February breaks global temperature records by ‘shocking’ amounthttps://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/14/february-breaks-global-temperature-records-by-shocking-amount
Well, you know, we came marching out of Africa just not that long ago and spread around the globe, wiping out fellow species of human and Neanderthal on the way, reaching the farthest reaches like NZ in just the last millennium and ever since then we have just thickened up and thickened up until the current point where the natural environment is beginning to creak and break up, while we continue to thicken until, well, the natural environment is on the way to being in zoos only and we are as thick as ants crawling all over the entire place. This is the history and this is the future surely until some catastrophe wreaks havoc on the populace and the planet.
I don’t know, but I think we can be better as a species than the trivial, ignorant, self-centred, vacuous, unthinking and reactive model encouraged by the Herald.
No, that’s actually how the right-wing actually view things. They think that a dystopia is all we can ever hope to achieve and thus they only ever look out for #1 thus causing the dystopian vision that they have.
The NZ Wood Council says the free trade agreement with China is not working, they’ve been hit with multiple tariffs which make it hard to compete with China’s domestic wood product.
So much for free trade. Looking forward to TPP, anyone?
Because the political and business elite do not think in terms on nationality, unless it serves their purposes to do so. The non-elite have more in common with their equivalents in other countries than they do the rich and powerful from their own countries.
@ CV They are not even political or business elite – they are often just dumbo opportunists, un convicted white collar crims, or people with psychological disorders who just happened to have stumbled onto being able to control a country like some sort of public school, bully boy fiefdom with no rules having paid the MSM off.
I mean can we call Slater, Key, Brownlee, Bennett, Collins, English – political and business elite???
If they win another election, it will be like Lord of the Flies.
I actually blame the opposition too, if you can’t defeat these people and actually join forces against bullies for your own self presevation and get a few policies going that are reasonable and benefit most people and are relevant, what the F is going on?
Just copy Bernie Sanders, not only his policies but how to write and articulate them.
The opposition need to stop going on about pet issues, but start to articulate a bigger picture.
Free trade is really just turning into litegatious trade, where bigger and more wealthy parties win and stall all fights so that the little partners have to back down or spend all their time and money trying to fight. In short, it will just stall trade and innovation for NZ.
None of it bodes well.
With any agreement the detail is the most important. We all know ‘details’ or ‘potential consequences’ have never been a strong point with this government.
They can’t even get a convention centre or a supercity working or even public transport going. Lordy keep them away from exports.
They are like babes in the woods (but not so innocent) with economy and trade.
Would you let a bunch of 7 year olds loose with your ATM card, unlimited power to screw up a country and casks of wine? Pretty much Groser on the free trade trail with Fed farmers in tow. All being championed along by a currency speculator with zero scruples known as the smiling assassin, who gets off on making people redundant.
“A SHOCK JOCK who is politically WAY out of his depth.”
Did Toni Street take advice from Janet Wilson before she executed
Monday’s exquisite live-on-air attack on Mike “Contra” Hosking? Seven Sharp, Television One, Monday 14 March 2016
The glib little homilies scheduled for the end of each episode of Television One’s godawful Seven Sharp are usually not worth the wait. If it’s not thirty seconds of something banal, it’s something infuriating, like Mike “Contra” Hosking boasting, contrary to all evidence, how he gave Nicky Hager a “hard time”. [1] Anyone who actually makes a point of listening to them is either (a) bored, (b) stupid, ( c) bewildered, or (d) an aficionado of the dismal.
Tonight, however, the closing homilies followed an item that was actually interesting—about a dive bomb competition in Taupo. That’s why I was still watching when it came time for the sub-Father Ted routines. After the item was finished, Hosking’s offsider Toni Street stared at the camera, pausing just a little longer than would be comfortable. Then she delivered something she had clearly been planning for a long time: she let Hosking—and the viewers—know exactly what she thought of him.
But she could not afford to criticize him directly, of course; instead, she followed the time-honored tradition of criticizing someone who exhibits identical characteristics to the actual object of her scorn. [2] So to have a go at Hosking, she had to find a substitute target to attack. Who could be out there with a level of arrogance, pomposity, shallowness and overbearing conceitedness that approaches that of Mike Hosking?
After that tense extended pause at the end of the dive-bombing item, Toni Street launched her remarkable little insurrection. She began by talking about Megan Kelly, the Fox News broadcaster who suffered a nasty public attack by Donald Trump last year. Noting with satisfaction that Megan Kelly was now more popular than she had ever been, Street paused again, and then said this….
TONI STREET: The increase in her ratings indicates the support for someone who can out Donald Trump for what he is: a shock jock who is politically way out of his depth. …..
At the end of that remarkable little hatchet job, its victim immediately began thirty seconds of pedestrian and ill-informed comment about something else. He showed no apparent signs of appreciating he’d just been (metaphorically) tarred, feathered and kicked in the arse by someone who really despises him.
[2] What made it so effective was that Toni Street maintained her composure throughout. She wielded the hatchet with exemplary coolness. Media junkies will no doubt remember Janet Wilson’s far more hysterical hatchet job on her husband three years ago…. http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22032013/#comment-607420
+100..Great !…thanks…that really is a good humorous expose on Hillary Clinton…although he didnt get into the more sinister stuff of what she did in Libya
Quote: “Unfortunately for the majority of the 3300 staff who were employed by Dick Smith, there’s probably zero chance of Kogan reviving any of the 393 physical stores in Australia and New Zealand. The deal was for the online stores only, plus the Dick Smith brand and its associated intellectual property.
Which is not to say that Kogan won’t open any stores. The retail entrepreneur was originally vehemently opposed to physical stores in favour of online shopping, but admitted in December last year that that absolute stance was wrong, and opened a pop-up shop in Melbourne’s posh Prahran. Kogan might just have to work out how to create a profitable physical presence to bring in the cash, as the online Dick Smith will be just a fraction of the size of the old company.” Quote end
In Christchurch alone there were 426 people on the social housing register – the millions of dollars spent on testing and treating P houses could have bought an extra 15 properties.
Then the government should probably stop taking a hundred million dollar dividend from HNZ every year.
That post of Georges just gets better and better … because Rachinger has accused me of being an alcoholic and Kitty Catkin has basically said that I suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder … and George and others believe that I am in cahoots with their mortal enemy. LOL.
Audrey writes another anti-Little piece. Poorly written and ambiguous really.
Except for this quote,
“But a tweet by Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway summed up Labour’s view of Key as “a complete and utter banker”.
Naughty Iain!
What got me was her assertion that Labour have lost on the TPP front because of all the tariffs it drops. Really? we got a list of this amazing tariff smashing TPP does? cause from what I remember it was incredibly limited.
Audrey is a moll troll. Can’t be said any other way sorry. The National Party is in her bones and everything. And fittingly given that she is the Political Editor of The Harold.
Good cooperative Left Opposition work in Parliament yesterday..despite the noise and heckling:
Winston Peters in parliament asks John Key:
Why Is the government blocking a free trade deal with Russia?
Why is the government pouring massive taxpayer support into the Hollywood film industry, Skycity Casino, Rio Tinto and now the TPPA campaign ?
(…when the Democratic and Republican campaign leadership in the United States think it is a REAL DOG…and a big corporate protection racket against the interests of their workers and farmers)
Andrew Little asks John Key:
Whose side is the PM on?… the dairy farmers?… or the banks?
“Scrappy start to the week with John Key and Winston Peters having a right honourable stoush, each accusing the other of misleading the House and demanding an apology. The Speaker, David Carter, was having none of that and was repeatedly back on his feet restoring order. Questions for the prime minister were dominated by the pressure on dairy farmers from lower milk prices and servicing bank loans.”
Notice that Winston did not say it was Key who spoke of the $5billion. He asked about the reported comments of two Ministers re the $5billion. Key deflected all that by accusing Winston of “misleading the House.” Carter refused Winston the right to re-read his question which would have defeated Key’s deflection. Funny that!
Michael Hill want the Queenstown basin all for himself and other rich people, nobody else.
That other wanker Sam Neill wanted pretty much the same a few years ago.
They want to stop all the huge development that has taken place already to accommodate them and their silly big houses, and have no more happen. They want to very selfishly pull up the ladder – quelle surprise…
Well I suggest one way to do this is to require, in fact, a reversal of development to make the place like it was, with even less people than now. That would improve the place even more, according to Michael Hill’s logic.
So legislate and regulate to require that every time one of these wankers wishes to sell their silly big homes, or passes on to the afterlife, their property is required to be sold solely for farming and other non-residential type activities… that should see it right ….
Seriously, what planet do these rich bastards live on? They are actually divorced from reality
Queenstown provides a centre for investment and tourism in southern NZ and is a blessing to some extent to preserve the region when Dairy goes down, till Sheep fight their way up more, Beef can perhaps keep going, and Bluff doesn’t have oysters killed by that disease.
No more housing for the wealthy in Queenstown as suggested by Sam Neill would be good. But attractive small apartments for the workers at reasonable rents close to Queenstown, with shuttle buses at very reasonable cost, would be of value. That is what is needed and if they have a council that isn’t run by Mini-Cooper type people, then that will be what is presently being planned and implemented. Bets anyone?
Money Supply:
Currency isn’t expanded to account for growth, debt is expanded to match demand.
Banks do not expand money supply, they extend temporary credit based on demand to enable transactions.
Once the transaction has been completed and credit repaid the supplied credit zeros out and creases to exist.
Banks have been positioned to supply virtually all currency to enable all financial transactions, this basically means they take a percentage cut off the top of all production. This is the cost of doing business, and is inflation.
The current system relies on all wealth created being a result of work done.
Wealth created outside of production; non productive wealth creation can only be payed for by destroying wealth for another sector of the economy.
Instead of the pie getting bigger, the pie gets cut into smaller slices, borrowers and those without appreciating assets effected the most.
The pie did actually increase, that increase remaining with the wealthy and being the difference between the government stated inflation and true inflation.
And that is how it works, the government, the elite and the banks working together to transfer wealth from production to the lords and masters, the banks facilitating the theft and government either to stupid or corrupt to care.
Additionally:
In a consumer society where the consumers only product is their time, as technology improves and populations increase the consumer has less to trade, thus less demand/ ability to consume, which means less credit supplied by the banks, which kills businesses and eventually threatens the wealthy, hence the need for a UBI.
Some time ago I said Putin was a great man! I was mocked as having a wet dream! 🙁
But events have born me out:
1. He’s restored Russia’s sovereignty and self respect after the neoliberal trashing under Yeltsin.
2. His military intervention in Syria has produced the beginnings of peace with most of the actors willing to talk with each other for the first time compared to the U$ and Anglo and Turkish behaviour of pouring gasoline onto a raging fire.
3. He has exposed the Neocon Warshington war criminals for all who can be bothered to notice. And the western presstitute media that has relentlessly demonised and slandered him.
4. We may,it’s hoped get peace in the Ukraine eventually.
Don’t omit the murders of Politkovskaya, Litvinenko and Nemtsov, or of the civilian passengers of MH17, the civilians in the Moscow Theatre gassing, and many many more. Putin is a scumbag of epic proportions.
Just because the US involvement in the Ukraine was exceedingly seedy doesn’t give them godlike powers to rearrange events – or they’d do a better job. It would be better if the US were not involved – but it was Russia that shot down MH17. There is an abundance of physical evidence, and no evidence that bears scrutiny to the contrary.
The aircraft nonsense is largely discredited due to the lack of cannon damage in the debris. But equally important are the plethora of false stories Russian official sources serially released as they grasped desperately at straws to cover up their act of mass murder.
Stuart M
Scumbags of a determined character rise to the top when a nation’s systems of governance break down. They also can ooze through when there are pauses in the regular flow of society such as happens in USA. What caused Ronald Reagan to get up there, followed by Margaret Thatcher etc.? I forget. But they ooze upwards at cracks at pressure points like Christchurch liquefaction.
Putin might be the right person to be where he is with his KGB knowledge and ability to outmaneouvre others at home and those sly ones abroad. It’s considered that the Middle East scumbags removed by the USA scumbags, were preferable to the new ones. These days it is a time for pragmatism, go for the best scumbags available now, and work for 80% improvement, knowing that getting even 40% would be thankfully welcomed.
Perhaps we should have a popular vote on greatest scumbags since WW2.
Pot Pot and gang must be up there. Then who gassed people in their homes in the Middle East with one that would flow to the lowest point and be effective in cellars where women and children would be hiding?
“The worst part was when their venom turned toward me,” Troup wrote. “There were protestors around me who got ushered out, and then people started pointing at me, motioning for the Secret Service to ‘get him out of there.’ Now mind you, I hadn’t uttered a single word the entire rally, but people still said things like ‘Well what about this one? He needs to go too!’”
Ultimately, Troup left the event feeling as if he’d witnessed something darker and more insidious than a simple political rally.
“At that rally, I saw the scary underbelly of America I saw unadulterated hate, fueled by intentional misinformation,” Troup said. “These people who, just 2 hours ago, seemed like good and kind people, were now cheering for blood.”
It will be interesting if Anonymous can find anything incriminating on Trump …more than what we already know…(eg are there any hidden emails and secret associations and agendas like Hillary Clinton had in her closet)
‘Anonymous declares ‘total war’ on Trump, plans April attack (VIDEO)’
Interesting how spelling can get confused these days with all our aids. I see two ways to spell Sir Tipene O’Reagan/ O’Regan. Willie Jackson should know how to spell Sir Douglas Graham’s name after all the Maori Treaty negotiations yet it is Graeme in this article. http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/local-blogs/willie-jackson/8338152/Different-rules-for-Maori-and-Pakeha
But the article is interesting itself, worth a read. Sounds factual as might be expected from someone of the Jackson family, with a high position in Maori matters.
He writes about the tribe that have control of Lake Taupo wanting a fee of $58,000 from the Ironman contest for using it. He points out that the Ironman contest is an $800,000 event.
And this next quote is one of the angry, dismissive, racist comments at the end of the article. With all the efforts that NZ has made to get a better understanding of the unpleasant start of this colony, and the shameful behaviour adopted by businessmen/land speculators with an armed gang to back them, this reaction is more frequent than we thought possible. I went on to background the late Louis Crimp who was a Maori hater, and to read about him gives insight into the type of person that befouls good attempts to provide some reparation and set NZ up as a country of justice, fairness and equality.
What a shame the Ironman New Zealand organisers lack the mettle of their competitors.
What a shame they agreed to bribe the tribe.
What a shame they did not reply to the Tuwharetoa extortion demand of $58,000 thus:
“Dear tribe,
“Get stuffed.
“We refuse to pay you so much as a bent cent to swim in our largest lake.
“And it is our lake. Not your lake. It belongs to us. All of us.
“All the people of New Zealand.
In the item Jackson refers to John Ansell, who was connected with ACT. (But the Louis Crimp item below says Ansell left ACT – Advertising guru John Ansell quit the party after adverts he designed asking Kiwis if they were “Fed up with the Maorification of Everything” were cancelled.)
Willie Jackson commented on him: He’s running the Treaty Gate project where he accuses all and sundry of telling lies over New Zealand’s history and relationship with Maori.
He clearly puts little value on Maori culture and his main financial backer has been Invercargill millionaire Louis Crimp, who last year claimed most Pakeha despise Maori.
Louis Crimp was a multi millionaire, now dead. He was one of a group of old white men whose blood has turned to vinegar, and who appear to have little left in life but to hold onto all their money, and their little energy goes to putting the Maori in his or her lower place than their high chairs. I saw them in full flow during the Constitution Conversations a year or so ago.
About Louis Crimp ACT supporter to John Ansell: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10806938 The biggest donor to the Act Party says he gave the money to Don Brash and John Banks so they could stop special treatment for Maori who were “either in jail or on welfare”.
In an extraordinary interview with the Weekend Herald, Louis Crimp said he believed he had the support of Brash, Banks and other “white New Zealanders”.
Mr Crimp made the largest financial contribution to the Act Party for the 2011 election with a $125,520 donation.
Crimp said in another interview: http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/two-hours-louis-crimp-ck-126301 “I can’t smile properly because my face is petrified, it doesn’t move, it’s paralysed because I had cancer. I can only smile with one side. So I’ve just got a grimace.”
Mr Crimp has made millions through his various property ventures, and has gained many supporters in Invercargill for his charitable donations, including more than $1 million each to the SPCA and the St John Ambulance Service….
Mr Crimp says that from an early age he has was forced to “watch [his] pennies. I was the oldest boy in Southland who had a paper run, at the age of 16, because we were poor, my family”.
His income? Derived from housing – rented to Maori gang and then evicted them.
Derived from pokies, which he could rail against or utilise takings of at random: Mr Crimp is in no position to rail, with any integrity, against the foundation’s use of pokie proceeds. He has, himself, been one of the grandfathers of the pokies industry in Invercargill, albeit in rivalry with the trust. So his contempt can hardly stem from holding the machines themselves to be an intolerable social harm. Far from overbrimming with sympathy for the problems of pokie addiction, he wrote to our public opinion column in April referring witheringly to “the suckers who addict themselves to poker machines”…
it is Mr Crimp who has been caught up in notorious and inglorious misuses of pokie funds. This was in the 1990s, and involved decisions so imperious that they offended rules that were less strict than they are now. The Southland Pool Players’ Club, upon whose executive Mr Crimp had been a member, dispensed the money from pokies at one of Mr Crimp’s most high-profile establishments, Players’ pool hall, for a team of nine members, including Mr Crimp, to attend a pool competition in Australia. This was just part of what Internal Affairs inspectors described as “gross misapplication of proceeds”.
Undaunted, as he so often is, by official disapproval, Mr Crimp had then stuck his hand out for Players’ pokie profits to help pay the 1998 election expenses of Southland Action, a group of candidates which he led into the Invercargill City Council election race.
So unprincipled himself, but cunning as a shithouse rat, to shamelessly accuse others. http://fundypost.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/louis-crimp-man-of-actions.html
Casino and share deals: http://shareinvestornz.blogspot.co.nz/2010/11/sky-city-entertainment-group-ltd.html The Christchurch Casino was purchased by SKC in June 2004, off Aspinall (NZ) Limited, which held a 40.5% shareholding in Christchurch Casinos Limited. The purchase price was NZ$93.75 million and in October 2010 SKC bought an 8.6 % stake held by Invercargill businessman Louis Crimp’s Southern Equities, to take their holding to near 50%. In 2008 SKC bought a 5.2% stake off their then business partner the Crowne Plaza Hotel, taking their ownership interest in Christchurch Casino to 45.7%. With the 8.6% stake then SKC control the company with a 54.3% stake.
Coarse in his speech, nastily prejudiced and as braindead and disgusting as a gutter drunk Crimp prompted Brian Rudman to comment on his backing ACT and Don Brash who Crimp hoped would pursue anti Maori policies: http://m.nzherald.co.nz/brian-rudman-on-auckland/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502866&objectid=11280946 Mr Crimp, you may recall, donated the money after Don Brash seized control of Act. Recalling Dr Brash’s notorious 2004 Orewa speech as National Party leader, Mr Crimp was hopeful his cash would ensure his anti-Maori views would be pursued. But in a follow-up interview on TV, the eccentric Mr Crimp soon went off subject and asked interviewer Jane Luscombe whether she’d ever had sex against a tree!
His Southland Times obituary says:
Crimp, an Invercargill businessman, philanthropist, former city councillor, character and longstanding critic of the Invercargill Licensing Trust, died at his home at 9.20pm last night.
Memorial – He knew what he was agin.
edited
@Brian
Yes he seemed evil and venal. You notice that the Southland Times obit was short, not unkind, and called him eccentric. ( And I noted what his memorial could be.)
I think he had so much money that he managed to suck in a fair few amoral buddies, such as the ones he gathered together to have a go at the Council. But to sweeten the report that he had been dipping his fingers in the pokie till, I think he felt it would be good PR to donate large to St Johns and the SPCA. He would have won some kudos there for helping these perennially cash strapped groups.
I was amazed at how despicable he was, and only his money meant that he couldn’t be ignored. And how low ACT was and is, is exemplified by them taking from him. Though it was only $125,000 or so, not millions. I think he was careful that his ‘philanthropy’-investments were sure to bring him advantage.
How many, I wonder, of our political parties are being funded by people who are such misanthropists like him. He seemed to despise everyone really.
Speaking of tin foil, the real economic crisis is happening in the daily lives of ordinary NZers.
A gram and a half for 100 bucks!? It’s daylight robbery: five times the average price for a gram and, at something like $300 per ounce wholesale (likely cheaper in larger, commercial amounts), a profit of $90 untaxed and straight into the black market.
Has Phil Goff really come out in favour of building a waterfront stadium in Auckland?
Be very afraid Auckland ratepayers.
The favoured candidate for the Mayoralty appears to be choosing a campaign slogan which starts “We’ve got to waste a billion or two, we’ve got to waste a billion or two”.
Even Len’s choo-choo isn’t as stupid.
“ignorant of your own one”
Like hell I am. It doesn’t mean Auckland have to repeat mistakes do they?
That was one of those things where the main proponent, Fran Wilde, managed to get a “loan” out of the local bodies that was promised to be repaid. It never was of course because you never do make money out of such things.
Melbourne is an exception but they have about 50 AFL games a year at the MCG and another 50 at Etihad stadium. The crowds probably range from 25,000 to 90,000 for the club games and 100,000 for the finals.
The Wellington cost $130 million I believe. However it is sunk money and we certainly can’t sell it. After all, who would buy it? At least they didn’t consider putting a roof on it.
Could be worse of course. The Olympic Stadium in Sydney went broke and ended up being owned by the ANZ I believe. They were silly enough to make a loan on the thing.
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This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Lawyers representing two iwi as well as the Māori Women’s Welfare League on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeal to overturn last week’s High Court decision on the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision to summons Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Tribunal is currently investigating the Government’s decision to repeal section 7AA of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talitha Best, Professor of Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Victoria Rodriguez/Unsplash How do sugar rushes work? – W.H, age nine, from Canberra What a terrific question W.H! Let’s explore this, starting with some of the basics. What is sugar? ...
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February breaks global temperature records by ‘shocking’ amounthttps://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/14/february-breaks-global-temperature-records-by-shocking-amount
Milk continues its slide
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/299027/global-dairy-prices-drop-overnight
And the Herald thinks the goings on in the Bachelor are more important
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11606103
Well, you know, we came marching out of Africa just not that long ago and spread around the globe, wiping out fellow species of human and Neanderthal on the way, reaching the farthest reaches like NZ in just the last millennium and ever since then we have just thickened up and thickened up until the current point where the natural environment is beginning to creak and break up, while we continue to thicken until, well, the natural environment is on the way to being in zoos only and we are as thick as ants crawling all over the entire place. This is the history and this is the future surely until some catastrophe wreaks havoc on the populace and the planet.
what else can there be?
I don’t know, but I think we can be better as a species than the trivial, ignorant, self-centred, vacuous, unthinking and reactive model encouraged by the Herald.
+1 And we often are better than that. The Herald is an aberration.
No, that’s actually how the right-wing actually view things. They think that a dystopia is all we can ever hope to achieve and thus they only ever look out for #1 thus causing the dystopian vision that they have.
That’s not what I was saying.
I was pointing out that the views of the NZHerald aren’t an aberration. That it’s simply how RWNJs think.
So what were you saying?
That the culture at the herald is an aberration of humans.
That the culture at the herald is an aberration of humans.
I agree with you that we can be better, but we won’t be.
We can be better. Unfortunately it seems to me that humanity is at its best when things are at their worst.
Unfortunately the movie idiocracy is rapidly becoming a reality
The NZ Wood Council says the free trade agreement with China is not working, they’ve been hit with multiple tariffs which make it hard to compete with China’s domestic wood product.
So much for free trade. Looking forward to TPP, anyone?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/299028/china-accused-of-unfair-play-on-forestry
+1 amirite
Oh, good – means that we can save our forests, use the wood to build houses in NZ instead and rebuild our saw-milling industry.
Yup however its a japanese company doing a fair amount of the extraction currently from mills in kaitaia, masterton and gisborne.
New Zealand will never solve its problems until it abandons neoliberalism and globalism.
Free trade deals are killing this country.
The political and business elite who work against the long term interests of their own people are killing this country.
Because the political and business elite do not think in terms on nationality, unless it serves their purposes to do so. The non-elite have more in common with their equivalents in other countries than they do the rich and powerful from their own countries.
+1
@ CV They are not even political or business elite – they are often just dumbo opportunists, un convicted white collar crims, or people with psychological disorders who just happened to have stumbled onto being able to control a country like some sort of public school, bully boy fiefdom with no rules having paid the MSM off.
I mean can we call Slater, Key, Brownlee, Bennett, Collins, English – political and business elite???
If they win another election, it will be like Lord of the Flies.
I actually blame the opposition too, if you can’t defeat these people and actually join forces against bullies for your own self presevation and get a few policies going that are reasonable and benefit most people and are relevant, what the F is going on?
Just copy Bernie Sanders, not only his policies but how to write and articulate them.
The opposition need to stop going on about pet issues, but start to articulate a bigger picture.
https://berniesanders.com/issues/
+100 saveNZ
+1 Paul
Free trade is really just turning into litegatious trade, where bigger and more wealthy parties win and stall all fights so that the little partners have to back down or spend all their time and money trying to fight. In short, it will just stall trade and innovation for NZ.
None of it bodes well.
With any agreement the detail is the most important. We all know ‘details’ or ‘potential consequences’ have never been a strong point with this government.
They can’t even get a convention centre or a supercity working or even public transport going. Lordy keep them away from exports.
They are like babes in the woods (but not so innocent) with economy and trade.
Would you let a bunch of 7 year olds loose with your ATM card, unlimited power to screw up a country and casks of wine? Pretty much Groser on the free trade trail with Fed farmers in tow. All being championed along by a currency speculator with zero scruples known as the smiling assassin, who gets off on making people redundant.
+1
The Free-trade deals are killing the world.
“A SHOCK JOCK who is politically WAY out of his depth.”
Did Toni Street take advice from Janet Wilson before she executed
Monday’s exquisite live-on-air attack on Mike “Contra” Hosking?
Seven Sharp, Television One, Monday 14 March 2016
The glib little homilies scheduled for the end of each episode of Television One’s godawful Seven Sharp are usually not worth the wait. If it’s not thirty seconds of something banal, it’s something infuriating, like Mike “Contra” Hosking boasting, contrary to all evidence, how he gave Nicky Hager a “hard time”. [1] Anyone who actually makes a point of listening to them is either (a) bored, (b) stupid, ( c) bewildered, or (d) an aficionado of the dismal.
Tonight, however, the closing homilies followed an item that was actually interesting—about a dive bomb competition in Taupo. That’s why I was still watching when it came time for the sub-Father Ted routines. After the item was finished, Hosking’s offsider Toni Street stared at the camera, pausing just a little longer than would be comfortable. Then she delivered something she had clearly been planning for a long time: she let Hosking—and the viewers—know exactly what she thought of him.
But she could not afford to criticize him directly, of course; instead, she followed the time-honored tradition of criticizing someone who exhibits identical characteristics to the actual object of her scorn. [2] So to have a go at Hosking, she had to find a substitute target to attack. Who could be out there with a level of arrogance, pomposity, shallowness and overbearing conceitedness that approaches that of Mike Hosking?
After that tense extended pause at the end of the dive-bombing item, Toni Street launched her remarkable little insurrection. She began by talking about Megan Kelly, the Fox News broadcaster who suffered a nasty public attack by Donald Trump last year. Noting with satisfaction that Megan Kelly was now more popular than she had ever been, Street paused again, and then said this….
TONI STREET: The increase in her ratings indicates the support for someone who can out Donald Trump for what he is: a shock jock who is politically way out of his depth. …..
At the end of that remarkable little hatchet job, its victim immediately began thirty seconds of pedestrian and ill-informed comment about something else. He showed no apparent signs of appreciating he’d just been (metaphorically) tarred, feathered and kicked in the arse by someone who really despises him.
[1] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15032015/#comment-985614
[2] What made it so effective was that Toni Street maintained her composure throughout. She wielded the hatchet with exemplary coolness. Media junkies will no doubt remember Janet Wilson’s far more hysterical hatchet job on her husband three years ago….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22032013/#comment-607420
So you support Hillary
@Adam +100 – that is very funny!!! Someone should show it to NZ media and the Labour party.
+100..Great !…thanks…that really is a good humorous expose on Hillary Clinton…although he didnt get into the more sinister stuff of what she did in Libya
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/13/exposing-libyan-agenda-closer-look-hillarys-emails
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/01/13/what-hillary-knew-about-libya
I see Paula Bennett has figured out how to respond to the dairy crisis.
single mums, the worlds most dangerous being
and then there is this – but I am sure the rock star economy will provide with well paying jobs for these soon to be unemployed people.
I wonder what happened to the 700+ people that lost their jobs with Fonterra a few month back, wonder if they are back into work?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11606127
Quote: “Unfortunately for the majority of the 3300 staff who were employed by Dick Smith, there’s probably zero chance of Kogan reviving any of the 393 physical stores in Australia and New Zealand. The deal was for the online stores only, plus the Dick Smith brand and its associated intellectual property.
Which is not to say that Kogan won’t open any stores. The retail entrepreneur was originally vehemently opposed to physical stores in favour of online shopping, but admitted in December last year that that absolute stance was wrong, and opened a pop-up shop in Melbourne’s posh Prahran. Kogan might just have to work out how to create a profitable physical presence to bring in the cash, as the online Dick Smith will be just a fraction of the size of the old company.” Quote end
Then the government should probably stop taking a hundred million dollar dividend from HNZ every year.
OH MY GOD !!!
Just saw a post that George wrote about me last night … with people like Rachinger chiming in with their opinions about me.
It’s mostly bull-shit and it is a very carefully manipulated piece of text.
I said last week that I thought Pete George was losing it … and I still think it.
As for Rachinger … everybody will see soon enough who he really is.
The stats on YourNZ have dropped recently … so George won’t be happy about that.
Good to know that in my absence … I am still useful to him as “Click-Bait” fodder. LOL.
That post of Georges just gets better and better … because Rachinger has accused me of being an alcoholic and Kitty Catkin has basically said that I suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder … and George and others believe that I am in cahoots with their mortal enemy. LOL.
http://yournz.org/2016/03/15/mike-c-and-lf/
Audrey writes another anti-Little piece. Poorly written and ambiguous really.
Except for this quote,
“But a tweet by Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway summed up Labour’s view of Key as “a complete and utter banker”.
Naughty Iain!
What got me was her assertion that Labour have lost on the TPP front because of all the tariffs it drops. Really? we got a list of this amazing tariff smashing TPP does? cause from what I remember it was incredibly limited.
Audrey is a moll troll. Can’t be said any other way sorry. The National Party is in her bones and everything. And fittingly given that she is the Political Editor of The Harold.
Good cooperative Left Opposition work in Parliament yesterday..despite the noise and heckling:
Winston Peters in parliament asks John Key:
Why Is the government blocking a free trade deal with Russia?
Why is the government pouring massive taxpayer support into the Hollywood film industry, Skycity Casino, Rio Tinto and now the TPPA campaign ?
(…when the Democratic and Republican campaign leadership in the United States think it is a REAL DOG…and a big corporate protection racket against the interests of their workers and farmers)
Andrew Little asks John Key:
Whose side is the PM on?… the dairy farmers?… or the banks?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/inparliament/audio/201793289/today-in-parliament-for-15-march-2016-evening-edition
“Scrappy start to the week with John Key and Winston Peters having a right honourable stoush, each accusing the other of misleading the House and demanding an apology. The Speaker, David Carter, was having none of that and was repeatedly back on his feet restoring order. Questions for the prime minister were dominated by the pressure on dairy farmers from lower milk prices and servicing bank loans.”
Notice that Winston did not say it was Key who spoke of the $5billion. He asked about the reported comments of two Ministers re the $5billion. Key deflected all that by accusing Winston of “misleading the House.” Carter refused Winston the right to re-read his question which would have defeated Key’s deflection. Funny that!
Michael Hill want the Queenstown basin all for himself and other rich people, nobody else.
That other wanker Sam Neill wanted pretty much the same a few years ago.
They want to stop all the huge development that has taken place already to accommodate them and their silly big houses, and have no more happen. They want to very selfishly pull up the ladder – quelle surprise…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/77806483/cap-tourists-and-development-to-keep-arrowtown-special–sir-michael-hill
Well I suggest one way to do this is to require, in fact, a reversal of development to make the place like it was, with even less people than now. That would improve the place even more, according to Michael Hill’s logic.
So legislate and regulate to require that every time one of these wankers wishes to sell their silly big homes, or passes on to the afterlife, their property is required to be sold solely for farming and other non-residential type activities… that should see it right ….
Seriously, what planet do these rich bastards live on? They are actually divorced from reality
Queenstown provides a centre for investment and tourism in southern NZ and is a blessing to some extent to preserve the region when Dairy goes down, till Sheep fight their way up more, Beef can perhaps keep going, and Bluff doesn’t have oysters killed by that disease.
No more housing for the wealthy in Queenstown as suggested by Sam Neill would be good. But attractive small apartments for the workers at reasonable rents close to Queenstown, with shuttle buses at very reasonable cost, would be of value. That is what is needed and if they have a council that isn’t run by Mini-Cooper type people, then that will be what is presently being planned and implemented. Bets anyone?
Thinking out loud….Big lies and flawed models:
Money Supply:
Currency isn’t expanded to account for growth, debt is expanded to match demand.
Banks do not expand money supply, they extend temporary credit based on demand to enable transactions.
Once the transaction has been completed and credit repaid the supplied credit zeros out and creases to exist.
Banks have been positioned to supply virtually all currency to enable all financial transactions, this basically means they take a percentage cut off the top of all production. This is the cost of doing business, and is inflation.
The current system relies on all wealth created being a result of work done.
Wealth created outside of production; non productive wealth creation can only be payed for by destroying wealth for another sector of the economy.
Instead of the pie getting bigger, the pie gets cut into smaller slices, borrowers and those without appreciating assets effected the most.
The pie did actually increase, that increase remaining with the wealthy and being the difference between the government stated inflation and true inflation.
And that is how it works, the government, the elite and the banks working together to transfer wealth from production to the lords and masters, the banks facilitating the theft and government either to stupid or corrupt to care.
Additionally:
In a consumer society where the consumers only product is their time, as technology improves and populations increase the consumer has less to trade, thus less demand/ ability to consume, which means less credit supplied by the banks, which kills businesses and eventually threatens the wealthy, hence the need for a UBI.
Some time ago I said Putin was a great man! I was mocked as having a wet dream! 🙁
But events have born me out:
1. He’s restored Russia’s sovereignty and self respect after the neoliberal trashing under Yeltsin.
2. His military intervention in Syria has produced the beginnings of peace with most of the actors willing to talk with each other for the first time compared to the U$ and Anglo and Turkish behaviour of pouring gasoline onto a raging fire.
3. He has exposed the Neocon Warshington war criminals for all who can be bothered to notice. And the western presstitute media that has relentlessly demonised and slandered him.
4. We may,it’s hoped get peace in the Ukraine eventually.
Don’t omit the murders of Politkovskaya, Litvinenko and Nemtsov, or of the civilian passengers of MH17, the civilians in the Moscow Theatre gassing, and many many more. Putin is a scumbag of epic proportions.
Hi Stuart
MH17 has conclusively been shown to have been caused by the U$ backed Ukrainians, that Putin had anything to do with this atrocity is another slander of the western presstitute media.http://www.globalresearch.ca/meet-the-pilot-who-shot-down-malaysian-boeing-mh-17-vladislav-voloshin-the-plane-was-in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time/5421363
Nonsense – and that is why the Dutch investigators found conclusively against Russia.
If you’re interested in the facts most of them are here:
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2015/10/08/mh17-the-open-source-evidence/
http://www.goodfellow.com/E/Tin-Foil.html
Just because the US involvement in the Ukraine was exceedingly seedy doesn’t give them godlike powers to rearrange events – or they’d do a better job. It would be better if the US were not involved – but it was Russia that shot down MH17. There is an abundance of physical evidence, and no evidence that bears scrutiny to the contrary.
The aircraft nonsense is largely discredited due to the lack of cannon damage in the debris. But equally important are the plethora of false stories Russian official sources serially released as they grasped desperately at straws to cover up their act of mass murder.
I agree, Stuart. I replied in the wrong place.
Stuart M
Scumbags of a determined character rise to the top when a nation’s systems of governance break down. They also can ooze through when there are pauses in the regular flow of society such as happens in USA. What caused Ronald Reagan to get up there, followed by Margaret Thatcher etc.? I forget. But they ooze upwards at cracks at pressure points like Christchurch liquefaction.
Putin might be the right person to be where he is with his KGB knowledge and ability to outmaneouvre others at home and those sly ones abroad. It’s considered that the Middle East scumbags removed by the USA scumbags, were preferable to the new ones. These days it is a time for pragmatism, go for the best scumbags available now, and work for 80% improvement, knowing that getting even 40% would be thankfully welcomed.
Perhaps we should have a popular vote on greatest scumbags since WW2.
Pot Pot and gang must be up there. Then who gassed people in their homes in the Middle East with one that would flow to the lowest point and be effective in cellars where women and children would be hiding?
+100 johnm
johnm, here is Pussy Riot to sing to you, why you are wrong.
A black man goes to a Trump rally.
“The worst part was when their venom turned toward me,” Troup wrote. “There were protestors around me who got ushered out, and then people started pointing at me, motioning for the Secret Service to ‘get him out of there.’ Now mind you, I hadn’t uttered a single word the entire rally, but people still said things like ‘Well what about this one? He needs to go too!’”
Ultimately, Troup left the event feeling as if he’d witnessed something darker and more insidious than a simple political rally.
“At that rally, I saw the scary underbelly of America I saw unadulterated hate, fueled by intentional misinformation,” Troup said. “These people who, just 2 hours ago, seemed like good and kind people, were now cheering for blood.”
http://fusion.net/story/280795/donald-trump-dayton-rally/
It will be interesting if Anonymous can find anything incriminating on Trump …more than what we already know…(eg are there any hidden emails and secret associations and agendas like Hillary Clinton had in her closet)
‘Anonymous declares ‘total war’ on Trump, plans April attack (VIDEO)’
https://www.rt.com/usa/335725-anonymous-total-war-trump/
Today is a BFD – 691 Democrat delegates and 358 Republican delegates are up for grabs.
AP Eastern U.S. Verified account
@APEastRegion
As the polls begin to close, a quick reminder of what’s at stake in tonight’s primary elections. #Elections2016
https://twitter.com/APEastRegion/status/709880203661746180
edit: forgot the results/tracker
http://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/map/president
http://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/delegate-count-tracker
Interesting how spelling can get confused these days with all our aids. I see two ways to spell Sir Tipene O’Reagan/ O’Regan. Willie Jackson should know how to spell Sir Douglas Graham’s name after all the Maori Treaty negotiations yet it is Graeme in this article.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/local-blogs/willie-jackson/8338152/Different-rules-for-Maori-and-Pakeha
But the article is interesting itself, worth a read. Sounds factual as might be expected from someone of the Jackson family, with a high position in Maori matters.
He writes about the tribe that have control of Lake Taupo wanting a fee of $58,000 from the Ironman contest for using it. He points out that the Ironman contest is an $800,000 event.
And this next quote is one of the angry, dismissive, racist comments at the end of the article. With all the efforts that NZ has made to get a better understanding of the unpleasant start of this colony, and the shameful behaviour adopted by businessmen/land speculators with an armed gang to back them, this reaction is more frequent than we thought possible. I went on to background the late Louis Crimp who was a Maori hater, and to read about him gives insight into the type of person that befouls good attempts to provide some reparation and set NZ up as a country of justice, fairness and equality.
What a shame the Ironman New Zealand organisers lack the mettle of their competitors.
What a shame they agreed to bribe the tribe.
What a shame they did not reply to the Tuwharetoa extortion demand of $58,000 thus:
“Dear tribe,
“Get stuffed.
“We refuse to pay you so much as a bent cent to swim in our largest lake.
“And it is our lake. Not your lake. It belongs to us. All of us.
“All the people of New Zealand.
In the item Jackson refers to John Ansell, who was connected with ACT. (But the Louis Crimp item below says Ansell left ACT – Advertising guru John Ansell quit the party after adverts he designed asking Kiwis if they were “Fed up with the Maorification of Everything” were cancelled.)
Willie Jackson commented on him:
He’s running the Treaty Gate project where he accuses all and sundry of telling lies over New Zealand’s history and relationship with Maori.
He clearly puts little value on Maori culture and his main financial backer has been Invercargill millionaire Louis Crimp, who last year claimed most Pakeha despise Maori.
Louis Crimp was a multi millionaire, now dead. He was one of a group of old white men whose blood has turned to vinegar, and who appear to have little left in life but to hold onto all their money, and their little energy goes to putting the Maori in his or her lower place than their high chairs. I saw them in full flow during the Constitution Conversations a year or so ago.
About Louis Crimp ACT supporter to John Ansell:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10806938
The biggest donor to the Act Party says he gave the money to Don Brash and John Banks so they could stop special treatment for Maori who were “either in jail or on welfare”.
In an extraordinary interview with the Weekend Herald, Louis Crimp said he believed he had the support of Brash, Banks and other “white New Zealanders”.
Mr Crimp made the largest financial contribution to the Act Party for the 2011 election with a $125,520 donation.
Crimp said in another interview:
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/two-hours-louis-crimp-ck-126301
“I can’t smile properly because my face is petrified, it doesn’t move, it’s paralysed because I had cancer. I can only smile with one side. So I’ve just got a grimace.”
Mr Crimp has made millions through his various property ventures, and has gained many supporters in Invercargill for his charitable donations, including more than $1 million each to the SPCA and the St John Ambulance Service….
Mr Crimp says that from an early age he has was forced to “watch [his] pennies. I was the oldest boy in Southland who had a paper run, at the age of 16, because we were poor, my family”.
His income? Derived from housing – rented to Maori gang and then evicted them.
Derived from pokies, which he could rail against or utilise takings of at random:
Mr Crimp is in no position to rail, with any integrity, against the foundation’s use of pokie proceeds. He has, himself, been one of the grandfathers of the pokies industry in Invercargill, albeit in rivalry with the trust. So his contempt can hardly stem from holding the machines themselves to be an intolerable social harm. Far from overbrimming with sympathy for the problems of pokie addiction, he wrote to our public opinion column in April referring witheringly to “the suckers who addict themselves to poker machines”…
it is Mr Crimp who has been caught up in notorious and inglorious misuses of pokie funds. This was in the 1990s, and involved decisions so imperious that they offended rules that were less strict than they are now. The Southland Pool Players’ Club, upon whose executive Mr Crimp had been a member, dispensed the money from pokies at one of Mr Crimp’s most high-profile establishments, Players’ pool hall, for a team of nine members, including Mr Crimp, to attend a pool competition in Australia. This was just part of what Internal Affairs inspectors described as “gross misapplication of proceeds”.
Undaunted, as he so often is, by official disapproval, Mr Crimp had then stuck his hand out for Players’ pokie profits to help pay the 1998 election expenses of Southland Action, a group of candidates which he led into the Invercargill City Council election race.
So unprincipled himself, but cunning as a shithouse rat, to shamelessly accuse others.
http://fundypost.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/louis-crimp-man-of-actions.html
Casino and share deals:
http://shareinvestornz.blogspot.co.nz/2010/11/sky-city-entertainment-group-ltd.html
The Christchurch Casino was purchased by SKC in June 2004, off Aspinall (NZ) Limited, which held a 40.5% shareholding in Christchurch Casinos Limited. The purchase price was NZ$93.75 million and in October 2010 SKC bought an 8.6 % stake held by Invercargill businessman Louis Crimp’s Southern Equities, to take their holding to near 50%. In 2008 SKC bought a 5.2% stake off their then business partner the Crowne Plaza Hotel, taking their ownership interest in Christchurch Casino to 45.7%. With the 8.6% stake then SKC control the company with a 54.3% stake.
Coarse in his speech, nastily prejudiced and as braindead and disgusting as a gutter drunk Crimp prompted Brian Rudman to comment on his backing ACT and Don Brash who Crimp hoped would pursue anti Maori policies:
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/brian-rudman-on-auckland/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502866&objectid=11280946
Mr Crimp, you may recall, donated the money after Don Brash seized control of Act. Recalling Dr Brash’s notorious 2004 Orewa speech as National Party leader, Mr Crimp was hopeful his cash would ensure his anti-Maori views would be pursued. But in a follow-up interview on TV, the eccentric Mr Crimp soon went off subject and asked interviewer Jane Luscombe whether she’d ever had sex against a tree!
His Southland Times obituary says:
Crimp, an Invercargill businessman, philanthropist, former city councillor, character and longstanding critic of the Invercargill Licensing Trust, died at his home at 9.20pm last night.
Memorial – He knew what he was agin.
edited
Crimp was a nasty man. A favourite of Fair Go. His Southland Times obituary was disgusting – he was an evil character with no grace.
@Brian
Yes he seemed evil and venal. You notice that the Southland Times obit was short, not unkind, and called him eccentric. ( And I noted what his memorial could be.)
I think he had so much money that he managed to suck in a fair few amoral buddies, such as the ones he gathered together to have a go at the Council. But to sweeten the report that he had been dipping his fingers in the pokie till, I think he felt it would be good PR to donate large to St Johns and the SPCA. He would have won some kudos there for helping these perennially cash strapped groups.
I was amazed at how despicable he was, and only his money meant that he couldn’t be ignored. And how low ACT was and is, is exemplified by them taking from him. Though it was only $125,000 or so, not millions. I think he was careful that his ‘philanthropy’-investments were sure to bring him advantage.
How many, I wonder, of our political parties are being funded by people who are such misanthropists like him. He seemed to despise everyone really.
Speaking of tin foil, the real economic crisis is happening in the daily lives of ordinary NZers.
A gram and a half for 100 bucks!? It’s daylight robbery: five times the average price for a gram and, at something like $300 per ounce wholesale (likely cheaper in larger, commercial amounts), a profit of $90 untaxed and straight into the black market.
http://thespinoff.co.nz/16-03-2016/a-nation-in-crisis-new-zealands-catastrophic-marijuana-shortage/
You should move up north weka, no shortage and cheap if your in the know.
Lol, I’m good thanks. I just thought it was a funny article all things considered.
Has Phil Goff really come out in favour of building a waterfront stadium in Auckland?
Be very afraid Auckland ratepayers.
The favoured candidate for the Mayoralty appears to be choosing a campaign slogan which starts “We’ve got to waste a billion or two, we’ve got to waste a billion or two”.
Even Len’s choo-choo isn’t as stupid.
Clearly you’re ignorant of your own one Wellingtonian.
“ignorant of your own one”
Like hell I am. It doesn’t mean Auckland have to repeat mistakes do they?
That was one of those things where the main proponent, Fran Wilde, managed to get a “loan” out of the local bodies that was promised to be repaid. It never was of course because you never do make money out of such things.
Melbourne is an exception but they have about 50 AFL games a year at the MCG and another 50 at Etihad stadium. The crowds probably range from 25,000 to 90,000 for the club games and 100,000 for the finals.
The Wellington cost $130 million I believe. However it is sunk money and we certainly can’t sell it. After all, who would buy it? At least they didn’t consider putting a roof on it.
Could be worse of course. The Olympic Stadium in Sydney went broke and ended up being owned by the ANZ I believe. They were silly enough to make a loan on the thing.
‘How the West Got It Wrong as the Syrian Civil War Developed’ by Robert Fisk
Five years ago, we were high on Arab revolutions, and journalists were growing used to ‘liberating’ Arab capitals
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/15/how-west-got-it-wrong-syrian-civil-war-developed