory.
If it wasn’t true, that is. Seriously, I’m sure a few Ruskies soiled their underpants when they saw that smokestream incoming at 5km/s then suddenly flare their morning dawn into a brighter than daylight flash.
You have been conned I’m afraid.
The leader of a Russian political party has identified what it really was.
It wasn’t a meteorite at all but the US testing a weapon. http://en.apa.az/news_vladimir_zhirinovsky_denies_meteorite__c_187943.html
He sounds a bit like Winston Peters with his conspiracy theories.
“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices”
Actually I tend to think that quote describes any political parties caucus meetings.
Originally I put in the comment with just the first three lines and the reference. Looking at it I then realised that someone would think I meant it seriously and abuse me so I added the last line to make it obvious I thought it was the guy was nuts.
Hoots has a rock solid argument against paying a livable wage, which is essentially ‘What if $18.40 isn’t exactly the right number for everyone?’ Best just keep paying $13.50 then, just to be sure.
He then goes on to say that pepper-potting state housing in wealthy areas “Creates a lot of social unfairness” because it’s unfair to the families that get a state house but don’t get to live in a nice street. Presumably confining all state house tenants to massive ghettos in the most deprived parts of town is “social fairness”.
I guess the accident of birth that lands one child in a state house in Avondale and another in a Herne Bay villa is God’s will and indisputable.
Seems clear to me Hoots will be a key player from the NACT in next years election via his spin and soapboxes on radio/print etc, why he’s already ‘helping’ the mallarfia.
” UF did not specifically campaign for the âmixed ownership model for the electricity companies and Air New Zealandâ because it was not UF policy”
[ Pete George (16,292) Says: February 15th, 2013 at 10:28 pm]
Thank you Pete George, for confirming my point.
In my considered opinion – the voting public of Ohariu were thus effectively misled by United Future and Peter Dunne on the issue of support for the ‘Mixed Ownership Model’ for State-Owned electricity assets and Air New Zealand.
In my considered opinion, United Future and Peter Dunne SOLD OUT the voting public of Ohariu by voting in support of the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership) Amendment Act 2012.
The final vote on the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Act 2012, was 61 – 60
A party vote was called for on the question, That the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.
Ayes 61
New Zealand National 59; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.
Noes 60
New Zealand Labour 34; Green Party 14; New Zealand First 8; MÄori Party 3; Mana 1.
_____________________________________________________________________________
I thus believe that I am absolutely correct in my statement that THERE IS NO MANDATE FOR ASSET SALES – given that this minority National Government (which DID campaign on asset sales) has only 59 out of 121 MPs.
NO MAJORITY – NO MANDATE.
In my considered opinion, Pete George, the one who is effectively LYING – is YOU.
Even less impressed.
When you’re in a hole, Pete George, turn off the keys to the ditchdigger?
Penny, I don’t agree with assets sales. Not out of ideology but out of the fact I can’t see it working for our benefit. That said – as I have mentioned to you elsewhere – every government since 1996 has been a minority and National received, in 2011, a greater % of the vote than any party has since MMP was first foisted upon us.
Stick to the issues, not this bullshit about ‘minority governments’. 9 years of labour was also minority.
“Not out of ideology but out of the fact I canât see it working for our benefit. “
That’s an interesting statement. Do you imagine that there are many people who are opposed to asset sales for any reason other than they don’t think it will work in our benefit?
I’m trying to imagine someone who’s ideology informs them that these assets should be publicly owned, but who doesn’t think selling them would be less beneficial than keeping them.
Or have I misunderstood you? Could you tell me a little more about this relationship between ideology and garden variety reckoning and how you see them relating to this particular issue?
The point I was trying to make wasn’t about asset sales as a policy. It was about Penny’s assertion that because National is a minority government they don’t have the clout to proceed with their goals.
All NZ governments since ’96 have been minority governments.
Oh I realise that. It would be bullshit to claim any of them had a clear electoral mandate to do anything simply because they were capable of forming a govt.
But I’m more interested in this idea that there are people who oppose asset sales because of ideology rather than because they think it’s a dumb idea.
Do you not agree there are people out there that think National = bad no matter what is proposed?
Sure as shit there are those on the right that automatically oppose anything the left might introduce without consideration because left = commienazirepression.
Just as easily as some on the left equate right = fascisthitler!
Yeah, but Contrarian seems to be putting that sentiment down to some sort of loyalty to an ideology rather than just not wanting our bloody stuff flogged off.
I’d completely agree with cont if anyone here typed:
“fucking nats – created a surplus, cut inequality, increased benefits, introduced compulsory union membership, created a livable minimum wage for all, and on top of THAT the fuckwits have cut unemployment to less than 3%!!!!”
I don’t understand why saying some argument is based on ideology is like some sort of get out of jail free card for why you don’t have to engage with their argument.
“Oh, they’re just being ideological, so I don’t have to try and rebutt what they’re saying”. Of course then lots of things start being ‘ideological’ and therefore unworthy of debate…
And Contro seems to be, I could be wrong but he hasn’t explained hisself, confusing ideology with party partisanship.
‘I don’t like it because National is doing it’, isn’t an ideological statement in the least.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say, (just you watch me),that the statement is the opposite of ideological.
It’s not the sort of thing an ideologist would say at all. Someone who is a devout party partisan (vote for a green syphilitic cat if it had a blue rosette) is by definition not voting based on ideology.
The issue that Penny appears to be explaining and why it seems like bullshit, The Contrarian, is because it is answering to the bullshit assertion that this Government makes about having a mandate on the matter. They do not.
Democracy, last time I checked, is about representing the peoples wishes. National chose to manipulate their popularity in order to get a very unpopular approach pushed through. Having done this, they are now in a position to do this very unpopular approach, to our detriment. People were stupid to vote for them believing that they were “fair and reasonable” enough to listen to the opinion of their voters. The least that this government can do is stop spinning the factually incorrect misinformation that they have a mandate.
People were stupid to vote for them believing that they were âfair and reasonableâ enough to listen to the opinion of their voters.
This applies to a fair number of National voters. However, a good number of their voters did so because they saw no strong alternative government-in-waiting led by Labour.
…yes, one would hope that opposition parties might learn from last election results.
Until research is conducted as to why so many people stayed at home, when serious issues affecting this country such as the GFC were occurring might indicate it was important to have a more responsible government, we will all not know the real reason for Nact slipping across the “win” line into Government again. And actually it was very close. I suspect that “no real alternative” is as good a suspicion as any.
Another might be people are proudly non-political here, along with seriously uninformed….well the two go together really don’t they…
Many NZs live in cargo cult land I think about politics. ‘They’ are responsible for everything and they are useless. So the individual can’t be bothered to be informed and think community-wide – just vote for yourself, and if you don’t think you’ll get anything, don’t vote at all. Just give up supporting democracy. These people are too ignorant and witless to understand the alternatives and how hard our forebears fought for voting rights and decision making. Let the other fools do the voting – what does it matter! Think I’ve pinned down the ‘thought’ processes of many.
Picked up another twenty signatures yesterday, TC. The asset sales are not wanted by the majority of kiwis. The point, as CV notes, is that National do not have a mandate for the sales. They fell short of reaching a majority by themselves, including their Epsom sock puppet and their support parties are either opposed to the sales or, in the case of United Future, deliberately ambiguous on the matter during the election campaign.
Even if the Nats got that majority, they couldn’t claim a mandate because opposition to the sales comes from their voters as well. It wasn’t the defining issue of the campaign by any means and clearly some people voted National despite the asset sales program. The way to get a mandate is to put it to a vote.
The power generators have already been carved up behind closed door and lollies dished out, like the 500k to Heffernden for doing nothing. Shippers on genesis board, fees to mates for ‘advice’ etc etc.
Radical but a gutsy opposition party should propose to re-nationalise the power industry, it’s a dogs breakfast of profit taking and ticket clipping, in a country of less than 4 mill with so much hyrdo etc what we pay per kWh is a white collar crime for an essential utility.
That includes booting Origin out of contact btw…..we aint moving forward by not owning our essential infrastructure and you could fix a price/kWh with the electorate and keep it by removing the leeches.
+ 1 on ya. I find it hard to see how we will stop them but we must keep trying – thank you TRP for your work in convincing people and getting signatures.
It would be good if leaders took note of inequality. I am joining up dots in the horsemeat in burgers scandal in Europe.
Heard – Roumania banned horse and carts. Result an excess of horses in the market for living ones so presumably they were sold for their meat. Bad political thought by people who don’t live at horse and cart level.
Heard – The meat gets shot around like balls in a pinball machine. Lots of distance, and lots of going for the cheapest, bu..er the quality and integrity. (One small supermarket is grinning has direct traceabilty, farmer, transport to works, transport to shop .)
Memory – One of the features of beef disease outbreak in Britain with its resulting dreadful carnage of all animals even some rare, heritage breeds, was the distance that animals were transported so it seems that the government has not tried to limit this lackadaisical treatment of vulnerable animals and precious food.
And here is a chance to push our barrow that their meat over there has hidden miles and hidden dangers so let’s stop this potting us for our food miles which are transparent.
Here’s something on Mad Cow disease – we need to keep being aware of this, as its always likely when you get big profit-first, cost-containing companies. Which we are getting in NZ and they could ruin our hard-won quality image.
What is Mad Cow Disease (from About.com – Education: Chemistry)
Mad Cow Disease (MCD) is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), except that Mad Cow Disease is much easier to pronounce!
The disease is caused by prions.
Prions can cross between species (although not all species get diseases from them). Cattle get the disease from eating infected food, such as feed that contains rendered parts of infected sheep. Yes, cattle are grazing creatures, but their diets may be supplemented with protein from another animal source.
Cattle don’t immediately get sick from eating the prions. It can take months or years for Mad Cow Disease to develop.
“Elastomer Products managing director Tom Thomson drops a foot of fibre optic cable on the table.
The Christchurch plastics manufacturer points to the plastic casing covering the ultrafast broadband cables that Government and industry are rolling out across the country in a $3.5b infrastructure project.
“I would have been into that like a pig into strawberries,” he fumes.
He had been through all the tender documents and found no mention of the product that will encase about 23,000 kilometres of UFB cable. It would have been millions of dollars of work, he says…
…”The problem here is that China has a 50-year plan, we have a three-year electoral cycle and a feeling that supporting your manufacturing base is somehow cheating.” ”
NZ politicians, sadly also many NZ business people, and NZ consumers have mostly a one day at a time plan. NZ is a country of division and short sightedness.
Trying so desperately to convince people that planning, smart thinking and including various parties to agendas, that has been a nightmarish and futile effort I have been engaged in for years.
It is so bloody sad, to see a country with the resources, and possibilities, sell itself out, undersell itself and ruin the future of the young that are born here and grow up here.
I am NOT a nationalist, I just try to bring a common sense thinking into this.
STUFF … (the impartial bastions of the 4th Estate), reports:
Government Rejects – etc ( I can’t even be bothered with the rest of the headline)
Just as they do with anything to do with crime or Polis.
There’s some mininalistic training regime that goes on slightly East of Porirua – where ONCE in the dim distant past (passed), certain things whereby a Police Force in an environment where people were treated as citizenz – were taught.
I’ve a marriage and an ex-wife to prove how much better the outcomes of those days were.
Now we have a ‘fORCE’ of waist-belt-ridden pepper-spray ridden; taser-holding; etc., etc., etc. sutch that they waddle like fucking ducks. UGLY UGLY UGLY
You visit Police Nat HQ, for example, and the woosiness, the ideologically driven imperative just exudes from every lift shaft.
They do, because they can.
I’m always amazed at the likes of Greg O_C advocating for the more – always forgetting what the fuck they used-to-do.
The more he advocates, the woosier his disciples – i.e. – supposedly the rank and file. I accept the guy was never exactly the hero he would like to have people think he is, but its really rather dishonest to portray himself as having his disciples’ best interests at heart.
There goes a force of a majority of basically committed and good folks, held to ransom and protected by a minority of complete neanderthals all headed by – well – you guessed it
So stuff all building of state houses has been done under National, and it proves Heatley, who lost his job, as a total liar! He went on about all these great homes that were supposedly being built under his watch.
It was in the Auckland Central Leader last week also, and this week an article in the same local paper already reports about protests of local residents about HNZ building a 3-level chicken cage style ghetto there in Onehunga, Auckland.
Yes, that is what the hell is going on. Housing NZ tenants are driven out of their existing homes, level ground homes get bulldozed, and part of the land (in some cases also property) is sold to private “developers”, who make a nice profit out of building part crap for HNZ tenants, a few larger homes (on tiny grounds) for the odd larger family, and some supposedly cheaper private homes for private market home buyers.
Already in the past most HNZ homes were rather smallish, but in future, you will be put into a kind of tiny pigeon hole, if you are lucky to even get a state home!
That has become of “state housing” now, and to make it all worse, I hear NADA from Labour’s housing spokeswoman, Annette King!
As I suspect, and it is the same with other policies, Labour are dreaming of the same agenda as National, but they only want to make it a little more “palatable” to the affected and wider public, by not being “too harsh”.
Thank you for that, and I am still waiting for many other overdue answers from Labour spokespersons, MPs and whatever, last not least the “majestic leader” DS.
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The Government is investing up to $10 million to support 30 of the countryâs top early-career researchers to develop their research skills. âThe pandemic has had widespread impacts across the science system, including the research workforce. After completing their PhD, researchers often travel overseas to gain experience but in the ...
A Waitomo-based Jobs for Nature project will keep up to ten people employed in the village as the tourism sector recovers post Covid-19 Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. âThis $500,000 project will save ten local jobs by deploying workers from Discover Waitomo into nature-based jobs. They will be undertaking local ...
Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw spoke yesterday with President Bidenâs Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. âI was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Kerry this morning about the urgency with which our governments must confront the climate emergency. I am grateful to him and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today announced three diplomatic appointments: Alana Hudson as Ambassador to Poland John Riley as Consul-General to Hong Kong Stephen Wong as Consul-General to Shanghai  Poland âNew Zealandâs relationship with Poland is built on enduring personal, economic and historical connections. Poland is also an important ...
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...
A skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Childrenâs Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whÄnau, and ...
The green light for New Zealandâs first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. âWeâre making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but weâre also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,â Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. âAll three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACCâ said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced.  The grant for WaihĆpai RĆ«naka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Governmentâs ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. âThe last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. Â âThe Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. âTwo new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. âThe Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes â 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. âI look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,â Jacinda Ardern said. âNew Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the areaâs unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien OâConnor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. âThese special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. âThe change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. âFollowing confirmation of the Cook Islandsâ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. âOur top priority continues ...
Todayâs deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. âThe deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. âABAC helps ensure that APECâs work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Governmentâs prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealandâs local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. âGiven the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, itâs clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
It’s easy to sacrifice John Banks. It’s a lot harder for brands, sports organisations and government to truly stop funding racism. Are they willing to try?Yesterday John Banks, the former Auckland mayor and MP, became subject to one of the fastest firings in media history when audio covering his approving ...
A community is outraged after Auckland Council granted consent for a row of trees planted by local kids to be removed along a revitalised waterway in South Auckland, reports Justin Latif. An Auckland Council decision to give contractors the all-clear to chop down 12 mānuka and kānuka trees shading Māngere’s Tararata ...
Te PĆ«tahitanga o Te Waipounamu hopes that the recent changes to Oranga Tamariki leadership present an opportunity for a long overdue paradigm shift that will place whÄnau at the heart of the child welfare sector. PouÄrahi Helen Leahy says that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rice, Professor of Management, University of New England Elon Musk is now the worldâs richest person, edging out previous title holder Amazonâs Jeff Bezos. His rocketing fortune is due to the booming share price of Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles ...
There are now three returnees who contracted the virus in the Auckland isolation facility then left into the community while positive. These are some of the questions that need to be resolved. At 10.20pm last night the Ministry of Health confirmed that the two cases they’d been treating as probable ...
Having a hard time remembering to scan in on the NZ Covid Tracer app when you’re out and about? Get this song stuck in your head and you’ll never forget again.Learn the lyrics:Aotearoa, it’s time to get scanning!I mean if you think about it, it never really wasn’t time we ...
We conclude our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with a review of his stories by John Newton Roger Hickinâs Cold Hub Press is one of the small miracles of contemporary New Zealand publishing. Over the last decade, on what can only be a shoe-string budget, the ...
Thursday 28th January, AUCKLAND: Drive Electric, the not-for-profit with one mission â making electric vehicle uptake in New Zealand mainstream, welcomes the announcement by the Government today as a sign of whatâs to come through 2021, and we are confident ...
The Government announced today key policy decisions on the proposed clean car policies. The MIA has stated on many occasions that we support well thought out and constructive policies that will lead to an increased rate in the reduction of CO2 emissions from ...
Get wild, get cultured, get fed and then get to bed: the essential guide to a perfect few days in the southern city. There’s one thing that preoccupies the staff of The Spinoff almost as much as arranging popular food items into arbitrary lists, and that’s Dunedin. A quite remarkable ...
John Banks’ racist exchange with a Magic Talk listener on Tuesday was the latest in nearly 50 years of talkback controversies. Donna Chisholm has the receipts.John Banks axed over Māori ‘stone age culture’ comments on Magic Talk1972: On Radio I, sports talkback host Tim Bickerstaff launches a “Punch a Pom ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission.Two new community Covid-19 cases have been identified as the more infectious South African variant, but Auckland Mayor Phil Goff sayit would be "premature to go into lockdown now". The two new cases of Covid-19 identified in the ...
Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resourcesâ Takitimu mine in Southland to Fonterraâs ...
KiwiRail STOP Hauling COAL Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resourcesâ Takitimu mine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Dunn, Associate professor, University of Sydney The government is rolling out a new public information campaign this week to reassure the public about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, which one expert has said âcouldnât be more crucialâ to people actually getting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan University The COVID vaccine rollout has placed the issue of vaccination firmly in the spotlight. A successful rollout will depend on a variety of factors, one of which is vaccine acceptance. One potential hurdle to vaccine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernard Walker, Associate Professor in Organisations and Leadership, University of Canterbury Kiwis know what itâs like when life throws curveballs. Weâve had major quakes, floods, fires, an eruption, a terrorist attack and now a pandemic. In those situations, itâs the ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Irwin, Emeritus professor, Murdoch University While we continue to be occupied with the COVID pandemic, another life-threatening disease has emerged in northern Australia, one thatâs cause for considerable alarm for the millions of dog owners around the country. This disease â ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cath Ferguson, Academic, Edith Cowan University Almost half of Australian adults struggle with reading. Similar levels of struggling readers are reported in the United Kingdom and United States. This does not mean all struggling readers are illiterate. It means they often struggle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abbas Shieh, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design, Islamic Azad University The industrial revolution transformed cities, resulting in places of residence and work becoming more distant than ever before. This spatial segregation is still largely embedded in the design of our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: Occupation: Rainfall, written and directed by Luke Sparke Historically, when a sequel to a film was greenlit, you could rest assured this was because the first film made a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 28, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tourism suffers in the shadow of Covid-19, two new positive cases in Auckland confirmed, and National will contest the Māori electorates.The front page of the January 4 Greymouth Star carried grim tidings for several of the glacier towns on the ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Two people who left managed isolation on January 15 have been confirmed as positive Covid-19 cases, with the Ministry of Health urging anyone who visited the same locations during the same time period as the infected pair in Auckland to ...
The watchlist of 'offensive or unreasonable' babies' names is to be reviewed, to include more names from other languages. Generations of the ÄȘhaka family have played a meaningful role in bringing Te Reo and stories of MÄori to our wider community. Archdeacon Sir KÄ«ngi Matutaera ÄȘhaka (Te AupĆuri, 1921-93) was known as the orator of ...
After Moroccoâs flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara on Friday 13 November 2020 war broke out between the two sides. In the midst of this war Tauranga based Ballance Agri-Nutrients has decided to carry on importing phosphate ...
Nicholas Agar suggests that our handling of the pandemic could be partly down to our distinctive Treaty of Waitangi relationship, and MÄori ideas that enabled us to make it through without tens of thousands of deaths A mission for universities in the coming decade will be a deep understanding of the meaning ...
A young girl who once sent $5 to an embattled America's Cup team is now among the women on the water helping run the contest for the Auld Mug. As an eager and generous nine-year-old, Melanie Roberts posted a letter, with a $5 note, to OneAustraliaâs Americaâs Cup team. It was 1995, ...
At 5am today, cock’s crow, the embargo lifted on the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist. Here are the books in the race, followed by thoughts from poetry editor Chris Tse and books editor Catherine Woulfe. A shortlist of four books in each category will be announced March 3, with ...
Ignoring those QR codes when you drop into the supermarket? Can’t be bothered when you grab a coffee? The people serving you notice, and you’re freaking them out.So far, New Zealanders’ use of the Covid-19 Tracer app has been notably woeful. Food industry workers who’ve watched streams of customers walk ...
Steve Braunias reveals the longlist of the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards Apart from one or two unfortunate omissions which cast doubt on the sanity and intellectual acumen of judges, especially the nobodies who judged this year's non-fiction, the longlist for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards is ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Papua New Guineaâs biggest hospital is straining to provide medical services to the growing population of the capital Port Moresby â with an estimated growth rate of 3 percent annually, a medical executive says. Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Nationals who attend Thursdayâs memorial service in Tweed Heads for Doug Anthony, who died last month aged 90, may muse on the contrast between the state of their party when he led it and now. ...
Returning to quarantine-free travel in 2021 doesn't just need a vaccine, but a way to check whether arriving passengers are actually immune to the virus. A smart Kiwi science start-up is working with a global biometrics giant to make that happen. A deal signed between Kiwi research and development company Orbis Diagnostics, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlyn Forster, PhD Candidate, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney This summerâs wetter conditions have created great conditions for flowering plants. Flowers provide sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen, attracting many insects, including bees. Commercial honey bees are also thriving: ...
Lotto scratchie tickets featuring the pop band Six60 are being withdrawn after a public backlash. In a statement, Lotto NZ said there had been a mutual decision made with the band to remove the tickets from sale following the negative feedback, and it offered an apology. The band faced criticism, both ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England Shell-crushing predation was already in full swing half a billion years ago, as our new research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals. A hyena devouring ...
Vodafone has suspended advertising on the radio station amid calls for talkback host John Banks to be taken off air after yet another racist outburst. Alex Braae reports. In an alarming segment of talkback radio, former Auckland mayor John Banks endorsed the views of a caller who described Māori as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Welch, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland When a COVID-19 case was found in Northland last Sunday, Aotearoaâs second-longest period with no detected community case came to an end. ESR scientists worked late into Sunday night to obtain a whole genome sequence ...
He has the perfect moustache, an exceptional mullet, and he uses terms like ‘face hole’ on national TV. Who or what is Dr Joel Rindelaub?I was drawn in by the moustache, but it was the mullet that really kept me there. Watching TVNZ’s Breakfast yesterday morning I was fixated. Often, ...
Weâll never be royals with nearly a quarter of declined baby names featuring âRoyalâ in some form or another. Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs has released the list of names declined in 2020 by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and ...
After a raft of inquiries delving into and recommending what should be done about the politically beleaguered Orangi Tamaraki, along with the briefing papers we suppose he has been given, we imagined Childrenâs Minister Kelvin Davis would have no more need for expert advice.   Wrong. He has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Thereâs a common assumption men take longer than women to poo. People say so on Twitter, in memes, and elsewhereonline. But is that right? What could explain it? And if ...
Just as sexuality is a spectrum, so too is asexuality. In Ace of Hearts, members of New Zealand’s asexual community talk about the challenges and misconceptions of identifying as ace.First published November 17, 2020.Ace of Hearts is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff.“A ...
Sam Brooks wasn’t allowed to watch kids TV as a kid. Now, as a 30 year old man, he watches it for the first time.My mother’s approach to parenting was unorthodox. I wrote weekly book reports on top of my actual homework, I did maths equations in Roman numerals and ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk More leading Indonesian figures have made racial slurs against Natalius Pigai, former chair of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) â and all West Papuans, says United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda. âSince the illegal Indonesian invasion in 1963, Indonesian ...
âThe Governmentâs failure to even conduct a standard cost-benefit analysis for the most expensive infrastructure project in New Zealandâs history is mind-bogglingly arrogant,â says New Zealand Taxpayersâ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. âA ...
The Ministry of Health is today drawing backlash from the local New Zealand vaping industry following its release of proposed regulations for the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act. Vaping Trade Association New Zealand (VTANZ) President, ...
Sophie Gilmour and Simon Day are joined by special guest Hugo Baird, co-owner of Grey Lynn’s Honey Bones and Lilian, to talk about opening new pub Hotel Ponsonby.Auckland is a city of many bars but few really good pubs – the kind of places you’d be just as comfortable going ...
The appointment of an advisory board for Oranga Tamariki is welcome and should be a step toward a total transformation of the care and protection system to a by MÄori, for MÄori approach, Childrenâs Commissioner Andrew Becroft said today. Minister ...
Taking control of your financial wellbeing can have cascading positive impacts for your life and it can also be fun. With the help of the team at Kiwi Wealth, we’ve compiled some simple tricks for balancing your books in 2021. There’s something about the beginning of a new year, especially after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology As we know, getting into New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult. There are practicalities, such as high airfare and managed isolation costs. And there are legal requirements, including pre-flight testing, mandatory ...
New Zealand faces the risk of a generation being locked out of the housing market unless land is freed up and more houses built, National Party leader Judith Collins says. ...
On Sunday, Stuff published a months-long investigation by Alison Mau detailing allegations of harassment and exploitation within the local music industry.The piece, ‘Music industry professionals demand change after speaking out about its dark side’, includes allegations of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power by male artists, international acts and executives; ...
âThe Government is all at sea on timelines for Australia and New Zealandâs respective vaccine roll-outs, with the worst news coming from the mouth of Pfizer Australia CEO Anne Harris,â says ACT Leader David Seymour. âYesterday, under increasing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Higgins, Senior Research Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden promised the US would demonstrate âglobal leadership on refugeesâ. Once elected, he pledged to vastly increase refugee resettlement in the US. If history is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Baumann, Casual Academic, School of Social Sciences & Psychology, Western Sydney University Among the many hard truths exposed by COVID-19 is the huge disparity between the worldâs rich and poor. As economies went into freefall, the worldâs billionaires increased their already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jan Lanicek, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and Jewish History, UNSW On January 27 communities worldwide commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz â the largest complex of concentration camps and extermination centres during the Holocaust. This is the first year the International ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorinda Cramer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Australian Catholic University The summer break is over, marking a return to the office. For some, this ends almost a year of working from home in lockdown. Some analysts are predicting it might also mark an enduring ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 27, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato New Zealand has a strong history of protecting and promoting human rights at home and internationally, and prides itself on being an outspoken critic and global leader in this area. So, when the most ...
Good morning and welcome to the Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins outlines the plan forward for National, no spread of Covid spotted yet in Northland, and students return for climate protest.In front of a Rotary Club at the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, National leader Judith Collins yesterday set out her ...
*This articlefirst appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The tourism industry isn't holding its breath for a trans-Tasman travel bubble being in place after Australia temporarily closed its borders to New Zealand. New Zealanders could be waiting even longer for a full trans-Tasman bubble, with the ...
âââââââThe hurt caused by border closures is proving unsustainable for some of the country's 330 hotels, and they are closing their doors. ...
We continue our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with an essay by Anahera Gildea on cultural appropriation Every night at 7pm sharp, my Irish Catholic father and his eight siblings would have to kneel on the carpet of the living room, facing the freshly polished nudity of ...
It’s worse than I thought…
http://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/priorities-according-to-the-gospel-of-colin-craig/
If Pat Gregory (failed candidate at the last election) stands in Hamilton West in 2014, so will I.
Every public meeting, forum and photo op, I will be there to remind everyone she’s just a sad bigoted cunt and though as such she may earn our sympathy, not our votes.
TA – This is the sort of attitute which needs to play out…Honest people standing in their local electorate, and communicating the failings, lies and BS etc which the local MP would no doubt have partaken in.
Get stuck into it, imagine the fun to be had!
PS – Colin Craig is not what he seems, when he talks about children, keep yours inside!
The costs over getting the chance to slam into Macindope and idiots like Gregory and failed human – act’s Gary Mallett, are a small price to pay.
What is it they say about cost benefit analysis? đ
At every meeting I’ll endorse my pick and then get back into the gutter so they don’t have to.
I might even get on the tele wearing one of my al1en.org shirts.
remember Graham Caphill?
I remember when he cried like a girl when that bloke clouted him one outside court.
Because only girls cry when they get hit, ’cause they’re pussies, am I right?
I much prefer the term “squealed like a stuck pig”.
My bullshit meter usually heads straight to level five whenever ‘conservative christians’ start taling about children. This prick Craig looks too fucking slick for my liking and I wouldn’t trust him to sit the right way on a lavatory.
” I wouldnât trust him to sit the right way on a lavatory.” lol – that is very funny Kevin
About what you’d expect from a party that has ” kiddie bashing” as it’s main platform plank.
Oops it’s been sanitised as anti-smacking.
Let’s not forget his ‘personal pods’ concept to solve akl’s transport issues. Loony is as loony does.
An upside is they’ll take votes from the NACT.
Just found this via the Mary Holmes column.
http://www.fma.govt.nz/help-me-invest/risks-involved-in-investing/being-alert-to-scams/common-frauds/
IN RUSSIA
SPACE EXPLOREï»ż YOU.
lolololololol
If it wasn’t true, that is. Seriously, I’m sure a few Ruskies soiled their underpants when they saw that smokestream incoming at 5km/s then suddenly flare their morning dawn into a brighter than daylight flash.
I reckon it’s probably the best meteor footage ever.
Yep it’s awesome. Real life imitates Hollywood.
and, Deep Impact was on the box last night.
You have been conned I’m afraid.
The leader of a Russian political party has identified what it really was.
It wasn’t a meteorite at all but the US testing a weapon.
http://en.apa.az/news_vladimir_zhirinovsky_denies_meteorite__c_187943.html
He sounds a bit like Winston Peters with his conspiracy theories.
The world is full of conspiracies alwyn. I mean, every time 3 capitalists get together in a room…
Surely you are not suggesting
“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices”
Actually I tend to think that quote describes any political parties caucus meetings.
Originally I put in the comment with just the first three lines and the reference. Looking at it I then realised that someone would think I meant it seriously and abuse me so I added the last line to make it obvious I thought it was the guy was nuts.
Citizen A with Keith Locke and Matthew Hooton.
Hoots has a rock solid argument against paying a livable wage, which is essentially ‘What if $18.40 isn’t exactly the right number for everyone?’ Best just keep paying $13.50 then, just to be sure.
He then goes on to say that pepper-potting state housing in wealthy areas “Creates a lot of social unfairness” because it’s unfair to the families that get a state house but don’t get to live in a nice street. Presumably confining all state house tenants to massive ghettos in the most deprived parts of town is “social fairness”.
I guess the accident of birth that lands one child in a state house in Avondale and another in a Herne Bay villa is God’s will and indisputable.
It’s like he’s not even trying.
But he says things with such utter conviction that how could you even think that he was not completely right every time?
Only by the words, micky. Only by the words.
Seems clear to me Hoots will be a key player from the NACT in next years election via his spin and soapboxes on radio/print etc, why he’s already ‘helping’ the mallarfia.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON THE KIWIBLOG / PETER DUNNE DEBATE!
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/02/a_lie.html/comment-page-1#comment-1097573
” UF did not specifically campaign for the âmixed ownership model for the electricity companies and Air New Zealandâ because it was not UF policy”
[ Pete George (16,292) Says: February 15th, 2013 at 10:28 pm]
Thank you Pete George, for confirming my point.
In my considered opinion – the voting public of Ohariu were thus effectively misled by United Future and Peter Dunne on the issue of support for the ‘Mixed Ownership Model’ for State-Owned electricity assets and Air New Zealand.
In my considered opinion, United Future and Peter Dunne SOLD OUT the voting public of Ohariu by voting in support of the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership) Amendment Act 2012.
The final vote on the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Act 2012, was 61 – 60
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/e/8/e/50HansD_20120626_00000012-State-Owned-Enterprises-Amendment-Bill-Public.htm
A party vote was called for on the question, That the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.
Ayes 61
New Zealand National 59; ACT New Zealand 1; United Future 1.
Noes 60
New Zealand Labour 34; Green Party 14; New Zealand First 8; MÄori Party 3; Mana 1.
_____________________________________________________________________________
I thus believe that I am absolutely correct in my statement that THERE IS NO MANDATE FOR ASSET SALES – given that this minority National Government (which DID campaign on asset sales) has only 59 out of 121 MPs.
NO MAJORITY – NO MANDATE.
In my considered opinion, Pete George, the one who is effectively LYING – is YOU.
Even less impressed.
When you’re in a hole, Pete George, turn off the keys to the ditchdigger?
Penny Bright
âAnti-corruption campaignerâ
Auckland Mayoral Candidate 2013
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com/
Penny, I don’t agree with assets sales. Not out of ideology but out of the fact I can’t see it working for our benefit. That said – as I have mentioned to you elsewhere – every government since 1996 has been a minority and National received, in 2011, a greater % of the vote than any party has since MMP was first foisted upon us.
Stick to the issues, not this bullshit about ‘minority governments’. 9 years of labour was also minority.
“Not out of ideology but out of the fact I canât see it working for our benefit. “
That’s an interesting statement. Do you imagine that there are many people who are opposed to asset sales for any reason other than they don’t think it will work in our benefit?
I’m trying to imagine someone who’s ideology informs them that these assets should be publicly owned, but who doesn’t think selling them would be less beneficial than keeping them.
Or have I misunderstood you? Could you tell me a little more about this relationship between ideology and garden variety reckoning and how you see them relating to this particular issue?
The point I was trying to make wasn’t about asset sales as a policy. It was about Penny’s assertion that because National is a minority government they don’t have the clout to proceed with their goals.
All NZ governments since ’96 have been minority governments.
Oh I realise that. It would be bullshit to claim any of them had a clear electoral mandate to do anything simply because they were capable of forming a govt.
But I’m more interested in this idea that there are people who oppose asset sales because of ideology rather than because they think it’s a dumb idea.
Do you not agree there are people out there that think National = bad no matter what is proposed?
Sure as shit there are those on the right that automatically oppose anything the left might introduce without consideration because left = commienazirepression.
Just as easily as some on the left equate right = fascisthitler!
I don’t think there can be that many. I certainly haven’t met anyone that fits that description.
I’ve heard plenty of people say things like “bloody national govt, selling our assets” but I’ve never heard it the other way around.
Never heard anyone say they don’t like asset sales because it’s a National govt doing it.
Have you?
Oh, I don’t know, “bloody Labour govt, selling our assets” seems to ring a bell too.
Yeah, but Contrarian seems to be putting that sentiment down to some sort of loyalty to an ideology rather than just not wanting our bloody stuff flogged off.
I’d completely agree with cont if anyone here typed:
“fucking nats – created a surplus, cut inequality, increased benefits, introduced compulsory union membership, created a livable minimum wage for all, and on top of THAT the fuckwits have cut unemployment to less than 3%!!!!”
Ideology runs both ways, my friend.
But I still don’t know what you mean by “ideology”. Your first comment implied that people are opposed to assets sales because of “ideology”.
Is “I don’t think these strategic assets should be sold” an ideology?
I actually want to know what you’re getting at. How do you know you’re not “ideologically” opposed to these asset sales?
What would it look like if you were, and how would it differ from how your views on the matter are presented now (‘these sales are not beneficial’)?
I don’t understand why saying some argument is based on ideology is like some sort of get out of jail free card for why you don’t have to engage with their argument.
“Oh, they’re just being ideological, so I don’t have to try and rebutt what they’re saying”. Of course then lots of things start being ‘ideological’ and therefore unworthy of debate…
Lanth, you’re dead right there. It is a cop out.
And Contro seems to be, I could be wrong but he hasn’t explained hisself, confusing ideology with party partisanship.
‘I don’t like it because National is doing it’, isn’t an ideological statement in the least.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say, (just you watch me),that the statement is the opposite of ideological.
It’s not the sort of thing an ideologist would say at all. Someone who is a devout party partisan (vote for a green syphilitic cat if it had a blue rosette) is by definition not voting based on ideology.
The issue that Penny appears to be explaining and why it seems like bullshit, The Contrarian, is because it is answering to the bullshit assertion that this Government makes about having a mandate on the matter. They do not.
Democracy, last time I checked, is about representing the peoples wishes. National chose to manipulate their popularity in order to get a very unpopular approach pushed through. Having done this, they are now in a position to do this very unpopular approach, to our detriment. People were stupid to vote for them believing that they were “fair and reasonable” enough to listen to the opinion of their voters. The least that this government can do is stop spinning the factually incorrect misinformation that they have a mandate.
This applies to a fair number of National voters. However, a good number of their voters did so because they saw no strong alternative government-in-waiting led by Labour.
…yes, one would hope that opposition parties might learn from last election results.
Until research is conducted as to why so many people stayed at home, when serious issues affecting this country such as the GFC were occurring might indicate it was important to have a more responsible government, we will all not know the real reason for Nact slipping across the “win” line into Government again. And actually it was very close. I suspect that “no real alternative” is as good a suspicion as any.
Another might be people are proudly non-political here, along with seriously uninformed….well the two go together really don’t they…
Very close. 100,000 or so more votes and Labour would have been able to form a Government with Greens and Mana. Uh, and Prosser’s crowd.
non-political =/= uninformed
Yeah, it pretty much does.
Historical Slavery
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/feb/15/slaves-outdated-concept-history-teaching
Many NZs live in cargo cult land I think about politics. ‘They’ are responsible for everything and they are useless. So the individual can’t be bothered to be informed and think community-wide – just vote for yourself, and if you don’t think you’ll get anything, don’t vote at all. Just give up supporting democracy. These people are too ignorant and witless to understand the alternatives and how hard our forebears fought for voting rights and decision making. Let the other fools do the voting – what does it matter! Think I’ve pinned down the ‘thought’ processes of many.
Think Iâve pinned down the âthoughtâ processes of many.
You have indeed.
Yes, I agree, NoseViper has summed it up nicely
Picked up another twenty signatures yesterday, TC. The asset sales are not wanted by the majority of kiwis. The point, as CV notes, is that National do not have a mandate for the sales. They fell short of reaching a majority by themselves, including their Epsom sock puppet and their support parties are either opposed to the sales or, in the case of United Future, deliberately ambiguous on the matter during the election campaign.
Even if the Nats got that majority, they couldn’t claim a mandate because opposition to the sales comes from their voters as well. It wasn’t the defining issue of the campaign by any means and clearly some people voted National despite the asset sales program. The way to get a mandate is to put it to a vote.
+1, like they’ll ever do that.
The power generators have already been carved up behind closed door and lollies dished out, like the 500k to Heffernden for doing nothing. Shippers on genesis board, fees to mates for ‘advice’ etc etc.
Radical but a gutsy opposition party should propose to re-nationalise the power industry, it’s a dogs breakfast of profit taking and ticket clipping, in a country of less than 4 mill with so much hyrdo etc what we pay per kWh is a white collar crime for an essential utility.
That includes booting Origin out of contact btw…..we aint moving forward by not owning our essential infrastructure and you could fix a price/kWh with the electorate and keep it by removing the leeches.
+ 1 on ya. I find it hard to see how we will stop them but we must keep trying – thank you TRP for your work in convincing people and getting signatures.
More to ignore.
http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/02/13/european-satellite-confirms-uw-numbers-arctic-ocean-is-on-thin-ice/
Hmm, oil companies and the usual suspects outspent by anonymous sources.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/14/funding-climate-change-denial-thinktanks-network
edit: this too.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/15/secret-donors-funded-media-campaign-against-wind-farms/
It would be good if leaders took note of inequality. I am joining up dots in the horsemeat in burgers scandal in Europe.
Heard – Roumania banned horse and carts. Result an excess of horses in the market for living ones so presumably they were sold for their meat. Bad political thought by people who don’t live at horse and cart level.
Heard – The meat gets shot around like balls in a pinball machine. Lots of distance, and lots of going for the cheapest, bu..er the quality and integrity. (One small supermarket is grinning has direct traceabilty, farmer, transport to works, transport to shop .)
Memory – One of the features of beef disease outbreak in Britain with its resulting dreadful carnage of all animals even some rare, heritage breeds, was the distance that animals were transported so it seems that the government has not tried to limit this lackadaisical treatment of vulnerable animals and precious food.
And here is a chance to push our barrow that their meat over there has hidden miles and hidden dangers so let’s stop this potting us for our food miles which are transparent.
Here’s something on Mad Cow disease – we need to keep being aware of this, as its always likely when you get big profit-first, cost-containing companies. Which we are getting in NZ and they could ruin our hard-won quality image.
What is Mad Cow Disease (from About.com – Education: Chemistry)
Mad Cow Disease (MCD) is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), except that Mad Cow Disease is much easier to pronounce!
The disease is caused by prions.
Prions can cross between species (although not all species get diseases from them). Cattle get the disease from eating infected food, such as feed that contains rendered parts of infected sheep. Yes, cattle are grazing creatures, but their diets may be supplemented with protein from another animal source.
Cattle don’t immediately get sick from eating the prions. It can take months or years for Mad Cow Disease to develop.
“Elastomer Products managing director Tom Thomson drops a foot of fibre optic cable on the table.
The Christchurch plastics manufacturer points to the plastic casing covering the ultrafast broadband cables that Government and industry are rolling out across the country in a $3.5b infrastructure project.
“I would have been into that like a pig into strawberries,” he fumes.
He had been through all the tender documents and found no mention of the product that will encase about 23,000 kilometres of UFB cable. It would have been millions of dollars of work, he says…
…”The problem here is that China has a 50-year plan, we have a three-year electoral cycle and a feeling that supporting your manufacturing base is somehow cheating.” ”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/rebuilding-christchurch/8312083/Manufacturers-tell-of-doing-hard-yards
PJ
Very revealing of NZ political and business rorts.
NZ politicians, sadly also many NZ business people, and NZ consumers have mostly a one day at a time plan. NZ is a country of division and short sightedness.
Trying so desperately to convince people that planning, smart thinking and including various parties to agendas, that has been a nightmarish and futile effort I have been engaged in for years.
It is so bloody sad, to see a country with the resources, and possibilities, sell itself out, undersell itself and ruin the future of the young that are born here and grow up here.
I am NOT a nationalist, I just try to bring a common sense thinking into this.
Well, I’m a nationalist (and a democratic socialist), and I agree with every point that you made.
We have something in common CV, that is reason to celebrate and to strengthen resolve.
STUFF … (the impartial bastions of the 4th Estate), reports:
Government Rejects – etc ( I can’t even be bothered with the rest of the headline)
Just as they do with anything to do with crime or Polis.
There’s some mininalistic training regime that goes on slightly East of Porirua – where ONCE in the dim distant past (passed), certain things whereby a Police Force in an environment where people were treated as citizenz – were taught.
I’ve a marriage and an ex-wife to prove how much better the outcomes of those days were.
Now we have a ‘fORCE’ of waist-belt-ridden pepper-spray ridden; taser-holding; etc., etc., etc. sutch that they waddle like fucking ducks. UGLY UGLY UGLY
You visit Police Nat HQ, for example, and the woosiness, the ideologically driven imperative just exudes from every lift shaft.
It’s all really rather pathetic.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8313744/Armed-police-swoop-seen-as-over-the-top
Signs our country is becoming worse?
They do, because they can.
I’m always amazed at the likes of Greg O_C advocating for the more – always forgetting what the fuck they used-to-do.
The more he advocates, the woosier his disciples – i.e. – supposedly the rank and file. I accept the guy was never exactly the hero he would like to have people think he is, but its really rather dishonest to portray himself as having his disciples’ best interests at heart.
There goes a force of a majority of basically committed and good folks, held to ransom and protected by a minority of complete neanderthals all headed by – well – you guessed it
This is about the beating down, using any show of force required to repress, show who is boss, show that you are nothing!
Negligence – A word used by a cop, what a joke, they are the most bent gang in this country!
HOUSING, particularly state housing is neglected something disgustingly by the present NatACT government.
Today I read this:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10865733
So stuff all building of state houses has been done under National, and it proves Heatley, who lost his job, as a total liar! He went on about all these great homes that were supposedly being built under his watch.
What Housing NZ are doing now is this:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/8273723/Community-housing-plan
It was in the Auckland Central Leader last week also, and this week an article in the same local paper already reports about protests of local residents about HNZ building a 3-level chicken cage style ghetto there in Onehunga, Auckland.
Yes, that is what the hell is going on. Housing NZ tenants are driven out of their existing homes, level ground homes get bulldozed, and part of the land (in some cases also property) is sold to private “developers”, who make a nice profit out of building part crap for HNZ tenants, a few larger homes (on tiny grounds) for the odd larger family, and some supposedly cheaper private homes for private market home buyers.
Already in the past most HNZ homes were rather smallish, but in future, you will be put into a kind of tiny pigeon hole, if you are lucky to even get a state home!
That has become of “state housing” now, and to make it all worse, I hear NADA from Labour’s housing spokeswoman, Annette King!
As I suspect, and it is the same with other policies, Labour are dreaming of the same agenda as National, but they only want to make it a little more “palatable” to the affected and wider public, by not being “too harsh”.
Thank you for that, and I am still waiting for many other overdue answers from Labour spokespersons, MPs and whatever, last not least the “majestic leader” DS.