Thanks Carol…was just wondering how I could be involved. I am so glad to see this major issue coming out into the open…literally! Will be heading in today to show my support.
The full article is behind a paywall but the 1% really like to skite:
‘“profit margins have reached levels not seen in decades,” and “reductions in wages and benefits explain the majority of the net improvement.” (Cembalest printed the latter quote in boldfaced lettering.) “US labor compensation,” he explained, “is now at a 50-year low relative to both company sales and US GDP.” ‘
In the Sunday Star Times today, Green Party marine issues spokesman Gareth Hughes said the government needed to call a halt to a new marketing campaign aimed at foreign oil companies to open up our seas to more offshore oil exploration.
The government plans to appoint a “provider” to head this marketing campaign later in the year.
I wonder who it could be?
No doubt the unconscionable Owen Glen will be the front runner;
#1 Owen Glen has a history vigorously seeking a government sinecure.
#2 Owen Glen is an a strident and extremist advocate of fossil fuels extraction.
…the government is pushing ahead with plans to tout New Zealand’s offshore oil resources to overseas buyers.
The grounding of the cargo ship Rena has raised questions about New Zealand’s ability to cope with a major oil spill, but the government is planning an international marketing campaign to boost offshore oil and gas exploration over the next three years.
The Ministry of Economic Development plans to appoint a provider this year to identify – and market to – exploration companies around the world ahead of block licensing next year. Promotional workshops in London, Singapore and Houston are part of the plan.
Acting Energy Minister Hekia Parata told the Sunday Star-Times the government was committed to realising the potential of New Zealand’s petroleum basins.
“New Zealand is blessed with an abundance of energy resources and the government wants to use those resources in an environmentally safe way to secure our energy future, and to lift our standard of living,” said Parata,
Hekias stats in the SST article seemed a little unlikely – we get 4% of financial benefits (according to Gareth Hughes) which Parata says adds up to 2 billion plus going to the taxpayer….(The only other figure I have seen was more like $400 million)
According to these sums the industry in NZ is earning 50 billion a year? Really?
Is anyone able to shed any light on the veracity of Paratas claims?
This site: http://www.economywatch.com/economic-statistics/country/New-Zealand/
puts the value in 2010 at 1.584 billion US dollars which suggests that Hekia is quoting the total value of oil exports and not actual contribution to the NZ economy which is considerably less…
of course she is, you do not expect a National Party puppet to tell the truth about the economy do you? Be it revenue neutral taxes or foreign ownership of our assets. The Nats would not know how to begin to share facts with the public. They have been swallowing each others lies for so long that the spin cycle has engrained itself in their collective psyche. I sincerely believe they are convinced that black is white and down is up and nothing will get thewm to admit the shadow we are driving towards is not a scenic view but a tip face
The appalling lack of leadership and management in the initial days of the grounding of the Rena continues to be critiqued…..and Joyce, Key and Co are not looking good. Fits nicely with Tom Scott’s carton!
Why is Colin Peacocke trying to undermine Bomber Bradbury?
Media Watch, Radio New Zealand National, Sunday 16 October 2011
On last week’s Media Watch, Colin Peacocke launched into an extraordinary broadside against Bomber Bradbury, calling him a “bombastic blogger”, labeling his criticism of the Prime Minister’s conduct “a rant” and condemning him for his “lack of balance”.
Today, Peacocke continued his campaign. Throughout the item, Peacocke maintained an attitude of lofty disdain for Bomber, again calling him a “bombastic blogger”, labeling his comments a “rant” (he repeated that word several times) and claiming that he “wouldn’t let host Jim Mora get a word in” and had “used the programme as a megaphone”.
Peacocke—or was it one of the producers?—also arranged for letters of support for Bomber and even an item by Gordon Campbell to be read out by a man in the rasping adenoidal falsetto of a simpleton, with the obvious aim of ridiculing or undermining the support for Bomber.
Is there something personal behind this campaign? Or is Peacocke about to jump to NewstalkZB? The standard of his commentary is about what is required for that.
Sometimes I wonder about Media Watch. Their taste for making sardonic (sneering?) observations often seems to trump serious examination of issues and principles; and a world-weary cynicism about the media’s ability to treat stories in a competent way seems to creep in. With so much at stake in contemporary politics, methinks they should restrain their desire to look clever, for a while. I stopped finding entertainment in the train-wreck of NZ media some time ago.
As bad as Peacocke’s nasty little vendetta against Bomber is, Media Watch’s nadir was plumbed several years ago, when a supposedly serious investigation into the dire state of sports journalism in New Zealand featured a deathly serious interview with ….wait for it…. Martin “Moron” Devlin.
Two weeks after gift duty was axed, accountants and lawyers are overwhelmed with calls from clients wanting to give assets and cash to relatives or family trusts.
Daniel Hunt, a tax lecturer who runs a training and consulting practice, said that millions of dollars in assets and cash had already changed hands
Love these people to go down to the local public hospital and explain to the staff and patients why they should have to suffer resource-wise so they can have a few dollars.
Amazing contradictory statements of principle and disrespect for the spirit of democracy shown by John Banks on Qu & A this morning, with Christine Fletcher in supporting role.
Banks advocated some core principles of individual rights and responsibility. Christine Fletcher said the rest of the country don’t understand the situation of people in Epsom. There are large numbers of Epsomites now struggling to pay big mortgages and school fees and having to do several jobs to do it.
Banks then went on to say that Epsom people want a center right government, and they know JK/National won’t be able to do it without him being elected to Epsom, while also bringing 4 or more Act MPs into parliament on his coat-tails.
UNBELIEVABLE – and no-one on Qu and A questioned the blatant advocacy of breaching democratic principle by encouraging Epsomites to use an MMP loophole to decide the government for the whole country…. a country that includes people who can’t afford decent food, let alone big mortgages and private school fees… and large numbers of people who can’t get jobs, while it seems many in Epsom have 2 or 3 jobs.
How much responsibility is this showing for the inequalities and disadvantages for the many, currently seen in NZ?
” There are large numbers of Epsomites now struggling to pay big mortgages and school fees and having to do several jobs to do it”
These rich pricks (I make no apologies for using that term), should take their own advise and send their kids to a cheaper state school. I guess that means that their darlings would have to be around grubby poor people though…
I really fear for this nation with John Banks and Don Brash in parliament, and at the cabinet table. I really do.
Hi Joe, I went down to the Occupy session in Wellington yesterday….the last thing any occupier would claim to be is anti Semetic…what a pile of *****. I despise John Key but his Jewish antecedence has f.a. to do with it. Typical smokescreen stuff, the banksters are now also accusing the OSWers as being “unsphisticated” and “not middle class”…what a pack of wankers.Sort of a Marie Antoinette utterance.
Yeah I saw a piece on RTV about a Republican lobby group now advertising that OWS was actually an anti-semitic, anti-israeli protest which had the tacit support of Obama.
RTV promptly went straight down to the protest, found a bunch of Jewish guys who said that was BS, 20% of NYC is Jewish and many of them were joining the protest.
There is a growing infiltration of OWS by ‘Anarchist’ groups, but many organisers of the Anarchist groups ( i know i know) have stated they are not part of it and want to support the OWS movement in their wish for NON-VIOLENT engagement with authority.
The anti-military sentiment experessed in the image being circulated has nothing to do with OWS or the Anarchist movement, although it is attributed to OWS/ Anarchist activists, it is complete horse shit. MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN OWS so it suggests more BS from someone feeling threatend
The Police are refusing to release the names of those arrested as they know it can be proven they are not now or ever were associated with the movement. The reports of violence from various actions around the world are being rightfully identified as provocateur actions or the acts of a few idiots and you are always going to get that. The anti-OWS hysteria the MSM is fanning can easily be seen for the weak attempt at distraction that they represent.
Watching the news yesterday had me in paraxisms of rage at the pathetic MSM, dickhead media types reporting the Rena oil spill as our “greatest environmental disaster”. Fuckwits, yes its huge and nasty BUT where the fuck have all you glib little establsihment mouth pieces been all this time during which:
* Lake Ellesmere has been turned into a toxic algal soup.
* Taupo and the Rotorua lakes are being polluted by ground water full of agricultural chemicals and run off.
* the Manawatu river system is rated highly polluted by world standards.
* the Waituna lagoon is dying from dairy nutrients.
There are a heap more I could site, the environmental disaster is under our noses, everywhere in “clean green NZ”.
Radio sport: ignorant caller and ignorant host (What’s new?)
This typically pathetic exchange occurred last night on Radio Sport, half an hour after France had dispatched the gallant Welsh to the Bronze Medal match. I don’t know what’s more distressing in this little exchange: the abysmal ignorance of the caller, the equally abysmal ignorance of the host Mark Watson, or Watson’s nasty, racially charged “joke” at the end….
CALLER: Mark, you know tonight’s the 25th anniversary, don’t you.
MARK WATSON: Oh, is it? The anniversary of what?
CALLER: It’s the 25th anniversary of the Rainbow Warrior bombing by the French.
MARK WATSON: Oh is it?
CALLER: Yep, they blew it up today in 1986.
MARK WATSON: I didn’t realize that. Do you think we could get them to blow up the Waka?
Showing complete disrespect to the democratic choice of Kiwis not in the Epsom electorate, or the fact that Banks has already been rejected as the NAct/Hide choice for mayor by voters in greater Auckland, JOHN BANKS said:
Well, I care passionately about this country, about this city. I’m well-connected to Auckland. I’m experienced. I’m hard-working. I want to represent the people of Epsom in the Parliament, and I’m not going to Wellington just to bounce dead cats. The people are Epsom are deeply blue. 364 days of the year, they are National Party supporters. Once every three years, they decide to vote strategically. Paul’s going to be a fine member of Parliament. If they vote for me, I’ll bring three or four or five – a number of other high-quality ACT members of Parliament to the table so that we can have a continuation of John Key’s sensible government.
[..]
It isn’t a pipe dream. 50% of the people on the doorstep are saying they haven’t yet made up their mind. They want a National government. They don’t want a coalition Labour Party government with Hone Harawira, the Greens and the rest of them. They want to make sure that John Key’s the prime minister, and, Paul, on election night with the polls closing, Epsom will be critical to John Key’s future and the National Party government of New Zealand.
Activist depositors can destroy these investment banking terrorists. That is what Citibank is scared of.
Max Keiser described it very well.
a) Co-ordinate the mass shifting away, withdrawal or closure of the savings and deposit accounts belonging to many people.
b) Co-ordinate the mass strategic default (non payment) of mortgages due on a particular day or on a particular week.
Big deal you might say. So what if you could co-ordinate via Facebook etc 10,000 people withdrawing an average of $5000 each. The resulting $50M withdrawal isn’t going to sink a big bank, is it? Or is it.
Understand now: almost all these banks are blindingly overleveraged, often to ratios of 30:1, 40:1, 50:1 or even higher. They’ve played the casino game of ever increasing leverage to minimal reserves, which is why they are so scared.
At a leverage ratio of 50:1, that $50M withdrawal can hit a banks profitability by 50x. ie. putting a $2.45 billion hole in its quarterly profits.
These fucking banksters only understand money, not human values, so this is the kind of very clear message that they will understand.
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
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Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
The Tribunal had called on Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Midjourney image by T.J. Thomson As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every ...
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Family First says that the latest abortion statistics make grim and upsetting reading, with a 25% increase in abortions since the decriminalisation of abortion in March 2020. According to an Official Information Act request received by Right to Life ...
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Latest update on
http://www.occupyauckland.org/general-assembly-1-15-october-2011
They invite people to join for an hour, a day, night, weekend… etc
and suggest ways to get involved
http://www.occupyauckland.org/get-involved
And here is a list of things to donate:
http://www.occupyauckland.org/donate
Global Peace and Justice Auckland have kindly allowed us to use their bank account until we set one up
Thanks Carol…was just wondering how I could be involved. I am so glad to see this major issue coming out into the open…literally! Will be heading in today to show my support.
The full article is behind a paywall but the 1% really like to skite:
‘“profit margins have reached levels not seen in decades,” and “reductions in wages and benefits explain the majority of the net improvement.” (Cembalest printed the latter quote in boldfaced lettering.) “US labor compensation,” he explained, “is now at a 50-year low relative to both company sales and US GDP.” ‘
http://www.tnr.com/article/trb/94938/wall-street-income-inequality
Charts: Here’s What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About….
More charts: Wealth, Income, and Power
edit: More here. http://taxprof.typepad.com/files/129tn0251.pdf
In the Sunday Star Times today, Green Party marine issues spokesman Gareth Hughes said the government needed to call a halt to a new marketing campaign aimed at foreign oil companies to open up our seas to more offshore oil exploration.
The government plans to appoint a “provider” to head this marketing campaign later in the year.
I wonder who it could be?
No doubt the unconscionable Owen Glen will be the front runner;
#1 Owen Glen has a history vigorously seeking a government sinecure.
#2 Owen Glen is an a strident and extremist advocate of fossil fuels extraction.
This Should Be A Wake UP Call
Hekias stats in the SST article seemed a little unlikely – we get 4% of financial benefits (according to Gareth Hughes) which Parata says adds up to 2 billion plus going to the taxpayer….(The only other figure I have seen was more like $400 million)
According to these sums the industry in NZ is earning 50 billion a year? Really?
Is anyone able to shed any light on the veracity of Paratas claims?
This site: http://www.economywatch.com/economic-statistics/country/New-Zealand/
puts the value in 2010 at 1.584 billion US dollars which suggests that Hekia is quoting the total value of oil exports and not actual contribution to the NZ economy which is considerably less…
of course she is, you do not expect a National Party puppet to tell the truth about the economy do you? Be it revenue neutral taxes or foreign ownership of our assets. The Nats would not know how to begin to share facts with the public. They have been swallowing each others lies for so long that the spin cycle has engrained itself in their collective psyche. I sincerely believe they are convinced that black is white and down is up and nothing will get thewm to admit the shadow we are driving towards is not a scenic view but a tip face
The appalling lack of leadership and management in the initial days of the grounding of the Rena continues to be critiqued…..and Joyce, Key and Co are not looking good. Fits nicely with Tom Scott’s carton!
Herald on Sunday editorial
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10759326
Matt McCarten
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10759318
Tom Scott
http://www.stuff.co.nz/blogs/opinion/cartoons/1251886
You gotta love that cartoon… This is a PR Own Goal for National… the more they put Joyce out there, The more the Populice winces…
There is a cruel irony that Joyce’s reputation has been Tarr’ed with “National Significance”
I realise Bernard Hickey is no leftie, but his column today tells me he’s been reading his Steven Keen.
Why is Colin Peacocke trying to undermine Bomber Bradbury?
Media Watch, Radio New Zealand National, Sunday 16 October 2011
On last week’s Media Watch, Colin Peacocke launched into an extraordinary broadside against Bomber Bradbury, calling him a “bombastic blogger”, labeling his criticism of the Prime Minister’s conduct “a rant” and condemning him for his “lack of balance”.
Today, Peacocke continued his campaign. Throughout the item, Peacocke maintained an attitude of lofty disdain for Bomber, again calling him a “bombastic blogger”, labeling his comments a “rant” (he repeated that word several times) and claiming that he “wouldn’t let host Jim Mora get a word in” and had “used the programme as a megaphone”.
Peacocke—or was it one of the producers?—also arranged for letters of support for Bomber and even an item by Gordon Campbell to be read out by a man in the rasping adenoidal falsetto of a simpleton, with the obvious aim of ridiculing or undermining the support for Bomber.
Is there something personal behind this campaign? Or is Peacocke about to jump to NewstalkZB? The standard of his commentary is about what is required for that.
Sometimes I wonder about Media Watch. Their taste for making sardonic (sneering?) observations often seems to trump serious examination of issues and principles; and a world-weary cynicism about the media’s ability to treat stories in a competent way seems to creep in. With so much at stake in contemporary politics, methinks they should restrain their desire to look clever, for a while. I stopped finding entertainment in the train-wreck of NZ media some time ago.
As bad as Peacocke’s nasty little vendetta against Bomber is, Media Watch’s nadir was plumbed several years ago, when a supposedly serious investigation into the dire state of sports journalism in New Zealand featured a deathly serious interview with ….wait for it…. Martin “Moron” Devlin.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10759301
Two weeks after gift duty was axed, accountants and lawyers are overwhelmed with calls from clients wanting to give assets and cash to relatives or family trusts.
Daniel Hunt, a tax lecturer who runs a training and consulting practice, said that millions of dollars in assets and cash had already changed hands
Love these people to go down to the local public hospital and explain to the staff and patients why they should have to suffer resource-wise so they can have a few dollars.
So?
Amazing contradictory statements of principle and disrespect for the spirit of democracy shown by John Banks on Qu & A this morning, with Christine Fletcher in supporting role.
Banks advocated some core principles of individual rights and responsibility. Christine Fletcher said the rest of the country don’t understand the situation of people in Epsom. There are large numbers of Epsomites now struggling to pay big mortgages and school fees and having to do several jobs to do it.
Banks then went on to say that Epsom people want a center right government, and they know JK/National won’t be able to do it without him being elected to Epsom, while also bringing 4 or more Act MPs into parliament on his coat-tails.
UNBELIEVABLE – and no-one on Qu and A questioned the blatant advocacy of breaching democratic principle by encouraging Epsomites to use an MMP loophole to decide the government for the whole country…. a country that includes people who can’t afford decent food, let alone big mortgages and private school fees… and large numbers of people who can’t get jobs, while it seems many in Epsom have 2 or 3 jobs.
How much responsibility is this showing for the inequalities and disadvantages for the many, currently seen in NZ?
” There are large numbers of Epsomites now struggling to pay big mortgages and school fees and having to do several jobs to do it”
These rich pricks (I make no apologies for using that term), should take their own advise and send their kids to a cheaper state school. I guess that means that their darlings would have to be around grubby poor people though…
I really fear for this nation with John Banks and Don Brash in parliament, and at the cabinet table. I really do.
You mean they should budget to live within their means? Budget? Like a poor person?
Next you’ll be saying that if they can’t afford to live in Epsom they should sell their house to someone who can, and go live somewhere more suitable.
easy there felix, thems are sensible words, Epsomites don’t like that type of carry on.
They much prefer hysterical scaremongering.
Look out Epsomites everywhere, the 99% know where you live.
p.s. did anyone else want to throw a heavy blunt object at Coddington this morning?
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/10/13/343414/hedge-fund-bankrolled-emergency-committee-for-israel-smears-occupy-wall-st-protests-as-anti-semitic/
Hi Joe, I went down to the Occupy session in Wellington yesterday….the last thing any occupier would claim to be is anti Semetic…what a pile of *****. I despise John Key but his Jewish antecedence has f.a. to do with it. Typical smokescreen stuff, the banksters are now also accusing the OSWers as being “unsphisticated” and “not middle class”…what a pack of wankers.Sort of a Marie Antoinette utterance.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/business/in-private-conversation-wall-street-is-more-critical-of-protesters.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB
Yeah I saw a piece on RTV about a Republican lobby group now advertising that OWS was actually an anti-semitic, anti-israeli protest which had the tacit support of Obama.
RTV promptly went straight down to the protest, found a bunch of Jewish guys who said that was BS, 20% of NYC is Jewish and many of them were joining the protest.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/bankers-salaries-vs-everyone-elses/
edit: More attempts to undermine OWS. http://www.reddit.com/r/occupywallstreet/comments/lda6k/this_picture_has_been_making_rounds_on_facebook/
There is a growing infiltration of OWS by ‘Anarchist’ groups, but many organisers of the Anarchist groups ( i know i know) have stated they are not part of it and want to support the OWS movement in their wish for NON-VIOLENT engagement with authority.
The anti-military sentiment experessed in the image being circulated has nothing to do with OWS or the Anarchist movement, although it is attributed to OWS/ Anarchist activists, it is complete horse shit. MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN OWS so it suggests more BS from someone feeling threatend
The Police are refusing to release the names of those arrested as they know it can be proven they are not now or ever were associated with the movement. The reports of violence from various actions around the world are being rightfully identified as provocateur actions or the acts of a few idiots and you are always going to get that. The anti-OWS hysteria the MSM is fanning can easily be seen for the weak attempt at distraction that they represent.
Here is a much more hoest image to circulate
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freedom4nz/6233632814/in/photostream
Our defense spending deals with ideological ghosts and not reality.
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/10/maritime-new-zealand-underfunded.html
Rena Cleanup Protection Recommendations for Response Workers.
If you’re involved in the cleanup of oil from Bay of Plenty beaches, please wear the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at all times…
I’m totally gutted by the overuse of the word gutted.
Gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted. Gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted gutted.
FFS – reach for a thesaurus, and if you don’t know what one is or how to use it please reconsider commenting in public.
I refuse to be drawn into this debate 😉
devastation, devastation, devastation – aghhh!
Watching the news yesterday had me in paraxisms of rage at the pathetic MSM, dickhead media types reporting the Rena oil spill as our “greatest environmental disaster”. Fuckwits, yes its huge and nasty BUT where the fuck have all you glib little establsihment mouth pieces been all this time during which:
* Lake Ellesmere has been turned into a toxic algal soup.
* Taupo and the Rotorua lakes are being polluted by ground water full of agricultural chemicals and run off.
* the Manawatu river system is rated highly polluted by world standards.
* the Waituna lagoon is dying from dairy nutrients.
There are a heap more I could site, the environmental disaster is under our noses, everywhere in “clean green NZ”.
Our greatest environmental disaster is our poisoned rivers, which will still be there after all the effects of the Rena wreck have biodegraded.
Of course Fed farmers, as their boss made plain in NBR, would like our attention to be distracted from their mess.
The environmental disaster is capitalism. Taking far more than we need from the environment to boost profits for the few.
Radio sport: ignorant caller and ignorant host (What’s new?)
This typically pathetic exchange occurred last night on Radio Sport, half an hour after France had dispatched the gallant Welsh to the Bronze Medal match. I don’t know what’s more distressing in this little exchange: the abysmal ignorance of the caller, the equally abysmal ignorance of the host Mark Watson, or Watson’s nasty, racially charged “joke” at the end….
CALLER: Mark, you know tonight’s the 25th anniversary, don’t you.
MARK WATSON: Oh, is it? The anniversary of what?
CALLER: It’s the 25th anniversary of the Rainbow Warrior bombing by the French.
MARK WATSON: Oh is it?
CALLER: Yep, they blew it up today in 1986.
MARK WATSON: I didn’t realize that. Do you think we could get them to blow up the Waka?
CALLER: Ha ha ha!
Funny that you comment on this call as I heard it to. I could not be bothered ringing up to correct the caller or Watson as both were thick.
The date of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior was just before midnight on 10 July 1985.
Sadly, Mark Watson does not seem to know a lot about anything.
Five alcohol-fuelled predictions for last night, and one sensible one
Watch this video. For a display of hive-mind and sheer purblind complacency, it takes some beating. Only Michael Jones, at the end, seems to have actually watched France play. Significantly he is the only non-drinker….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/5788408/Inspired-Wales-to-keep-Dragon-juggernaut-rolling
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/epsom-debate-4466837
Showing complete disrespect to the democratic choice of Kiwis not in the Epsom electorate, or the fact that Banks has already been rejected as the NAct/Hide choice for mayor by voters in greater Auckland, JOHN BANKS said:
Do you know the percentage of votes Banks got from Epsom in the last local body election for mayor of Auckland?
Banks and Brash were in buisiness with the white collar criminal Hullich.
Why would we want them in pariment running our finances?
The Personal Impact of Tertiary Ed Cuts
Thanks NAct+Mp for really ruining our society.
She’s not the only one… 🙁 Poor people…
Have a look at these clean, well-equipped ‘rebels’ in Sirte…
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27092
🙂
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/15/1026740/-Breaking:-30-Citibank-customers-arrested-for-closing-their-account?via=siderec
Activist depositors can destroy these investment banking terrorists. That is what Citibank is scared of.
Max Keiser described it very well.
a) Co-ordinate the mass shifting away, withdrawal or closure of the savings and deposit accounts belonging to many people.
b) Co-ordinate the mass strategic default (non payment) of mortgages due on a particular day or on a particular week.
Big deal you might say. So what if you could co-ordinate via Facebook etc 10,000 people withdrawing an average of $5000 each. The resulting $50M withdrawal isn’t going to sink a big bank, is it? Or is it.
Understand now: almost all these banks are blindingly overleveraged, often to ratios of 30:1, 40:1, 50:1 or even higher. They’ve played the casino game of ever increasing leverage to minimal reserves, which is why they are so scared.
At a leverage ratio of 50:1, that $50M withdrawal can hit a banks profitability by 50x. ie. putting a $2.45 billion hole in its quarterly profits.
These fucking banksters only understand money, not human values, so this is the kind of very clear message that they will understand.
And that is why Fractional Reserve banking doesn’t work and why usury needs to be banned – again.
Is it just me or is Mary Holm conducting an implicit campaign to have NZ Super scrapped and replaced with private savings?
the tide has turned and key is not looking so ” slick”