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Open mike 16/09/2015

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 16th, 2015 - 142 comments
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142 comments on “Open mike 16/09/2015”

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  2. Paul 2
    16 September 2015 at 7:09 am

    Beneficiary bludger.
    Harry Windsor costs NZ over 4 million dollars for 9 day paid holiday.

    http://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/72000007/prince-harrys-visit-cost-nz-taxpayers-426000

  4. Paul 4
    16 September 2015 at 7:24 am

    The Herald is obsessed with the trivia surrounding the Key family.
    Journalists? What a miserable excuse for the 4th estate this rag has become.

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11513568

    • maui 4.1
      16 September 2015 at 12:33 pm

      A business article turns into Max pashing his girlfriend. Hopefully this is the end days for the herald, distorted reality mirroring what’s happening in government and capitalism in general.

  5. Paul 5
    16 September 2015 at 7:31 am

    A quarter of kids in poverty.

    ‘Responding to the bleak statistic that almost a quarter of all New Zealand families with children experience income poverty (2014 Child Poverty Monitor), Social Justice Week this year is focused on family poverty and what it would take for all Kiwi families to flourish.
    An annual awareness-raising campaign, the week is set aside by the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand and runs from 13-19 September this year. The aim in 2015 is to increase awareness and understanding of the challenges struggling families face today in Aoteraoa New Zealand, while also inspiring people to take action.
    This year Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has produced a short documentary – ‘Kiwi Families: It’s Our Story’ – featuring four community groups across the country and the families they support.’

    Yes, the Herald sees this as less important than Max Key’s new ‘job’.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00126/social-justice-week-addresses-family-poverty-in-new-zealand.htm

    • KeepLeft 5.1
      16 September 2015 at 7:46 am

      So long as Key and the nasty Nats remain in power we will have poverty.

      Democracy has failed Aotearoa. The RWNJS control the media and use it dupe the masses.

      I am not advoting violence but the only answer is a violent if necessary revolutionary coup to force change! Private property will then be banned, a Maori Upper House set up in according to Te Tiriti O Waitangi, all ties to the fascist state of Isreal destroyed, and everyone giving according to their ablities and getting according to their needs. All equality! No poverty!

      • Sabine 5.1.1
        16 September 2015 at 8:03 am

        no democracy has not failed Aotearoa. Democracy is an idea of participation in the political process. What has failed Aotearoa are the Men and Women that have voted for high house prices (yei! us too are rich!!) and nothing else, that have voted for beneficiary bashing as they are not yet beneficiaries, the ones that have voted for the dismantling of our school system, our health system, our public service sector because they will never need to use it again or at least don’t want to fund it, the ones that will vote for greed and themselves cause when history will judge them they are dead.

        Greed, stupidity and short shortsightedness is failing Aotearoa, and if you only need to look at the current flag debacle / farce to see that it afflicts people of all stripes and political affiliation.

        • KeepLeft 5.1.1.1
          16 September 2015 at 9:16 am

          Those “Men and Women” are the wrongful majority. How can the rightful minority gain power in a democracy against a wrongful majority? For democracy to work the majority participating in it must at least have a brain!!!

          • Sabine 5.1.1.1.1
            16 September 2015 at 9:35 am

            the right full minority could have voted, all 1 million non voters of them, they could have worked together and forced their parties to vote together. But they did not. They voted for ‘their party’ ‘their candidate’ and sadly they are still arguing for ‘their party’ and ‘their candidate’ as if it were to make a difference. They don’t.

            No National won, because 1 million people want to associate with them and have no issues with poor kids, poor parents, crap housing, high unemployment and under employments, crap work safety and so on and so on because it serves them well.
            Then National won, because the opposition parties did not work together, they did not show spine and guts, they fiddled and sadly they are still fiddling, but hey, we got a new Labour Leader, and the Greens had the victory of a cycleway somewhere of national importance, and Winston won Northland, and Hone is retired.
            Then National won, because 1 million people could not be asked to vote, a lot of them white middle aged men cause no one does anything for them. A lot of them women on a benefit, cause no one does anything for them too. A lot of the young ones that just got the right to vote, cause why bother we are screwed anyways.

            The right full minority, needs to grow a spine, guts, and heart. They need to start working together, they need to start voting, not because someone will do something for them, but because the alternative is a government that will absolutly do nothing for them, be on record about not doing anything for them and be happy about it.

            So there, National won, because 2 million people were to occupied to do a nothing, b. to occupied to find fault with the ones that could do something, but hey ….they are not my party.

      • Draco T Bastard 5.1.2
        16 September 2015 at 11:19 am

        a Maori Upper House set up in according to Te Tiriti O Waitangi

        I don’t recall a Māori upper house being mentioned in Te Tiriti.

      • The Lone Haranguer 5.1.3
        16 September 2015 at 11:34 am

        Keep Left,

        was there no poverty under the Helen Clark lead Labour Governments from 1999-2008? Get real!!!!

        I would prefer our current “failed democracy” to anything that you are advocating as our “failed democracy” has law and order – without violence – as its guiding principle.

        You may not like our “failed democracy” but t me it seems better than your jungle bunny violence driven model.

      • Naturesong 5.1.4
        16 September 2015 at 1:36 pm

        Woah!!!

        Take a breathe, make yourself a cup of tea and have a sit down.

        Hysterical ranting doesn’t do anyone any good. Least of all yourself.

  6. adam 6
    16 September 2015 at 7:49 am

    I thought this did a good job explaining it…

  7. James 7
    16 September 2015 at 7:53 am

    I’m assuming that you are saying that’s the only answer because you know that will never be voted for by the good people of new Zealand. But nice to see some people on here think that a violent rise up again the wishes of the majority of the country is the way to go. And to think you call right wingers nut jobs.

    • DoublePlusGood 7.1
      16 September 2015 at 8:10 am

      Pretty sure that one twit (that could even be a right-winger pretending, for troll purposes) doesn’t represent all left wing people.

    • Stuart Munro 7.2
      16 September 2015 at 8:19 am

      Ultimately fascism is never put back in its box before there is a certain amount of skirmishing. The last one was called World War Two.

  8. Murray Simmonds 8
    16 September 2015 at 8:12 am

    CHANGE OF TOPIC:

    I’m starting to look at an interesting line of conspiracy theories regarding the question of “Who owns the Federal Reserve?”

    If you “Google” that question, one of the first statements to come up is from the U.S. Government itself; essentially it denies that the Fed is a privately owned operation. To which, a conspiracy theorist might reply “Well they would say that, wouldn’t they!”

    http://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/about_14986.htm

    Look a bit further down the list thrown up by Google and there’s an interesting article by Ellen Brown who argues that (quote) “The Fed is privately owned. Its shareholders are private banks”:

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/who-owns-the-federal-reserve/10489

    Brown is the author of eleven books; her article begins with this quote:

    “Some people think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers; foreign and domestic speculators and swindlers; and rich and predatory money lenders.”
    The Honorable Louis McFadden, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee in the 1930s.

    There are also several Youtube videos on the topic including this lengthy but fascinating 3 hour 20 minute effort, published in Oct 2014:

    It is accompanied by a couple of quotes:
    “We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.” ~ Rothschild

    “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes the laws.” ~ Rothschild

    There are also shorter versions available on Youtube.
    Even if they are only half true, they give the citizens of the world an AWFUL lot to worry about!

    And now, both Australia and NZ have prime ministers who formerly worked for the U.S. Banks! Am I getting paranoid in my old age???

    • Chooky 8.1
      16 September 2015 at 9:06 am

      +100…thanks…interesting

    • vto 8.2
      16 September 2015 at 9:26 am

      “Am I getting paranoid in my old age???”

      No Murray Simmonds you are not. You are simply waking up to one of the most real realities of our world. More people are waking up to it.

      Pre-interweb days it was easier to keep such things on the downlow, but today all information is out in the public arena so people are in fact waking up to the fact that;

      One, the US Federal Reserve, which prints all US money, is privately owned.

      Two, the printed money brings a return for the private owners equating to the interest rate (pretty good money for doing some printing……..).

      Three, all loans by banks, including NZ banks, are created out of thin air – the loan money didn’t exist before it was lent, it is simply printed. . . and all interest paid on that printed loan goes to the bank (pretty good money for doing some printing).

      Four, that this privately-owned money system requires economic growth so that the interest can be paid i.e. most all growth in our economies goes to banks, hence why the average Joe’s position is the same as it has always been despite economic growth (and the rich just are spectacularly rich)

      Five, that John Key knows all of this full well, and knows that the people don’t know this.

      Six, if you think about it, the entire system is a Ponzi scheme incapable of running forever. It is on its last legs imo.

  9. esoteric pineapples 9
    16 September 2015 at 8:23 am

    I see the Prime Minister gets to decide when he can delete his texts – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11513398

    • tracey 9.1
      16 September 2015 at 3:00 pm

      Are we paying for his phone and all those personal/party texts?

      • odot 9.1.1
        16 September 2015 at 5:37 pm

        I genuinely cannot believe that Key got away with this, there is no logical reason to be deleting texts in this day and age. Back in the late 1990s or early 2000s when phones only had memory measured in MBs, sure deleting texts would have been necessary but in this day and age with phones that have GBs worth of memory I cannot see any logical reason for it (aside from the obvious – keeping information out of public record).

        This is a man who represents the entire country, a man who should be answerable to everyone, yet he gets to pick and choose which conversations are deletable and which are on public record? Give me a break.

        • Draco T Bastard 9.1.1.1
          16 September 2015 at 6:52 pm

          there is no logical reason to be deleting texts in this day and age.

          Of course there’s a logical reason – when you don’t want people finding out what you said because it’d send you to jail.

          • mac1 9.1.1.1.1
            17 September 2015 at 10:41 am

            I think someone in somebody’s office just read the news. A teacher got sacked and removed from the profession for sexual misconduct evidenced by 8,000 texts.

  10. esoteric pineapples 10
    16 September 2015 at 8:34 am

    Just a thought on conspiracy theorists

    I received a post on my Facebook page from a conspiracy theorist that claims Hitler was right when he talked about a conspiracy and this is being proved at the present time. I have noticed before that some conspiracy theorists refer to the “Rothschilds” which seemed to have an anti-Jewish flavour. It seems now that some conspiracy theorists who previously have focused on 9/11 etc have now gone full circle in their attempt to save us all from the dangers of the “Illuminati” etc to the point that they are actually in the same camp as holocaust deniers and support the arch conspiracy theorist of all time – Hitler – who exterminated millions of people. Conspiracy theorists can make a useful contribution at times to analysing events and highlighting inconsistencies but recognising irony is not their strong suite. For instance, a good number are deniers of man-made climate change which puts them in the same camp as far right Republican politicians in the United States which they usually see being part of the evil forces they are trying to alert the world to. Going full circle to supporting Hitler’s conspiracy theories is taking irony to a whole other level.

    • The lost sheep 10.1
      16 September 2015 at 8:43 am

      Someone who has access to secret information told me last week that there is a conspiracy to brainwash the unenlightened masses into believing that Conspiracies are not real, and that the people who claim to know about them are nutters.

    • vto 10.2
      16 September 2015 at 10:14 am

      Conspiring is one of the most core attributes of human behaviour. People conspire all day every day – it is human nature…

      Footy players conspire to beat the opposing footy team

      Hunters conspire to kill antelope

      Wife conspires to get husband to mow lawns

      Business people conspire to get a deal

      Children conspire to get lollies

      Armies conspire to kill huge swathes of humanity

      Politicians … well no, politicians never conspire …………

      …

      to conspire is to be human

      • tracey 10.2.1
        16 September 2015 at 3:01 pm

        for clarity

        verb
        make secret plans jointly to commit an unlawful or harmful act.
        “they conspired against him”
        synonyms: plot, hatch a plot, form a conspiracy, scheme, plan, lay plans, intrigue, collude, connive, collaborate, consort, machinate, manoeuvre, be/work hand in glove;
        More
        (of events or circumstances) seem to be working together to bring about a particular negative result.
        “everything conspires to exacerbate the situation”
        synonyms: act together, work together, combine, join, unite, ally, join forces, cooperate;

        • Rodel 10.2.1.1
          16 September 2015 at 8:35 pm

          Also- ‘ working together to bring about a particular result, typically to someone’s detriment’
          DETRIMENT is a key concept

        • vto 10.2.1.2
          17 September 2015 at 6:38 am

          Thanks for the clarity Tracey but it was not necessary as a closer consideration of the examples provided will highlight the negative result required for the victim in each case, for conspiracy to exist …

          You must have missed it in the haze fog which seems to envelope your eyes with each response to mine

      • Puddleglum 10.2.2
        16 September 2015 at 9:27 pm

        Yes, human sociality is built on shifting alliances and the gossip and network of conversations that individuals and groups of individuals have with each other.

        But as Tracy points out, the word ‘conspire’ (when applied to people rather than events) is usually used when the aim is to harm. (The Red Cross doesn’t ‘conspire’ to help in disaster situations, for example.)

        I’d actually call conversations involving how best to ‘spin’ a political event as ‘conspiring’ since I believe that attempting to generate a partial and limited understanding of events in the mind of the public is to do harm to the public, whose interest is to know the whole truth and consequences of an event.

        The way in which the Tories are currently misrepresenting Corbyn’s words in their video, for example, is a classic, conspiratorial act in my books. They know they are misrepresenting him – but they wish to do that to give the public a false impression of him.

        Given that so many thousands of people today make their livings out of these kinds of conversations and spinning efforts I suppose it wouldn’t be ‘good form’ to call them ‘conspiracies’ – more like ‘business’ perhaps? (Reminiscent of Adam Smith’s comment about business people gathered in a room always conspiring against the public.)

        • vto 10.2.2.1
          17 September 2015 at 6:33 am

          Exactly Puddleglum, but no everyday spin merchants should be called out on what they are – conspiracists, conspiring to negative ends…

          … on which, you may notice (seems Tracey missed it) that each of my examples involve the ‘negative outcome’ required for a conspiracy…

  11. Rosie 11
    16 September 2015 at 8:37 am

    When does the employment relations amendment act come into effect? There was to be a new provision included that would go some way to protect workers against zero hours contracts.

    However I keep reading job ads that still appear to expecting the prospective employee to be on call 7 days a week:

    Here’s one example, see what you make of the requirements:

    “have full availability across all retail hours – must be able to work 12-3pm weekdays and weekends”

    http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=949998029

    I read that as you are rostered on for 7 days, 3 hours per day, for 21 hours of work, but then you must be available across “all retail hours”

    If I’ve read this correctly you are working 7 days a week and then still expected to be on call when ever they need you at other times. 21 hours + ?

    These are shitty hours and this employer must know they are using desperation as a lever

    • Draco T Bastard 11.1
      16 September 2015 at 2:26 pm

      These are shitty hours and this employer must know they are using desperation as a lever

      Which is why they will vote National – they know that National will attack beneficiaries and make life far more difficult for the poor so that it will be easier to exploit them.

  12. STONE SHI 12
    16 September 2015 at 8:46 am

    Revealing Freudian slip from Gower this morning on Paul Henry (paraphrasing):

    Paul: “You could be a political strategist Paddy!”
    Gower: “I don’t think Lab… I don’t think anyone would want me, Paul!”

    [r0b: Please stick with this name / email from now on, It’s a pain for moderators when you change your name all the time because the first comment from every new name gets held for moderation. One name / email – or I’m just going to delete them from now on.]

    • half crown 12.1
      16 September 2015 at 9:30 am

      Did anyone see Henry this morning? The reason I asked, I normally don’t go down that sewer but when I switched the TV on it was tuned to TV3 and I could not avoid hearing Henry as the inspection cover to the sewer was off. Before a managed to change channels I heard that prat say something about Andrew Little should be more respectful to Key or something as it gives a bad impression overseas or something and he will never become a PM or something. What the fuck was that dick on about?

      • tc 12.1.1
        16 September 2015 at 9:32 am

        Ensuring he gets his sycophant quota filled whatever way he can.

      • b waghorn 12.1.2
        16 September 2015 at 12:15 pm

        He was pushing the same line a few of the rw muppets where pushing here about Little not being statesman like with his comment about pitying Australia if the new leader wants to be like key.
        He’s got to earn his money some how.

        • Puddleglum 12.1.2.1
          16 September 2015 at 9:47 pm

          Oh, I thought Henry may have been referring to Little playing hard to get on the flag referendum, Red Peak, etc..

          Speaking of giving ‘a bad impression of Key overseas’ it seems Key is managing that all by himself.

          Here’s The Economist on the flag debate:

          ““FARCE” barely describes the process by which New Zealand is deciding whether or not it needs a new flag. John Key, the prime minister, caught everyone by surprise during last year’s general-election campaign when he floated the idea of changing it. He wanted to get rid of the present one, which incorporates Britain’s Union Jack as well as the stars of the Southern Cross, to one that, as he put it to The Economist, “screams New Zealandness”. The immediate reaction was that this was at best an irrelevance, at worst a cynical diversion from the difficult stuff of politics.“

          • b waghorn 12.1.2.1.1
            17 September 2015 at 7:49 am

            “”Oh, I thought Henry may have been referring to Little playing hard to get on the flag referendum, Red Peak, etc..”
            It is a long show so you are possible right I’m sure henry takes any chance available to attack labour.

            • Puddleglum 12.1.2.1.1.1
              17 September 2015 at 8:17 am

              I was just going on half crown’s comment – I have no idea what Henry said as I have never listened to him.

              So you’re first hand account is the one I’d go with.

              Sounds like Henry has no sense of humour when it comes to his main man 🙂

  13. half crown 13
    16 September 2015 at 8:54 am

    James said @ #7 7.52 am

    “And to think you call right wingers nut jobs.”

    Not all of them James, In fact occasionally we do get one who comes on here with a
    very valid argument. Although one may not agree with it, one can see the logic of their point of view.
    But that is extremely rare.

    • Stuart Munro 13.1
      16 September 2015 at 8:58 am

      Most of the non-nutjob righties have better manners than to come here to stir up trouble.

    • Puckish Rogue 13.2
      16 September 2015 at 9:41 am

      Thank you

      • half crown 13.2.1
        16 September 2015 at 4:34 pm

        Hey Puckish I say this in jest. As us lefties are all for spending our dollar and banking others dollars, according to a good right wing myth. Please,don’t thank us, buy us something

        Regards

    • Anne 13.3
      16 September 2015 at 9:42 am

      An example is David Farrar. We know he is a National Party fan boy and his blogsite is indicative of that, but on the rare occasion he has come here to debate something he is polite and respectful, and he receives politeness and respect in return.

      • Morrissey 13.3.1
        16 September 2015 at 11:55 am

        Farrar is a fool, and a liar, and his opinions are nasty. However, his amiable persona means he can get away with a lot. Other lightweight commentators like Jordan Williams could learn a lot from him.

        • rhinocrates 13.3.1.1
          16 September 2015 at 1:03 pm

          That “amiable” personality only appears if you’re a man. Women to him are slabs of meat. Other RW commentators have indeed learned a lot from him at his “Princess Parties.”

  14. esoteric pineapples 14
    16 September 2015 at 9:31 am

    A friend on Facebook posted a clip of Jeremy Corbyn and said “We are behind you”. I fully support the sentiment but commented that it is better to say “We are beside you”. I think people expect too much of the people they want to be their champions. We can’t expect another individual to take all the heat while we stand behind them. I think this has been a problem for Labour for quite a few years. It votes in another leader and then that person is expected to engage the opposition on their own. Phil Goff seemed to be fighting all by himself in 2011 and there didn’t seem to be much back up support from the rest of the party, especially cabinet members for David Cunliffe. Things seem to be a little bit better for Andrew Little but he still seems to be doing all the heavy lifting by himself. The same principle applies to all progressive parties and organisations. Bob Dylan was right – “don’t follow leaders” – see them as part of a chain that you also are part of as well.

  15. Morrissey 15
    16 September 2015 at 9:38 am

    Three hours of Hosking and Henry every morning.
    Could New Zealand’s media get any more dismal?
    The Mike Hosking Breakfast, NewstalkZB and PAUL HENRY, TV3
    Wednesday 16 September 2015

    vacuous adj. 1. lacking in ideas or intelligence: a vacuous mind. 2. expressing or characterized by a lack of ideas or intelligence; inane; stupid: a vacuous show.

    Just before the 8 o’clock news, Sky City and National Party booster Mike Hosking said: “I thought what Andrew Little said yesterday about the new Australian prime minister was CHURLISH.”

    After the news, it was time for the weekly “Wednesday Politics” feature…..

    MIKE HOSKING: What are your thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn?
    STEVEN JOYCE: It’s going to cause them a lot of trouble.
    ANNETTE KING: I think it’s a case of wait and see. He’s certainly popular.
    JOYCE: Yeah THAT’S true.
    HOSKING: Hmmm…. But surely Annette, you couldn’t endorse his positions could you?
    KING: I didn’t say that.
    HOSKING: He’ll be printing money! Will he even BE there for the next general election?
    KING: He’ll be there.
    HOSKING: And they’ll LOSE!
    JOYCE: He’ll be gone. They’ll wake up and see what they’ve done.

    …ad nauseam…

    Half an hour later, another Sky City ambassador was winding up his show. Apparently Dame Helen Mirren must have said something that offended Paul “Kill them ALL” Henry, because he snarled about “silly old Helen Mirren” to his guest, then right at the end of the program, he said this:

    I’d like to dedicate this program to Dame Helen Mirren, because no matter how hard she tries, she’ll never be Dame Judy Dench.”

    His slaves Jim Kayes and Hillary Barry looked unimpressed, and frowned in a troubled manner.

    • Puckish Rogue 15.1
      16 September 2015 at 10:01 am

      The only way this could be better is if Michael Laws is brought in as well

    • The Chairman 15.2
      16 September 2015 at 2:45 pm

      “But surely Annette, you couldn’t endorse his positions could you?
      KING: I didn’t say that”

      Another one from Labour distancing themselves Corbyn’s left wing position.

      Why is the Labour Party so afraid of being left?

      Apart from members, is there anybody in the Labour Party actually left-wing?

      • Morrissey 15.2.1
        16 September 2015 at 4:43 pm

        People like Annette King and Josie Pagani are the reason that Labour is at such a low ebb.

        • The Chairman 15.2.1.1
          16 September 2015 at 5:55 pm

          I totally agree, Morrissey.

          Attitudes like this from Labour merely reinforces the perception that being left is some how bad. Giving their media (clowns like Hosking) and political opponents a larger stick to bash them with.

          • Alethios 15.2.1.1.1
            17 September 2015 at 2:39 am

            To be fair to the woman, she was being asked (and hence NZ Labour) to effectively, out of the blue, carte blanche endorse Corbyn’s entire position. I’m glad she didn’t. Hosking’s show is hardly the place for nuance.

            • The Chairman 15.2.1.1.1.1
              17 September 2015 at 8:14 am

              I totally disagree, Alethios

              Any astute Labour MP should have seen this coming. They are well aware of what has taken place in the UK, thus the repercussions that would be reflected on them.

              Moreover, Corbyn’ s monumental victory presented a prime opportunity for Labour here to cement a new position.

              She should have stood tall and proud and hammered him with the facts (all the good things) Corbyn stands for.

              She coward like a little girl and fell straight into his stratagem.

              Labour needs to badly up their political game.

              If the need assistance, I can help with that.

              • Alethios …
                17 September 2015 at 1:18 pm

                Maybe you’re right, but surely she’d need a mandate from, at the very least, caucus first – before personally realigning NZ Labour?

                • The Chairman …
                  17 September 2015 at 1:29 pm

                  She could have answered from a personal position.

                  Moreover, an astute Party would have prepared for the possibility.

                • McFlock …
                  17 September 2015 at 1:43 pm

                  I agree Alethios.

                  Everyone has some policy or other that might sound nutty, if only to someone on the other side of the planet.

                  Hosking, being a nat fanboi, could well have one of those policies or a statement from Corbyn in reserve just in case King did categorically endorse Corbyn – probably a longer rant of the “Hell be printing money” line that he used before he flipped to speculation as to how long Corbyn will last (if morrissey’s ).
                  I note that when hoaxing asked whether corbyn will see the next election, King said “He’ll be there”. So not blanket about policy specifics, but firm on the stability of UK Labour under Corbyn.

                  • The Chairman …
                    17 September 2015 at 1:52 pm

                    She could have simply said she largely supports his position, highlighting a number of strong points, giving further weight to her last remark, while leaving scope to counter any further challenge from Hosking.

                    • McFlock …
                      17 September 2015 at 2:05 pm

                      Three commas and a “while” does not “simply” make, not on radio with two opponents and no friends in the discussion.

                  • The Chairman …
                    17 September 2015 at 2:14 pm

                    We all know Annette can handle herself, McFlock.

                    • McFlock …
                      17 September 2015 at 2:32 pm

                      Indeed.
                      But live broadcasts, can only handle nuanced responses if the interviewer isn’t an active opponent.
                      King makes complex response, hosking “simplifies” it, joyce tagteams with mockery of the straw man hosking just raised, King has to debate what she actually meant and so looks defensive.

                      Interviews with hostile media are holding actions, not advances.

                  • The Chairman …
                    17 September 2015 at 3:11 pm

                    The response I suggested to you was far from complex. Moreover, a well seasoned MP like King knows what to expect and how to counter in kind. As I do with you, McFlock.

                    Interviews with the media, regardless if they’re deemed hostile (which most are to the left) is where the fight for voters is largely fought. It’s where the larger audience are.

                    • McFlock …
                      17 September 2015 at 3:19 pm

                      Not too complex for text, where you get to write all you want, whenever you want, are guaranteed to be uninterrupted if it looks like you’re making a good point, and existing for future reference when it’s misinterpreted.

                      But no good for an interview on mediaworks. Short answers, clear, not being drawn in to rash commitments – that’s what she needed, and that’s what she gave.

                      As you say, she’s experienced and “well seasoned” enough to know how to deal with different media environments. I suspect that you are not.

                  • The Chairman …
                    18 September 2015 at 2:18 pm

                    Rubbish.

                    The spoken word is faster than the written word, thus you’re clutching, McFlock.

                    And that was an example of how one can quickly shutdown a fictitious contention.

                    She could have hammered Hosking with a few quick points and then swiftly shutdown any contention from Joyce, irrespective of the media setting.

                    • McFlock …
                      18 September 2015 at 2:34 pm

                      An example that relied on a single bullshit assertion and a complete lack of interruption in delivery of said bullshit. EG:

                      TC: Rubbish. The spoken word is faster than the written word, thus you-

                      McF [voice raised in laughter]: on what planet? If you’re going to start making stuff up, at least make it plausible!

                      hammered Hosking with a few quick points which he’d never let her finish without interruption – the technique used to defeat the gish gallop.
                      swiftly shutdown any contention from Joyce because nact ministers are famous for accepting opposition points without protest, regardless of the points’ merit?

                      The result of your tactical plan is simply to end up in a shouting match that makes men look strong and women look pushy and alienates the public, adding to the missing million.

                  • The Chairman …
                    18 September 2015 at 3:23 pm

                    A single bullshit assertion? Nonsense. It’s a fact and you know it. The spoken word is faster than the written word.

                    Clearly, you don’t know how to take control of an interview. One simply shuts down any attempted interruption.

                    Winston often shows how it’s done, thus generally dominates the debate.

                    • McFlock …
                      18 September 2015 at 3:48 pm

                      Feel free to keep asserting. I can still read faster than most people talk, especially if they wish to be understood.

                      And how will you interrupt me? Sure, you can glance over sentences, but there is no way for you to derail or distract me from composing this paragraph as I write it. My full message is guaranteed to be delivered (moderators permitting 🙂 ).

                      You talk about taking control of an interview as if it is a passive thing. Two other people were attempting to take control of that conversation, too. All three highly experienced at dealing with the medium. Yes, Winston is exceptionally good at it, and even he has his bad days.

                      “One simply shuts down any attempted interruption.” Lol. One does not simply shut down any attempted interruption. That’s why even Winston only “generally” dominates the debate.

                  • The Chairman …
                    18 September 2015 at 5:40 pm

                    Read faster?

                    Now where did I assert that?

                    We were discussing the speed of the spoken word compared to the written.

                    Therefore, you are now resorting to presenting strawmans. Clearly you have no credible counter.

                    I don’t need to interrupt you, not that I can online. My counters stand solid, regardless what fictitious crap you write.

                    There are numerous ways to take control of the spoken medium. Below are several examples.

                    By being on point. Ensuring the delivery is hard hitting and presented swiftly, robbing opponents of the opportunity to interrupt. This is the quick jab approach.

                    Highlight the question was put to you. Thus, highlighting their rudeness, thereby getting the audience on your side while gaining back the floor.

                    Stating excuse me sharply, stunning opponents into silence, thus presenting the opportunity to regain the floor.

                    Shame and embarrass them for asking a question (or speaking out of turn) and not giving you the opportunity. Again, winning the audience over to your side.

                    Getting the audience on side in a debate/interview, puts one in the winning position.

                    Yes, we all have our bad days from time to time, thus the use of the word ‘generally’ above.

                    Are you now going to conveniently excuse this as one of Annette’s bad days?

                    You seem to making a lot of excuses for her. She could have performed better and we both know it.

                    • McFlock …
                      18 September 2015 at 9:36 pm

                      Ah, so the spoken word is “faster” than the written word, but the written word doesn’t need to be read.

                      “By being on point. Ensuring the delivery is hard hitting and presented swiftly,” She did that. Corrected hosking when he attributed comments to her that she didn’t make, and said firmly that corbyn will be the labour leaderin the next election. You’re just pissed because she didn’t carte blanch attribute to NZ Labour all the policies of UK Labour and every single personal belief of Corbyn.

                      “Highlight the question was put to you. Thus, highlighting their rudeness, ” – yadda yadda, all joyce does then is explain how you’re wrong when you’ve barely started answering, then you get into an argument that simply adds to the missing million.

                      “stunning opponents into silence” – lol yeah, right. Got any clips of that happening to joyce or hosking, ever?

                      “Shame and embarrass them” – they have no fucking shame. They’re tories. Try another one.

                      Basically, the only “excuse” I’ve made is to point out that king was in the real world, not in whatever fantasy land you’re picturing.

                  • The Chairman …
                    18 September 2015 at 9:56 pm

                    No. I’m disappointed she was quick to distance herself from his left wing stance. And in doing so fell straight into Hosking’s stratagem,
                    reinforcing the perception that being left is some how bad.

                    Not off hand (re clips). Moreover, it was merely a general example – not a specific one.

                    Have you got any clips to prove it hasn’t worked on them?

                    To shame and embarrass them to win over the audience. How they feel is of no concern.

                    And no, you are full of excuses – see your posts above.

                    What else you got?

                    • McFlock …
                      18 September 2015 at 10:15 pm

                      I’m disappointed she was quick to distance herself from his left wing stance.

                      cite, pls. Or did you want her to “endorse his positions”, as hosking put it?

                      You’ve made the assertion that she could have stunned hosking and/or joyce into silence. You’re welcome to provide evidence that that has ever happened.

                      To shame and embarrass them to win over the audience. How they feel is of no concern.

                      lol so basically your advice is for king to get the audience on her side. People who tune in to specifically watch hosking. Slight audience bias, there, easily covered by the bluster and confidence joyce and hosking exude.

                      Oh, sorry, that was a refernce to the real world again, so you’ll probably call it another “excuse”.

                  • The Chairman …
                    18 September 2015 at 11:05 pm

                    Of course not (as Hosking put it) That was most likely also part his stratagem. However, she could have handled far better, as I’ve already explained to you above.

                    The way she handled it also fell into his stratagem, handing him a larger stick to bash the left.

                    Therefore, you are now going over covered ground. Clearly, you’ve got nothing new to add

                    And again, it was a general example – not a specific one. As we also already covered.

                    You’re the one that specifically named Joyce and Hosking, implying its never worked on them, thus I called you out.

                    Now your speculating on who tunes in, hence I’m now also calling you on that too.

                    No, that was an example of you’re amateurish spin, which I just unspun and served back to you.

                    Too easy. Up your game.

                    • McFlock …
                      18 September 2015 at 11:22 pm

                      You’ve outlined alternative ways she could have handled it. They were not ways she could have handled it “better”, for reasons I have already explained to you above.

                      Yes, I specifically named joyce and hosking, for the simple reason that they were the people she was facing. In order for her to deal with something “better” in that situation, it needs to work on them, not just “generally”. Again, a reference to the real world rather than an excuse.

                      Saying that people who tune in to watch hosking’s programme are tuning in to watch hosking’s programme is not speculation. It’s a statement of the obvious: the “audience” you wanted king to win over choose to tune in to hosking. Hosking is a rabid national party propagandist and I believe a former national party candidate, as well as a fuckwit. You wanted king to appeal to people who choose to tune in to watch that type of person. My speculation is that singing the internationale wasn’t going to do the job.

                  • The Chairman …
                    19 September 2015 at 12:15 am

                    Yes. I did outline how. And explained why it was an improvement. Moreover, I fully countered your flawed reasoning on every point.

                    I know you named them. Hence, I called you out on it.

                    And you still haven’t shown that it wouldn’t have worked on them.

                    I also gave an example (the quick jab approach) which you conceded has worked on them. King just didn’t apply it well, thus fell into his stratagem.

                    Therefore, it’s time for you to front up.

                    You were speculating on the mindset of who tunes in – not the obvious, they’re tuning in to Hosking’s show, as you just spun.

                    Not everybody that tunes in has the same mindset as you incorrectly implied. I don’t support Hosking, but I tune in.

                    I wanted King to up her game and not fall into his stratagem, making the left look bad.

                    • McFlock …
                      19 September 2015 at 12:39 am

                      Here’s the thing: you reckon she could have done better against hosking and joyce in that conversation. Not some general hypothetical debate, you reckon she should have done better in that specific, precise circumstance.

                      So maybe you could demonstrate how your suggestions would be “better” in that precise, specific incident against those specific people, rather than pretending that naming the specific people in that specific situation is somehow a dirty trick to “call me out on”.

                      You talked about how she should have won the audience over in that specific conversation. The nature of that specific audience is therefore a reasonable factor to consider. You watched it. so did morrissey. Big deal. Surely it’s a reasonable assumption to assume the bulk of the audience were fans of the host, rather than frustrated lefties more eager to score points against Labour than the tories?

                      The one time she followed “your” strategem, you didn’t like the result. There’s no pleasing some people, I guess.

                  • The Chairman …
                    19 September 2015 at 1:38 am

                    Indeed. We both know she could have done better. And how has been demonstrated/outlined above. She even used an approach I gave as an example. Which you went on to concede worked. However, her execution was flawed.

                    But this, is once again, all covered ground.

                    I didn’t say or pretend naming them was a dirty trick. That’s more of your lies and spin

                    I was calling you out on your claim that another of my examples wouldn’t have (because you implied it never has). Thus I called you on it.

                    Claiming I’m not in the real world or spinning it proves nothing. You’ re just wasting my time.

                    How about you cut the crap, front up and substantiate your claim. Or own that you’re wrong

                    The make up of the mindset of the bulk of the audience is anybodies guess. People may have tuned in because she was airing. Moreover,you went further than just assuming, thus I’m calling you on your claim.

                    You may be happy with a poor performance and making the left look bad. I know she is cable of better, thus expected better.

                    Do you work for her? You seem overly keen to defend her.

                    • McFlock …
                      19 September 2015 at 8:01 pm

                      You want evidence that you live in a fantasy land? How about your repeated claims of what I do and do not know. Not only are those claims without basis, they frequently run contrary to everything I’ve said.

                      You want to know why I give a shit? I’m not employed by labour, anyone in labour, and I’m not employed to comment here. I give a shit because I think that the eternal bitching by self-loathing labourites is the haemorrhoids on the arsehole of the left. They profess genuine concern and a goodwilled desire for caucus to “improve”, but really they’re just throwing their toys out of the cot. Leadership and caucus can be huge puss-filled pimples on the face of Labour and the left, but some of the tories’ best allies are self-proclaimed lefties who whinge obsessively. In my opinion, anyway.

                  • The Chairman …
                    19 September 2015 at 8:14 pm

                    Well, considering I countered all your points thus far (and you even conceded to a couple) you should very well know. Therefore, your evidence doesn’t really stack up.

                    As for the rest of your post, it’s merely your opinion. And you know what they say about opinions? They are like assholes, everybody has one. And I just kicked yours.

                    [lprent: Claiming victory around here is dangerous. I like to exhibit it too. But I have more toolkit and I really don’t care about do the debating bit. I jump to you losing.

                    If you use anything like a pwned/owned strategy, I will happily demonstrate who always wins. It is the sysop, who has had to clean up too many flamewars caused by jumped up gits playing stupid debating games. Read the policy on flamewars. This is your only warning. Let me know when you have read this. It will be in auto-moderation. ]

                    • The Chairman …
                      19 September 2015 at 9:51 pm

                      OK.

                    • The Chairman …
                      19 September 2015 at 9:56 pm

                      By the way, I posted in a couple of other threads before reading this. Will they now be released? Or will I have to re-post them?

                      [r0b: released the commments, left automod on for lprent to decide.]

                    • The Chairman …
                      20 September 2015 at 11:11 am

                      lprent

                      The OK was in reference to reading your warning.

                      Here’ my perspective.

                      You wanted me to engage more, thus I was. Countering points being made (debating).

                      Nevertheless, it takes two to participate in a so-called flame war. I don’t see McFlock being warned for his participation.

                      Furthermore, when ones opponent resorts to strawmans, spin and lies to points made, clearly they have no credible counter, thus are losing the debate. Hence, I wasn’t claiming victory, merely stating fact. Which surely isn’t against this site’s policy?

                      Therefore, now that this has been made clear, I would expect you (if you are balanced and reasonable) to reconsider and revoke the warning made.

                      [lprent: Don’t try to use strawman arguments on me! Read the warning. Nothing you said here has ANYTHING to do with that warning. I wasn’t talking about the conversation you were having. That was fine. You can argue that all you want.

                      What I warned you about was using pwned/owned arguments. That is a specific flamewar starter that I look for, and stomp on hard. You may have noticed that others don’t use it? There is a reason for that.

                      If you can’t read clear warnings, I will take what I consider is the appropriate action. ]

                    • The Chairman …
                      20 September 2015 at 11:18 am

                      Additionally, people like me are beneficial to Labour. it allows them to covertly test voter support of their position (or newly considered policy) while gauging potential counters to positions being considered.

                      Allowing them to better counter things or improve them, before going public.

                    • McFlock …
                      20 September 2015 at 8:45 pm

                      well, all that was your opinion, I guess.

                      Do you want to keep monday-morning-refereeing two short comments King made in a panel discussion, or are we done here?

            • The Chairman 15.2.1.1.1.2
              17 September 2015 at 8:37 am

              Additionally, Annette is one that is capable of dishing it out. Unfortunately, she decided not too.

          • Tracey 15.2.1.1.2
            17 September 2015 at 1:36 pm

            yup… when the left quietly aquiecse to the notion that left = bad… what hope?

            • The Chairman 15.2.1.1.2.1
              17 September 2015 at 2:07 pm

              What hope indeed.

              Her response helped seal the perception Hosking was attempting to paint.

              And we know Annette (a well seasoned MP) is more capable than that.

    • Bill 15.3
      18 September 2015 at 6:29 pm

      Q. – But surely Annette, you couldn’t endorse his positions could you?

      Answer: “Why not?”

      The questioner then (I think) has no option but to list/rant various ‘outrageous positions’ .

      Points can be agreed with, repudiated or ignored and at the end something like “So, we know you certainly don’t endorse him Mike…but that’s no surprise to anyone”, can be thrown in.

      Take away confidence, insert fear or uncertainty (a constant state of affairs for the NZ Labour Party, it seems) – and you get something along the lines of what happened.

  16. Morrissey 16
    16 September 2015 at 10:02 am

    Jerry Seinfeld, Andrew Dice Clay and Sasha Baron Cohen eat your hearts out:
    Here’s another insane right wing “comedian”.

    Wayne Rogers used to play the part of Trapper John in the hit television show M*A*S*H. Trapper John was a funny, witty, nice guy. Wayne Rogers, on the other hand, is neither funny nor witty nor nice….

    Fox Guest EXPLODES: Will You SHUP UP? You’re a MORON https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZH4xm8_SPw

  17. vto 17
    16 September 2015 at 11:42 am

    Just when are farmers going to stop demanding to eat the environment?

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/72042704/grasmere-station-owners-doing-everything-humanly-possible-to-limit-lake-pollution

    Isn’t it clear that farming has ruined this lake in just the last recent years? Yet he wants to intensify further?

    Do these guys have rocks in their heads or something?…. Listen to what the planet and people are telling you mr farmer….stop acting like a child …. stop and listen to what you are being told …..

    … the land cannot be irrigated as it is way too sensitive. Stop trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Ffs.

    … when will farmers learn to farm within the confines of their farm and their climate? If it is a dry place then farm as a dry place.

    ffs, farmers attitudes and approaches drive me nuts with their square-peg-round-hole demands.

    edit: whats the bet that the previous owners of this station always used to claim “blah blah we are custodians of the land and want to leave it better for the next generation blah blah”. All farmers do. Yet the evidence shows that farmers have NEVER left the land in a better condition for the future. Never. It is a lie. Proved by their own actions and results.

    • weka 17.1
      16 September 2015 at 1:51 pm

      Yeah that one makes me see red too. I wonder how much is a result of 30 years of neoliberalism socialising people into an overdevelopped sense of entitlement. Adding that to the culture of importance within some farming sectors, plus the banks and farm advisors encouraging all their clients to see the environement in terms of profit, it’s a bad mix.

      If you’ve done everything you can to protect the environment and you’re still polluting it, then you just have to stop farming.

    • weka 17.2
      16 September 2015 at 1:55 pm

      edit: whats the bet that the previous owners of this station always used to claim “blah blah we are custodians of the land and want to leave it better for the next generation blah blah”. All farmers do. Yet the evidence shows that farmers have NEVER left the land in a better condition for the future. Never. It is a lie. Proved by their own actions and results.

      There are whole systems of farming that address this, broadly called regenerative agriculture and holistic land management. Biodynamics and some organic farms too. The underlying ethos is that all practices have to build health in the land not deplete it ie there is a net increase. There are farmers in NZ already doing this, and there is no reason that we couldn’t be doing this en masse, apart from greed, ignorance, and the control that the banks and Fed Farmers have.

      • Draco T Bastard 17.2.1
        16 September 2015 at 2:51 pm

        There are farmers in NZ already doing this, and there is no reason that we couldn’t be doing this en masse, apart from greed, ignorance, and the control that the banks and Fed Farmers have.

        True and the only way that we will get the farmers doing sustainable farming is to legislate for it. The farmers will whinge for awhile but I think that they’d all come around eventually.

        I also think we need to limit farming to ~15% of the land mass of the country and to suitable locations.

  18. James 18
    16 September 2015 at 1:38 pm

    From the Conservatives youtube channel this morning…

    • Mrs Brillo 19.1
      16 September 2015 at 3:24 pm

      For a man who owes his job to the charity of the National party, he shows precious little charity of his own.

      • Tracey 19.1.1
        17 September 2015 at 4:10 pm

        he has only just realised that he and his friends had advantages growing up… so one step at a time

  20. The Chairman 20
    16 September 2015 at 2:39 pm

    The vulnerable are missing out.

    Paula Bennett said more money would be pumped into social services if it was needed but she didn’t think funding was the issue.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72055569/government-needs-to-do-more-than-just-tinker-with-social-services–report

    But haven’t reports cited low benefit payments as a contributing factor adding to social, health, and poverty problems? Therefore, isn’t more money needed?

    Thoughts?

    • Draco T Bastard 20.1
      16 September 2015 at 2:54 pm

      More money is needed but that means that the rich will have to pay more in taxes and wages and National won’t support that.

      • The Chairman 20.1.1
        16 September 2015 at 3:36 pm

        Not necessarily, the long-term savings in health and other related areas can offset an increase.

        Moreover, there was little public outcry when National recently increase some benefits.

        Labour should take note.

    • tracey 20.2
      16 September 2015 at 3:03 pm

      funding isn’t the issue if you cut off claims at the pass

  21. greywarshark 21
    16 September 2015 at 2:53 pm

    A Guardian short address on post capitalism by Paul Mason Journalist and very erudite and experienced observer.
    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2015/aug/12/paul-mason-capitalism-failing-time-to-panic-video
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mason_%28journalist%29
    (Not the worlds previous fattest man!)

    One on Jeremy Corbyn. Everyone knows who he is.
    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2015/sep/15/jeremy-corbyn-attacks-tory-welfare-bill-during-tuc-conference-video

  22. b waghorn 22
    16 September 2015 at 3:33 pm

    Please sir Mr Lprent the side bar is only showing the feeds and no comments or replies.

  23. Ad 23
    16 September 2015 at 3:57 pm

    From the US Federal Reserve today:

    Debt ratios have reached extreme levels across all major regions of the global economy, leaving the financial system acutely vulnerable to monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve, the world’s top financial watchdog has warned.

    The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said the wild market ructions of recent weeks and capital outflows from China are warning signs that the massive build-up in credit is coming back to haunt, compounded by worries that policymakers may be struggling to control events.

    “We are not seeing isolated tremors, but the release of pressure that has gradually accumulated over the years along major fault lines,” said Claudio Borio, the bank’s chief economist.

    ….So, if at all possible people, lower your mortgage, keep your cash savings high, and buckle in for the next really tough ride.
    😉

  25. Shane Le Brun 25
    16 September 2015 at 4:45 pm

    NZ Herald did a poll on Medical Cannabis, 70% support access to Medical Cannabis under strict conditions. I would take that as a win. Class B drugs by definition are strict anyway…..

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11512929

    • adam 25.1
      16 September 2015 at 5:37 pm

      About bloody time. OK let me add more having now read article. What planet is the Minister on? Evidence, bloody nora, has he not heard of google, or indeed “The American Journal of the Medical Sciences”? What does a minister have to read? It seems not a lot these days.

  26. The Chairman 26
    16 September 2015 at 7:27 pm

    Australia conducted their first air strikes in Syria.

    Australians learned about the first strike via the American military.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/72102727/australia-bombs-islamic-state-in-syria

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    SciBlogsBy Siouxsie Wiles
    3 days ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #14
    Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... North Atlantic's capacity to absorb CO2 overestimated, study suggests Research into ocean’s plankton likely to lead to ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • The Americans are trying to kill us all again
    The Treaty on Open Skies is one of the most effective mechanisms for preventing war curently in force. By letting countries make surveillance flights over each others' territory, it eliminates fears that they are secretly preparing for war. So naturally, the US is planning to withdraw from it: The Trump ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Life in Lock Down: Day 11
    . . April 5: Day eleven of living in lock-down… My one day of rest for the week, and an opportunity to mow my lawns – which I’d been delaying for about three weeks. (On the plus side, the damp micro-climate in my back yard yielded three lovely fresh mushrooms ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago

  • Now we know what the rules are
    As the lockdown has gone on, disquiet about what the rules were and the police's enforcement of them has grown. On Friday, Police admitted that they were abusing routine traffic stops to effectively set up illegal checkpoints, and on Saturday Stuff revealed internal police advice saying that they actually needed ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Anti-fluoridation propaganda now relies on only four studies. 2: Green et al (2019)
    Paul Connett is putting all his eggs in one basket. He says “you only have to read four studies” to find community after fluoridation harmful. Image credit: Fluoride Action Network newsletter. For part 1 of this series see Anti-fluoridation propaganda now relies on only four studies. 1: Bashash et al (2018). Paul Connett, ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    3 days ago

  • Hard News: Splore Listening Lounge 2020: the road to a “yes” vote
    As far as anyone can say, New Zeaand still has a general election scheduled for September 19 this year. The election will be accompanied by two referenda, one of which will ask voters:Do you support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill?The official campaign period for the cannabis referendum begins ...
    Public Address
    3 days ago

  • Obituary for The New Zealand Listener (1939-2020)
    The vast majority of tributes to the Listener hearken back to its glory days, with little reflection on the magazine as it was at its end.I wrote for it, for half the Listener’s life; I have known personally all the editors except the first (mythical) three. From 1978 to 2014 ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    3 days ago

  • Universal income – a challenge to capitalism or a crutch?
    As the world economy slides rapidly towards deep recession there are growing calls for a Universal Benefit coming from some leftists and rightists. Now Finance Minister Grant Robertson is saying it is on the table.  This article by a French party Workers Struggle provides analysis of various forms of universal ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    4 days ago

  • Anti-fluoridation propaganda now relies on only four studies. 1: Bashash et al (2018)
    This is the advice from the very top of the anti-fluoride movement – Paul Connett, director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). Don’t worry about reading  up on all the scientific information “You only have ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    4 days ago

  • Life in Lock Down: Day 10
    . . April 4: Day 10 of living in lock-down… I wake up to a fine Saturday morning which normally would be like an early Christmas. But it’s Day 10 of Level 4 Lock Down. What  will my fellow New Zealanders be doing on a day like this – staying ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    4 days ago

  • Redline reaching out to more writers & readers
    Some time during the night we went over the 850,000 views mark. We might have had our millionth view by the end of this year – certainly by early next year. Most of the people involved in Redline spent years and years producing various small left-wing papers and selling them ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    4 days ago

  • Keir Starmer elected
    Comfortably, in the very first round, with an impressive 56% of the votes.I wonder, did members of the Shadow Cabinet start tweeting their resignations during Starmer's victory speech, or is that only a trick the right pull?It is odd how all the talk of how the next leader "needs to ...
    Left hand palmBy lurgee
    4 days ago

  • Hard News: Michael Baker and the Big House
    One of the key voices in this extraordinary time in which we live is that of University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker. Philip Matthews did an an excellent job this weekend of capturing the way he became the man for this moment in a profile for The Press.But one ...
    Public Address
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand Gives up on Trying to Save Daylight
    New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addressed the nation today about the decline in daylight New Zealand has been experiencing over the previous few months. She said “As many of you will notice, our attempts to stem the dwindling of the daylight over the last few months have been completely ...
    Can of wormsBy Can of Worms, Opened
    5 days ago

  • A bulletin from Greece
    Redline received this article from the KOE a Marxist party in Greece Our friends in the KOE describe here the mounting crisis in Greece and tensions on the Turkish border. As desperate people flee from their homelands which have been ruined after decades of imperialist wars and interventions the people ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    5 days ago

  • And God spake all these words, saying
    As the first week of Level Four lockdown unfolded, mounting questions grew as to just what was (and was not) allowed under its “rules”. Partly these were driven by some apparently contradictory messages from different authority figures and explanations carried in the media. Partly they reflected a somewhat sketchy legal basis ...
    PunditBy Andrew Geddis
    5 days ago

  • Life in Lock Down: Day 9
    . . April 3: Day 9 of living in lock-down… Another late-start to my work day. Everything is temporarily upended as clients are shuffled around so we can minimise our “bubble” by reducing the number of people we help. One of my colleagues has been removed from his clients; his ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    5 days ago

  • Death to our lockdown enemies!
    We must root out the traitors among us! ...
    Imperator FishBy Scott Yorke
    6 days ago

  • Climate Change: The benefits of electrification
    In order to meet our 2050 carbon target and do our bit to avoid making the Earth uninhabitable, New Zealand needs to decarbonise our economy, replacing fossil fuels with electricity in the energy, industrial and transport sectors. The good news is that it will mean cheaper power for all of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Life in Lock Down: Day 8 (sanitised version)
    For those folk who find my other Lock-Down Diary versions too “negative” or otherwise unpalatable… Here’s a photo of a pretty flower, .   . Better? Tomorrow’s Sanitised Version: a cute animal video. . . . =fs= ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    6 days ago

  • Life in Lock Down: Day 8
    . . April 2: Day eight of living in lock-down… Today, my work day starts late. Our rosters and clients have been dramatically changed, lessening (theoretically) the number of people in our work “bubble”.  If just one of us catches covid19 the impact could be considerable as Grey Base Hospital ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    6 days ago

  • A note on apartments and bubbles
    As Aotearoa enters week two of lockdown, it’s clear we’re all still working out what our “bubbles” look like and how to stay in them to stop the spread of Covid-19. New to the government’s Covid-19 website is some good guidance for people living in apartment blocks. Recent decades have ...
    SciBlogsBy Siouxsie Wiles
    6 days ago

  • Getting in futures shape 
    “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” Lenin Don’t we all know that feeling now.

    Prospect Magazine alerted me to this particularly apt quote. It is a much more evocative quote than Hemingway’s “gradually then suddenly” which is also doing ...

    SciBlogsBy Robert Hickson
    6 days ago

  • Maybe axing Clark would be unfair. But what about any of this is fair?
    Yesterday was the day the consequences of the lockdown suddenly got very real for many. Firms have been closing and laying people off since the outset of the quarantine but this has mostly been happening out of the public eye. The mass closure of a number of iconic New Zealand ...
    PunditBy Liam Hehir
    6 days ago

  • Might a ‘Coasean’ social contract mitigate overall societal harm from COVID-19?
    Brian Williamson1, Prof Nick Wilson2 (1Economic consultant, UK; 2University of Otago Wellington) In this blog, we outline how a win-win social contract could be forged to address the major dimensions of response to the COVID-19 pandemic when using a mitigation strategy: the particular need to protect older people from high ...
    SciBlogsBy Public Health Expert
    6 days ago

  • Returning To “Normalcy”.
    Resuming Normal Service: The Republican Party's nominee for in 1920, Warren Harding, promised the American people: “not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration”. If she wishes to remain our prime minister, then Jacinda Ardern will offer New Zealanders the same.HOW EDUCATED AMERICA snickered when the ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • New Zealand’s Government Must Save New Zealand’s Media.
    No Free Society Without A Free And Functioning News Media: If we are to surrender our civil rights to the broader cause of defeating Covid-19, then foreign corporations must, likewise, surrender their right to inflict immense economic and cultural harm on New Zealanders simply because it improves their bottom line.I’M ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Corona fevers and the madness of models
    by Daphna Whitmore A third of the world is under lockdown and a clear assessment of this measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 is urgently needed.  With any high-stakes decisions it has to be asked what are we dealing with here? Are the measures warranted? Will they achieve their ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    6 days ago

  • Lockdown day 8
    I haven’t done a huge amount in the last few days. I’m reading The Poppy War and I’ve sort of poked at a couple of games – I started SOMA but I’m a wimp and I quit while in the first room after the brain scan. I might try it ...
    The little pakehaBy chrismiller
    7 days ago

  • Backstage and Theatre
    The swan politicians may be gliding on the water, occasionally snapping at one another. Meanwhile, as the Covid19 crisis illustrates, the officials are desperately paddling below providing the real locomotion. One of the most fatuous recent grandstanding comments (of about a week ago), adding to the public’s anxieties, was ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago

  • Legal Beagle: Waiver, the singular Crown and the conduct of Crown legal business
    Much has been written about the importance of discretion in an emergency situation, and the concerns raised by the potential for it to be exercised arbitrarily. Given the quality of the discussion, there seemed little point in adding to it at any length. In particular, I point to the evidence ...
    Public Address
    7 days ago

  • Highlights from Bauer Media’s science-related reporting
    Today has felt surreal. I was all set to touch base online with my science communication students when a colleague shared the news that Bauer Media would be shutting down its publications immediately. The first link I saw implied it was Woman’s Weekly affected, and even that shocked me. But ...
    SciBlogsBy Sarah-Jane O'Connor
    7 days ago

  • Outsiders.
    Bogeymen, Real And Imagined: Is the number of psychopathic and sociopathic individuals in any given society truly as vanishingly small as we like to tell ourselves? Isn’t it more likely that the mass-shooters and serial-killers filling the headlines represent only the tip of a much, much larger iceberg of frightfulness? ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • We have a right to know the rules we are expected to obey
    Outgoing Police Commissioner Mike Bush appeared before the Epidemic Response Committee today, who asked him for the rules police are using to enforce the lockdown. He refused:Police Commissioner Mike Bush has admitted the advice given to Kiwis about what they're able to do during the lockdown hasn't been clear enough. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Life in Lock Down: Day 7 (sanitised version)
    For those folk who find my other Lock-Down Diary versions too “negative” or otherwise unpalatable… Here’s a photo of my cat, . . Better? Tomorrow’s Sanitised Version: a pretty flower. . . . =fs= ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    7 days ago

  • Life in Lock Down: Day 7
    . . April 1: Day seven of living in lock-down… This morning I had a brief chat with one of my neighbours, “D” (social distance between us, a good three or four metres). I learned he had resigned from his previous job and had been hired by another company – ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    7 days ago

  • RIP The Listener, New Zealand’s pioneering voice
    Funnily enough, my thought as I start this post is whether it will be well written enough. Or should that be well enough written? Because so much of what I know about good writing came from my two stints at The Listener, which this morning was shut down due to ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    7 days ago

  • OK, Britney: stop sniping at National for doing its job
    With normal democratic procedures in abeyance, there were two ways to go. First, it was open for the government to dissolve itself and invite the National Party to join a ministry of national salvation. That would have lessened the democratic deficit of the times by having a team of rivals without ...
    PunditBy Liam Hehir
    1 week ago

  • Helpful tips for parents during lockdown
    Dr Kirsty Ross Children and young people can respond differently in times of distress. This also varies by age and developmental stage, with younger children having more magical and imaginative thinking, and older children having more awareness and knowledge of the issues our communities are facing (which brings up ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #13, 2020
    46 Articles Physical science of global warming & effects Global response of evapotranspiration ratio to climate conditions and watershed characteristics in a changing environment Greenhouse effect: the relative contributions of emission height and total absorption Observations & observational methods of global warming & effects Climate change induced a ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Hungary is now a dictatorship
    Hungary has been a virtual dictatorship for a decade now, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has gradually eroded its democracy. But now, its official, with the passage of an indefinite emergency law allowing rule by decree:Hungary’s parliament has passed a new set of coronavirus measures that includes jail terms for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • A new Ministry of Works
    While the economy is on pause under lockdown, the government is beginning to plan how to cope with the post-lockdown, post-tourism, post-export education world we will eventually find ourselves in. They're planning a lot of infrastructure spending as economic stimulus, and have asked for proposals which can start the moment ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Capture: Well spaced out
    It's my distraction,  setting up tiny scenes to photograph.  I've got stuck on the Babushka dolls for now.  Something about their bubble shape.  Something about their never changing, smiling features, suggesting persistent equanimity.  Can we get through everything that is being thrown at us and keep at least a tiny ...
    Public Address
    1 week ago

  • Life in Lock Down: Day 6
    . . March 31: Day six of living in lock-down… This time I managed to sleep a little longer and the alarm woke me at the pre-set time: 6.55am. Then remembered I was working a later shift and could’ve slept in. Oh well, there are things to do at home. ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    1 week ago

  • March ’20 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking
    Image credit: Diamond Harbour School Blogs I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    1 week ago

  • Hard News: Poll Pot and the partisans
    Yesterday's Horizon poll showing support for a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum sliding into the majority for the first time in a year looked like good news for reformers – and it probably is. But the result warrants some scrutiny.The poll is the fifth in a series commissioned ...
    Public Address
    1 week ago

  • Why those bubbles are so important
    For almost a week now, every one of us who isn’t an essential worker has been confined to their bubble. We are allowed to go shopping for groceries, to visit the doctor, and to get a bit of exercise if we stay local. The reason we are doing this is ...
    SciBlogsBy Siouxsie Wiles
    1 week ago

  • A Government System That Works
    The Covid-19 saga will no doubt produce many twists and turns for us before it is finally brought to an end. But one thing it has shown us – and what comfort it should bring us – is that our country’s government is in good hands. I am not thinking ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    1 week ago

  • Smashing down the barriers: Where are we at with COVID vaccines?
    In the absence of a vaccine or a cure for a deadly disease, staying home in your bubble is what you do, the concept is not new.  To the best of my knowledge last time we did this in NZ was for polio, in the years before a vaccine came ...
    SciBlogsBy Helen Petousis Harris
    1 week ago

  • National Network on Cuba (USA): “Cuban medical solidarity is a pillar of its society and is founde...
    The following statement was released on March 28 by the National Network on Cuba, a coalition of 40 groups, based in the United States. In recent weeks, Cuba has deployed hundreds of medical providers to over a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, as well as to their neighbors in Latin ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    1 week ago

  • Alarming decrease in calves increases fears for endangered Hector’s dolphin
    This has been a terrible summer for Hector’s dolphins. The first indication was very low numbers of dolphin sightings during late spring and early summer. The Otago University Marine Mammal Research Team has carried out routine dolphin surveys at Banks Peninsula for more than 30 years. In all that time, ...
    SciBlogsBy Otago Marine Science
    1 week ago

  • Time for Grant Robertson to reveal package #2?
    On March 17, Finance Minister Grant Robertson was quick out of the blocks with an economic rescue package to help businesses through the inevitable recession resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Robertson had pulled together a scheme in short order that so far seems to have saved many jobs. In his ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    1 week ago

  • Saving lives
    The purpose of the lockdown is to save lives, by reducing the spread of covid-19. We won't know if its really working for another week, but given the devastation that will result if it doesn't - 14,000 dead is the optimistic scenario - its definitely worth trying. But pausing the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Life in Lock Down: Day 5
    . . March 30: Day five of living in lock-down… Woke up still in darkness. Alarm hadn’t gone off. Turn to radio clock; it’s a few minutes after 6am… I lie there in the dark, waiting to drift off to sleep… but it ain’t happening. Clock ticks over to 6.55 ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    1 week ago

  • Speaker: Les Gray: the man who told the truth
    The story of Les Gray, the public sector psychologist who told the truth about his use of cannabis and set off a storm, has a special place in the lore of cannabis reform in New Zealand.When Paul Shannon interviewed Gray for the 'Dope and Hope' issue of Planet magazine in ...
    Public Address
    1 week ago

  • Why now? Historical specificity and the perfect storm that has created trans identity politics
    by Phil Duncan For Marxists, a key concern about social trends is their context – not just their causes, but why they happen when they do.  Events and phenomena have causes, but they also are time or period-specific. While much of the left have capitulated recently to postmodernism, most notably ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    1 week ago

Older posts

  • More time for health workers and elderly to get flu vaccine
    The Government has extended by two weeks till April 27 the amount of time priority groups, such as health workers and those aged over 65, have to get their flu vaccine before it is made available to the wider public. This year’s vaccination campaign is a key component of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 hour ago

  • Communities step up to help New Zealanders stay connected and fed during lockdown
    Communities stepping up to help New Zealanders stay at home to break the transmission of COVID-19 and save lives have received Government support, said Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “Delivering groceries for the elderly who can’t shop online, providing data packs for low income families to keep them connected, and being ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • 120 COVID-19 testing centres now operating
    Across New Zealand 120 sites are taking samples to be tested for COVID-19.   68 community based assessment centres (CBACs) have been established to take samples from people with COVID-19 symptoms. Alongside this, 52 other centres including designated general practices, swabbing centres, and mobile clinics are now testing people for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Covid19: Government moving quickly to roll out learning from home
    The Ministry of Education is working with partners to develop a package of options so that students can learn at home when Term 2 begins on 15 April, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. Supports are also being prepared for households with children under five, to help parents and whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Making learning from home accessible to Māori learners and whānau
    Māori Television to begin educational te reo programmes Ki te Ao Mārama – a new online learning space Thousands of hard copy learning packs ready for distribution Helpdesk and advice service for kōhanga, kura and wharekura Television, the internet and hard copy learning packs are some of the ways whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago

  • New Zealand to provide assistance to Vanuatu following Tropical Cyclone Harold
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced an initial package of support to help the people and the Government of Vanuatu respond to the impact of Tropical Cyclone Harold. “Our Pacific neighbours have been hit by a Category 5 Cyclone at the same time as dealing with the economic impacts ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago

  • Planning for the future of tourism
    Tourism New Zealand to lead work reimagining the way tourism operates in post-COVID-19 world. Ministers to review International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy investment plan. The Government, industry and business are working together to develop a plan for how tourism will operate in a post-COVID-19 world, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • NZ horticulture sector feeding Kiwis and the world during COVID-19
    More New Zealanders are taking up the chance to work in horticulture as the sector keeps New Zealanders fed and in jobs during the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Work to repurpose PGF funds begins
    The Provincial Development Unit is working through applications and projects to see where Provincial Growth Fund money can be repurposed for initiatives deemed more critical to fighting the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “We need to be throwing everything we have at ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • A million workers supported by Govt wage subsidy
    The Government’s wage subsidy to protect jobs and keep workers and businesses connected during the lockdown has now supported over a million New Zealanders, with $6.6 billion already paid out. “We’re supporting businesses to pay wages, and stay connected with their workers so that we are all in a better ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government helps Pacific communities fight COVID
    The Government is stepping up efforts to help protect New Zealand’s Pacific communities in the fight against COVID-19. Cabinet has agreed that $17 million will be allocated to support a COVID-19 Pacific Response Package, which will: Support Pacific health and disability services facing increased demand; Ramp up public health messaging ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Statement from the Prime Minister on Dr David Clark
    “Yesterday evening the Health Minister advised me of his trip to a beach during the lockdown and offered his resignation,” Jacinda Ardern said.  “Under normal conditions I would sack the Minister of Health. What he did was wrong, and there are no excuses.  “But right now, my priority is our ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Statement from David Clark
    Last night as part of my preparation for the Epidemic Response Committee, I provided the Prime Minister with a complete picture of my activity outside my home during Alert Level 4.  That included the fact that on the first weekend of the Alert Level 4 lockdown I drove my family ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • COVID-19 mental health support begins
    A range of support is being rolled out across New Zealand to help people look after their mental health during COVID-19 Health Minister David Clark said this morning. “COVID-19 has brought a lot of uncertainty into our lives and many of us will be feeling some level of distress or ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealanders in Peru to be assisted by Government charter flight
    The New Zealand Government has made arrangements to charter a flight for New Zealanders stranded in Peru to depart the country, following agreement with the Chilean government to allow the necessary transit through Chile, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. “Like many travellers around the world at the moment, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • COVID-19 Hospital Preparation Well Advanced
    Hospital preparations for COVID-19 are well advanced says Health Minister David Clark. “Hospitals across New Zealand are repurposing buildings and training staff to get ready for COVID-19 patients. This gives me confidence that we are well prepared for any potential increase in COVID-19 patients needing hospital level care,” said David ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Further measures to support businesses
    The Government will be introducing legislation to make changes to the Companies Act to help companies facing insolvency due to COVID-19 to remain viable and keep New Zealanders in jobs. The temporary changes include: Giving directors of companies facing significant liquidity problems because of COVID-19 a ‘safe harbour’ from insolvency ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Govt’s COVID plan, economic strength recognised
    The Government’s plan to cushion the blow of COVID-19 by supporting incomes, jobs and businesses, and position the economy to recover has been backed by another international report. International credit rating agency Moody’s today reaffirmed its highest Aaa credit rating on New Zealand, saying the economy is expected to remain ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Funding certainty for sports through COVID-19
    National sports organisations have been given certainty of funding to ensure they can remain viable through the COVID-19 pandemic, Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “The global spread of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on sport and recreation in New Zealand, including the cancellation or postponement of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Butchers now allowed to process pork
    Changes have been made to allow butchers to process pork, only for supply to supermarkets or other processors or retailers that are open, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “We carefully weighed the risk of allowing butchers to open their shops for retail customers, but the risk of spreading COVID-19 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Essential workers leave scheme established
    Essential workers who take leave from work to comply with public health guidance are being supported with a leave scheme to ensure they will continue to receive income, say the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Iain Lees-Galloway and Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni. A number of essential businesses ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Govt WhatsApp helps share COVID-19 information
    A Government WhatsApp channel has been launched to help make information more easily accessible and shareable in the fight against COVID-19. Govt.NZ, which is free to use on any mobile device, will carry information and news for the public, businesses, healthcare providers, not for profits and local government. It can ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Managed departure plan for stranded foreign nationals enables safe, orderly exit
    The Government has announced a plan to enable the safe, orderly exit of tens of thousands of stranded foreign nationals from New Zealand during the current COVID-19 Alert Level 4 restrictions, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters has said. “When we moved into lockdown a week ago, the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Government delivers COVID-19 support to GPs and Pharmacies
    Health Minister Dr David Clark says the Government is delivering on its commitment to support general practice doctors and nurses, and pharmacies on the front-line of our fight against COVID-19. "For us to overcome COVID-19, we need community health services such as general practice and community pharmacy to step up ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Susan Thomas the new Chief High Court Judge
    Justice Susan Thomas has been appointed Chief High Court Judge, Attorney-General David Parker announced today.  She replaces Justice Geoffrey Venning who has resigned from the position.   David Parker paid tribute to Justice Venning, who he said had stewarded the High Court very capably over the last five years.   “On behalf ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Business Finance Guarantee – applications open
    Businesses can start applying to their banks for loans under the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme set up to support the New Zealand economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re moving quickly to protect New Zealand businesses, jobs and the economy during this unprecedented global economic shock,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Work starts on ways to fast-track consents to boost recovery from Covid-19 downturn
    Work is underway looking at measures to speed up consents for development and infrastructure projects during the recovery from COVID 19, to provide jobs and stimulate our economy.  Environment Minister David Parker said the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global crisis that will have a wide ranging and lasting impact ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Advance payments to support contractors
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  • Government seeks infrastructure projects
    The Government has tasked a group of industry leaders to seek out infrastructure projects that are ready to start as soon as the construction industry returns to normal to reduce the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones say. The Infrastructure ...
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  • Health system scaled up to prepare for COVID-19
    Work to scale up the health system in preparation for COVID-19 was today outlined by Health Minister David Clark, as he reported back to the new Epidemic Response Committee. “We are well placed to contain the spread of COVID-19. We have taken early and decisive action at our borders, and ...
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  • Essential media COVID-19 guidelines refined
    The Government is refining its COVID-19 essential business guidance to include the distribution of news publications for communities which are hard to reach. The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, Kris Faafoi, said the move was in recognition of the importance for New Zealanders who might be harder to ...
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  • Supermarkets able to open on Easter Sunday
    The Government is ensuring supermarkets can open on Easter Sunday so we can buy groceries, but stay closed on Good Friday allowing workers to take a break. This provides a balanced approach and ensures we avoid large queues that two days closure may cause. “Supermarkets will be able to open ...
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  • New Zealand defence personnel conclude mission at Taji
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  • State of National Emergency extended
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  • Strong Govt books support ‘go hard, go early’ response
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  • Christchurch Hospital Hagley ICU to open to support COVID-19 response
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  • Government supports Air NZ freight flights
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  • Tariff concessions on COVID-19 related products
    New Zealand will temporarily remove tariffs on all medical and hygiene imports needed for the COVID-19 response. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said today that the New Zealand Customs Service will apply tariff concessions to all diagnostic reagents and testing ...
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  • Clarification of modification to wage subsidy scheme
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  • Face masks flowing to DHBs
    Medical face masks from the national reserve supply are now being distributed to District Health Boards, while at the same time local production is being ramped up. Yesterday more than 640,000 masks were sent to DHBS – that is an immediate two week supply, with more to follow in coming ...
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