As our security and police are already in lockstep agreement with the US in taking ‘over the top’ actions in partizan defence of corporate interests, even if it entails breaking the law. It can only be a matter of time.
When it comes to civil liberties, as the saying goes; “You will only know what you’ve got, when it is gone”
The civil liberties which we enjoy today have been hard fought for over centuries by previous generations, and are there for a reason.
Fight to keep New Zealand sovereignity and civil liberties inviolate.
Today Ira Bailey will be made a scape goat by MSD and the media, following Paula Bennett’s example of publicly outing anyone who speaks against them.
I call upon you my fellow commentators not to let this go undefended and to constantly retort that Ira was only doing what is industry standard – asking for a reward for uncovering vulnerabilities is normal practice, not blackmail as they will try to imply.
Bailey was arrested in October 2007 as part of the police raid against a suspected terror plot but charges against him were later dropped.
Key today said he had been advised Bailey phoned the ministry about a week ago indicating there was a security problem, but didn’t identify the kiosks.
Look at the framing, “he is a terrorist!” – So “blackmail” is no worries for Bailey then eh!
“[He was] just pointing to the system and wanting an incentive payment or wanting cash basically to tell us where the problem was,” he told TV3’s Firstline programme.
The ministry’s policy was not to give money for information, he said.
We have some truly evil people “running” this country, and the MSM are a utter disgarace!
But equally amazing is the statement that they checked the Kiosks after he rang in, and they could not find this simple breach? Who they using for IT security ? Daffy Duck?
And the biggest question of all that has not been answered is Why were they on the same network as the corporate system?
“But there was a design failure that we didn’t pick up or resolve when it came to the security breach. We should have done that but the people responsible for it, the IT department at the Ministry of Social Development, failed.”
No way would this have been missed in the design/security, its too fundamental – This looks like another way of telling people that internal resources are not good enough, we will have to use external i.e Google etc, who can keep yoru privacy secure…This is BS!
The independent inquiry would also look at why the ministry didn’t pick up the problem when it was raised a year ago by beneficiary advocate Kay Brereton.
So, it was raised, with who? and why was it not fixed….smells like more BS!
Correct Weka – Its all part of the plan, you can call it a conspiracy too, because that is exactly what it is!
Ill reitterate – The is NO WAY, that this security flaw was missed in the design/security assessments gates that are mandatory in the delivery! There are multiple vendors operating inside the public sector/govt space, who would have been involved in delivering this system. Notice that there is no mention of who was invovled, only reference is to “IT Department” ensuring that in the minds of the reader, this = Internal IT department = amateurs!
Sometimes the plan comes apart, like with K.D.C, and TPTB need to re-group, but otherwise what is read and published in the papers, and via policy is the agenda of others, being forced down our throats!
This government fails rape victims AGAIN. By constantly underfunding, changes to ACCSCU, and disregarding the law commissions recommendations I can only conclude they would like all of us to go away and die (providing they don’t have to pay for that). http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7819530/Help-for-rape-victims-under-threat
What people need to understand is the darkness that is running all of the shows – Woman/Children/families, continually under attack, while men are left to rot not knowing what their role in life is, and the youth suicides of young boys and girls continues to climb, along with the poverty rates, and child abuse!
Its time for people to start learning, understanding and accepting what those who claim to represent them, actually represent!
Only when people understand what their enemy really is, can we collectively know how to respond!
The British arm of the “entertainment industry” exposed again, while the US head of the “entertainment industry” (hollywood) division is writing scripts, which “our govt” and others are following, and executing.
Think only movie/tv scripts are written by the “entertainment industry” – Better think a whole lot harder, cos its your kids!
Money = what people have been told they have to chase/have/get at all costs to survive/keep up with the jones’s/use to dominate industry and people/bribe corrupt etc – Money has corrupted by design. Now the people who control it are removing it from the financial system, in various ways.
Money = the illusion designed to create the society we have seen, and are seeing being created, by the above, and below!
Greed = The enevitable result of the “Its all about you”, and you only, must have money, policies which kill people, but being written by “money” and so society reaps what it sows. The great marketing/advertising lies, the political lies, the greed is the symptom of the absorbed messages!
There is so much more at play than money and greed!
A 24 hour service is a right and a person would rather not need to have to use a rape service. The government just do not get it how complicated being raped can be and that such a service is a big help.
I’ve decided that the Mixed Ownership Model is actually quite sensible. Today, I will be mainly lobbying my local Nat MP to extend the model to Telecom, TelstraClear, Vodafone and SkyTV. Tommorow, I’ll be moving on to convincing my MP to MOM the oil companies bobbing around the Taranaki coast and the gold companies in the Coromandel. Later in the week I hope to convince the MP to MOM all the housing stock in Parnell, because its important to lead from the top. Pip Pip!
And I’m all for extending PPP Public private partnerships. Now how about the govt signs a contract with the Teacher’s Union for the provision of teaching services in schools. Big penalty clauses if the schools are removed! I’m sure there are other groups that will sign up to run services.
Jeez, I just hope that the same people fixing the teachers pay database ain’t gonna have a go at fixing WINZ database. And apparently WINZ tell beneficaries and child support customers that their computer talks to IRD computer – should that make us all a little uneasy? And what about this ‘white paper’ doesn’t it advocate that health, welfare and other databases talk to each other – hey I know, lets just go back to the town cryer concept, much cheaper and just as effective apparently as all these big brother databases ‘communicating’ with each other?????
As a health worker I had to study the Privacy Act for 3 years, sometimes I wonder whether some of the politicians understand the laws and acts that they employ other people to govern or adhere to. I just heard John Keys say on TV3 to Rachel “we’ll have a LITTLE look at that” he was talking about checking out the apparent security breach. Now thats certainly ‘downplaying’ speak. I fear AsleepWhileWorking could be right.
WINZ also data match with Customs so that they can catch beneficiaries who go overseas and stay long than they are allowed. I think they just do random sampling as they don’t get everybody. Thinking about it now though, I wonder how they do that…
Matching up health, welfare and the records of children isn’t about addressing poverty. It’s about controlling poor people. I don’t know why they don’t just chip ’em and be done with it.
Interesting; now I do not mean to get all apocalyptic, it is just that a man I encourage study with asked about this, this morning; It is helpful to bear in Mind, considering it was a “vision” approximately 2000 years ago;
He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and Slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 3: 16- obviously)
Now, the study notes I had at the time identified the economic system; Interesting.
Now, the notes I have in front of me at present, speak of allegiance to the Imperial cult; Now, none of this is new, nothing new under the sun etc, However, there is certainly One spirit directing everything I seem to encounter; Careful what you wish for? I wish I did not see, as I am sure Millions of others do, not with standing the earth has been through these pains before, but It makes you wonder. This still may take decades or centuries to play out, nobody “Knows the Mind of God”,
Yet, still interesting, none-the-less.
Yes Key’s reaction to the whole thing seemed to be blase. You know the computer system is old Yeah right. Just lay the blame where ever. A classic Not Me. If I ever saw one.
Rogue Trooper…welcome mate!!! (Are you familiar with the AD2000 story? His battalion was massacred by traitors within their own central command, and he went rogue in order to find out the truth!)
now that is interesting Viper ( I did not know that), but it is clear for those who choose to see.
Been many years since I delved into comics (great strip Draco, by the way); Archetypes? Essences? Myself, I was a Ghost Rider “Fanboy” I suppose (well, you can see how that played out, but it takes a lot of Capital to make even a big-block-1450- haul ass like something from the Rising Sun; the euros have been onto it for the last couple of decades but they may have left their run too late).
🙂
On planeitKey you can say what you like about people
“Obviously it would’ve been better if the individual involved had actually told the government and not tried to charge the government some sort of fee. But he didn’t, and goodness knows what he did with the blogger, I don’t know if he gave it [the information] to him or sold it to him.”
Ira explains exactly that he was not charging a fee
“I called up on Monday 8th October to say there was a security leak and ask who to talk to. And I also asked was there an incentives scheme about security flaws, which is what Google and Facebook do.”
Live chat with Stephen Jacobi at 12.00 today go ask him some questions on the TPP and other underhanded American practices, lets make him feel right at home lol.
The start and Question Time in Parliament is Must View time for me, at least. Could be very interesting with everything going on at present.
First, presumably, Key will ask to make a personal statement to “correct” his previous answers on KDC and the GCSB.
Then questions cover:
Questions to Ministers
1.DAVID SHEARER to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements in relation to Kim Dotcom and the inquiry into the actions of the Government Communications Security Bureau?
2.METIRIA TUREI to the Minister for Social Development: Does she have confidence that the Ministry of Social Development can keep private information it holds confidential?
4.JACINDA ARDERN to the Minister for Social Development: Has the Ministry of Social Development competently managed the private information in its charge?
6.CHRIS HIPKINS to the Minister of Education: What specific criteria were used to determine whether a school in Christchurch was identified for restoration, consolidation or rejuvenation?
7.Dr RUSSEL NORMAN to the Minister responsible for the GCSB: What were the dates of the three cases that the Government Communications Security Bureau audit highlighted, because they could not assure him “that the legal position is totally clear”, as referred to in his statement of 3 October 2012?
8.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his answer to my Question for Written Answer 3326 (2012)?
11.GRANT ROBERTSON to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in Hon John Banks; if so, why?
Re Q8, Peters’ written question 3326 (2012) and the response are:
3326 (2012). Rt Hon Winston Peters to the Prime Minister (07 May 2012): Did he have any meetings, in his capacity as Prime Minister, with either Hon Maurice Williamson or Hon Simon Power during the period 7 April-23 July; if so, on what date or dates and what was the nature of the discussion or discussions?
Rt Hon John Key (Prime Minister) replied: Yes. I met with Hon Maurice Williamson on 7 June 2011 to talk about statistics and progress with the census in lights of its postponement following the Christchurch earthquake. I met with Hon Simon Power on 13 June 2011. There is no record of what was discussed at that meeting and I have no recollection of the discussion. I also met with him, Hons English, Joyce and Ryall and the external appointees regarding the Better Public Services Advisory & Governance Group on 6 July 2011.
From memory (may be wrong), this period covers the aboutface on KDC’s application to purchase the Crisco Mansion in Coatsville – and Key’s trip to Washington DC via Warner Bros in LA.
“There is no record of what was discussed at that meeting and I have no recollection of the discussion.”
On Planet Key, we need to understand and sympathise with John Key that truth, competence and accountability are “in a dynamic environment”.*
Convenient memory loss, selective self-characterised ignorance, resistance to reading reports, heaping blame on others, and lack of documentation/record are noble virtues and ethical practices to be instilled in asspirants 🙂
*Guyon Espiner: Is it okay for politicians to bend the truth?
John Key: Well, we live in a dynamic environment, so of course things change.
Big whinge in the Dompost this morning because David Shearer called tod niall (what sort of name is todd) and larry williams by their surnames.
boo bloody hoo.
who do they think they are?
Todd Niall – good (PSA) union member and delegate, and thoroughly good bloke. Also wrote a book about the homegrown NZ car, the Trekka. One of the best guys in the MSM.
Parliament has been in session 2 minutes and someone has already shouted something about God from the public section and Winston and Trevor Mallard (Pretty sure it was him) have been asked to leave the chamber.
Before question time there were a lot of points of order around Peters’ letters to the Speaker regard the PM’s breach of parliamentary privilege. There were objections to the letters being tabled.
i believe they were finally tabled during a later point of order, was it on the third attempt?
The Speaker said the answer from the PM was received yesterday and was to be considered today and it was after this i believe the next request for tabling the letters was not objected to
I’m not sure what happened, but several members of opposition parties defied the Speaker and kept standing to raise a point of order, as the PM was trying to make a statement correcting his previous answers to oral questions. Parker was ejected from the House – Peters also I think.
The story of Venice’s rise and fall is told by the scholars Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, in their book “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty,” as an illustration of their thesis that what separates successful states from failed ones is whether their governing institutions are inclusive or extractive. Extractive states are controlled by ruling elites whose objective is to extract as much wealth as they can from the rest of society. Inclusive states give everyone access to economic opportunity; often, greater inclusiveness creates more prosperity, which creates an incentive for ever greater inclusiveness.
That’s a kind of strange piece. Essentially then, there is no systemic problem with capitalism/markets. All that’s wrong (and therefore fixable) is a selfish short sightedness on the part of a tiny ruling elite.
I mean, you gotta laugh at some of the claims
The history of the United States can be read as one such virtuous (inclusiveness creates more prosperity) circle.
Yup. Unless you were and/or are indigenous, black, female, Irish, Latino…..and so on right on down or up to the point where you hit the white male protestant where the borders of the virtuous circle of inclusiveness were historically set.
And as an aside I don’t get the reference to Venice and its shrinking population being made (as though that’sa mark of decline) with absolutely no reference to the Black Death or, with refernce to later centuries, the city’s unique character/location. But hey.
edit. That comment was a response to Joe90’s comment and link….but the entire comment be gone now. Oh well.
Yeah, it’s all Capitalism is great until the capitalists take over and then it’s fucked but it’s still great. Certainly made a hell of a lot of assumptions that bear no resemblance to reality.
HONE HARAWIRA AUCKLAND DISTRICT COURT (ALBERT ST) APPEARANCE WEDNESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2012 9AM (?)
“Supporters meet outside Auckland District Court at at 8.45am Hone Harawira and others with serious injuries from the protest will be there. Get there if you can…” message from John Minto)
Hone Harawira gets arrested by Police for a purported minor traffic offence – but Police do NOTHING against the Leader of the ACT Party – MP for Epsom John Banks for alleged electoral fraud and ‘white collar’ crime? I’ll be there! Join us if you believe in ONE LAW FOR ALL? And if you oppose ‘ECONOMIC APARTHEID’ and ‘WAR ON THE POOR’?
WEDNESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2012 – AUCKLAND DISTRICT COURT
ALBERT ST AUCKLAND CITY:
Police could have charged former fellow Directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd John Banks (and Don Brash) under s.58(3) of the Securities Act for signing Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 which contained untrue statements.
I assumed you meant the the recent donations scandals which the police couldn’t prosecute.
I’d be more than happy to review any evidence you have of Banks wrong doing in the Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme. I don’t know enough about it to make any call of wrong doing so if you could provide me with some evidence of impropriety I would like to see it.
You could always try reading the above-mentioned Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 – which I’ve taken the trouble to make available for public perusal?
But all my reading has uncovered so far is that there is not enough evidence to proceed with charges against either Brash or Banks. This is no way a testament to their character on my part, I am merely trying to establish what evidence you have that charges should have been forthcoming and/or the police/judiciary somehow acted with impropriety.
“I don’t like them” or “They were obviously guilty” aren’t good enough, I’m afraid. Only evidence will work. This is in no way a defence of Banks mind you, I dislike him quite strongly.
But all my reading has uncovered so far is that there is not enough evidence to proceed with charges against either Brash or Banks.
That’s meant to be a joke… Right? The relevant law that you have obviously not bothered to read states:
58 Criminal liability for misstatement in advertisement or registered prospectus
(1)Subject to subsection (2), where an advertisement that includes any untrue statement is distributed,—
(a)the issuer of the securities referred to in the advertisement, if an individual; or
(b)if the issuer of the securities is a body, every director thereof at the time the advertisement is distributed – commits an offence.
I hope that wasn’t too much reading for your delicate sensibilities TC. We wouldn’t want you to strain yourself and do an injury. You wouldn’t be such an effective apologist for old corrupt bastards then eh!
Apparently he can now remember the presence of a video camera, but he cannot remember the, more important, contents of a presentation.
Somewhere in the mix he has stated he remembered being advised that the presentation would not be recorded, yet those same charges have done a “full” review of the period in question (having said previously that it wouldn’t be recorded???) Confused Mmmmm – selective memory.
To this end, we have used a similar approach to look at two questions:
Can New Zealand maintain its current per capita energy consumption without fossil fuels and, in particular, can we live on renewable energy sources alone?
How can we achieve a BIG reduction in our personal and national energy consumption, in order to reduce our power requirements?
Well, at least somebody is asking the right questions. Pity it’s not the government.
They’re called “Brownouts”and “Power Flicker”.
They’ll take care of the consumption problem nicely M8.
The stove and the water heater will keep working … digital stuff i’ll be toast, and flicker will kill the TV as well.
Heaps of recycled electronic goods as well, worth thinking about 🙂
Pride b4 fall, or bloated explosion with apology?
Vacuum far outweighs everything else in this Universe.
No one else is gonna call it yet, I’m going with Landslide Labour/Greens/Mana/NZFirst myself.
Not me. Don’t know. It is Shearer’s fault. It is Ira’s fault. Not my job to oversee Spy agencies. Don’t know what Projection means and don’t want to know.
Lies within lies, on top of lies. Lies flanked and protected by lies. Lies about lying, lies about spying.
John Banks publicly stated that he had “nothing to fear, nothing to hide,” over the donations scandal.
Nothing to fear?
Nothing to hide?
As it turns out, John Banks did fear something, and in contrast to his public assertion that he had nothing to hide, asked the police to keep their investigation into his Mayoral donations hidden from the public.
ACT leader John Banks did ask police not to publicly release his statement on the Kim Dotcom donations and opposed the publication of the entire file, documents reveal.
John Key said he would have no confidence in John Banks as Minister if he found he had lied to him.
Now that solid proof has come out that Banks lied in claiming that he didn’t ask the police to suppress evidence arising from the police investigation into his mayoral campaign donations.
Will John Key act on his promise in relation to John Banks as a Minister?
Or was that a lie?
Is John Banks lying about donations from Dotcom?
Is John Key lying about everything to do with Kim Dotcom, relating to the GCSB illegal spying?
Without a doubt John Banks is a proven liar.
But is the Prime Minister a liar?
Time will tell. If after this latest revelation John Key keeps John Banks as a Minister in his government.
Is John Banks lying about donations from Dotcom? Yes!
Is John Key lying about everything to do with Kim Dotcom, relating to the GCSB illegal spying? Yes!
And the reason they’re both lying through their teeth is because both have so much more to hide.
Apart from the fact Key still needs Banks’ vote etc., he will keep Banks as a Minister in his government because Banksie knows where the bodies are buried.
‘What the hell was that’ ‘I want to see all you children in my office next school day’
Supposedly intelligent,articulate,bright (debateable) set of parliament ministers,pm and
the speaker launch into what could be described as a ‘free for all ‘ forget the fists,
words will do,a scene of total disobediance.
But hey, shonkey did admit he talked dotcom at the feb 29th meeting,phew, now
we wait and see if there are any dates earlier than 29th feb……….
Anyone know what the fracas at the beginning of Question Time was all about. Two ordered out of House. Trevor chose to walk out.Something about the PM- letter about PM sent by Winston to the Leader- issue before the Parliamentary or Privileges Committee- Key’s response received yesterday. What the!!!!
Anyone?
Wasn’t is something to do with some letters??
I don’t know either, but it was obviously something of some importance.as Winston was prepared to lose his question for it.
The letter to the Speaker was sent on the 5 October(?) and again 15 October(?) and concerned John Key and maybe the Privileges Committee. If my half heard version is so, then the irony is obvious. Key having Peters in front of Priv Committee in 08. What if Peters now has Key up before the Priv Committee???? Forgive me. Probably got it wrong.
It was something to do with Key’s personal statement. It seems he got up to make it without first asking for a ‘point of order’. God knows why Winnie et al got their knickers in a twist. Some nuance of which I’m not familiar.
I think Winston Peters has sent a letter to the Speaker accusing John Key of a breach of parliamentary privilege. Lockwood Smith has yet to rule on whether there is a case to be answered. We all know what the answer will probably be.
I think that there are rules to be followed. Can’t be a majority decision of the House otherwise no charge could ever be laid against the Government. Watch this space!
They wanted to raise a point of order and Key wanted to make a personal information. Points of order trump everything else and should have been considered first.
Thanks for that felix. I think I see what happened now. After the House stood and clapped for the Cook Island Speaker, everyone sat down with the exception of John Key who remained standing and started to launch into his personal statement without going through established protocol as set down by the House rules (Standing Orders) and without so much as a bat of an eyelid from the Speaker.
Pre-arranged? I expect so. Disgraceful and totally underhand!
@micky, Isn’t it usual for the politicians to ask for leave of the house to make a personal
statement, in such circumstances and lockwood does protects the right too often.
There should be an independant speaker,outside of any political party,perhaps
a retired judge etc.
@ianmac, It was bleedin hard to tell really,it wasn’t what i got my coffee and a chocky biky for,key said he talked kim on the 29th feb,it all happened so quick even the mic couldn’t keep up.
When was the PM approached by the US authorities (channels of US administration) to request /advise him that an operation was desirable in New Zealand? At what level and at which meeting in the year(s) prior to the raid in February 2012 did the US departments approach the PM of New Zealand?
If nothing else, it beggars belief that the leader of a friendly sovereign state would not be approached by a very high level delegation prior to their operatives working in that foreign state.
Just trying to imagine similar circumstances in other “friendly” nations of the world?
Australia, Canada, Great Britain, France, South Africa, Germany … Sweden, mmmmmmm, nah.
Ah, yes … it was during the heady days of the appearance on the Letterman Show. No wonder he forgot.
It was no doubt a standard request under the extradition treaty NZ has with the US. The PM would not need to be involved although he may have been advised as a matter of courtesy.
Is this a treaty we should ignore? Are there other treaties we can ignore?
Whilst it’s true a standard request would have been investigated and dismissed once residency was attained, they arrested him anyway …… why would they do that buddy???
The goal was reached when Megaupload was closed down. The US are not interested in side show Key, keystone cops and are probably laughing at the GCSB/SIS for being so gullible.
They obviously have a “Debt Recovery” mentality/agenda.
For some reason they think a “Difference Caching” engine is grounds for “Informed copyright Infringement”
Which ultimately means because Megaupload cranked the time to live on those files upto 100 years, (Which most ISP’s will do to save backbone data), has made them a target of the US law enforcement trying to recover “Missing Transactions” for “Projected” film sales.
What? dotCom having residency has nothing to do with whether he is able to be extradited or not. Otherwise it would already all be over. But DotCom does still have to go and argue his case as to why he shouldn’t be extradited. And he might not win.
Yeah, but these were US officers operating in a friendly state. Not just NZ officers executing an arrest and extradition. That would surely involve keeping the PM informed.
So, Southland anti-choicers have decided to “name and shame” abortion providers. I had a little play with the idea of naming and shaming other medical providers, and came up with #namethedentists.
That would only work if there were widespread societal stigma against being moralising wankers who try to endanger people’s health so they can feed their superiority complexes.
Extreme example there, but thats ok, I’m not against abortion in certain situations. Just not interested in that gender bigot feminist extremism that wants abortion on demand.
At the time Mr Banks claimed it was the Police who had made that decision.
Mr Banks said it was the police who decided keep his statement under wraps. Press secretary Shelley Mackey said: “Mr Banks is not responsible for what the police have released.”
We asked for all the correspondence between Mr Banks and the Police on the release of the report, and lo and behold we found a letter from Mr Banks’ lawyer that said
Accordingly, disclosure of any material relating to Mr Banks, or indeed any part of the investigation file, is opposed.
More lies, half-truths and obfuscations from John Banks. He has gone to great lengths to ensure that New Zealanders can not read what he told the Police about the donations to his Mayoral campaign.
So, will Key hold Banks to account? Na, of course not.
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As you're probably aware, the draft bill outlining the proposed legal cannabis regime to be put to a referendum late next year was published yesterday, and has already attracted a flurry of comment. It's notable that a good deal of the comment is about proposals that aren't actually new.A minimum ...
One of the big problems in New Zealand climate change policy is the government working at cross-purposes with itself. It wants to reduce fossil fuel use, but encourages oil and gas exploration. It wants to reduce transport emissions, but then builds enormous new roads. The problem could be avoided if ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzAccording to the United Nations, food shortages are a threat ...
Last year, the government announced it was ending offshore oil exploration by no longer issuing new permits. The idea was that the industry would then die off as permits expired. Except almost immediately the government revealed its bad faith, by saying they would extend permits and alter conditions to keep ...
The government introduced the Education and Training Bill to Parliament yesterday. Its a massive bill, which replaces both existing Education Acts, as well as various other bits of legislation (including some which are still proceeding through the House). I'll leave the serious analysis to teachers and people who actually know ...
Amelia SharmanThere’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning that can help workers stay on top of technological change. What’s a micro-credential? While definitions vary, micro-credentials can be understood as short courses that allow people to learn new skills or have an existing competency recognised. ...
All Smiles Now: Claire Szabo is taking up her presidential role after serving as the CEO of Habitat For Humanity. Which is absolutely perfect! After KiwiBuild was so comprehensively mismanaged by Phil Twyford, the party has not only elected a new president from a thoroughly respectable not-for-profit, but one who ...
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...
by Daphna Whitmore At Golden Oaks, a luxurious country retreat in the Hudson Valley, pregnant women have the best care money can buy. From the organic food, personalised exercise programmes, private yoga instruction and daily massages Golden Oaks looks like a country lodge for the upper class. Set some time ...
When Labour was running for election in 2017, it felt it needed to demonstrate "fiscal responsibility" and signed itself up to masochistic "budget responsibility rules". It was a fool's errand: the sorts of voters who demand fiscal responsibility are also the sorts of voters who believe that labour can never ...
Writing in Stuff, Joel MacManus looks at what we need to do to meet the Zero Carbon Act's targets. The core of it:1. Convert 85 per cent of vehicles on the road to electric. 2. Eliminate fossil fuels from all industrial heating up to 300 degrees Celsius. 3. Double our ...
Professors Janet Hoek and Richard Edwards, Emeritus Professor Phil Gendall, Jude Ball, Dr Judith McCool, Anaru Waa, Dr Becky FreemanRecent media reports have presented conflicting evidence on youth vaping in NZ. While some NZ school principals report concerns about increasing vaping on school grounds and confiscating vapes, ASH Year ...
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...
Image credit:The beginner’s guide to blogging 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 ...
1080 is used to control pests in NZ. Its use is contested by a noisy few. A new report claims high levels of 1080 in rats washed up on a beach. Flora and Fauna of Aotearoa (F&F) won’t name the laboratory that did their testing. It has sparked a hunt ...
What Kind Of Empire? The thing for Kiwis to decide is what kind of empire they want to belong to. The kind that, while offering its own citizens democratic rights, demands absolute obedience from its “friends”? Or, the kind that, while authoritarian at home, takes a relaxed attitude to the ...
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...
Within quick succession, Countdown maths wizard and twitterer Rachel Riley, alleged comedian David Baddiel and prominent lawyer Andrew Julius have all expressed very similar opinions / ideas:
These #3billboards are going round London today, organised by ex-Labour people, horrified by what their party has become. Their principles haven’t changed, they’re ...
So, there have been a bunch of bad polls out for Labour, and even the Leftie's friend, Survation, have recently given the Conservatives a rip-snorting 11% lead. You Gov's much vaunted MRP poll - which pretty much nailed the result in 2015 - is currently predicting a comfortable majority for ...
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to declare a climate emergency:The European parliament has declared a global “climate and environmental emergency” as it urged all EU countries to commit to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The vote came as scientists warned that the world may have already crossed ...
Pure Fear: Worse than Heroin, this drug’s addictive power was terrifying. People under its influence didn’t drift off to Elysium. Nor did it persuade inadequate individuals that they could conquer the world. No, this drug – pure crystal methamphetamine, “P” for short – unlocked the gates of Hell itself. It ...
As the rate of measles infection, and of deaths, continues to climb in Samoa, antivaccination activists infectious disease proponents seem intent on doubling down on their claims about vaccination. (Check pretty much any news-media FB post about measles & you’ll see exactly what I mean.) Unfortunately, some of them have ...
Samoa are experiencing a devastating measles epidemic. It is possible that 2-3% of the population will ultimately be infected by the time it is over. Hopefully the mass immunisation campaign currently under way can mitigate some of this, for many it is too late. The first question many people ask ...
Meghan Murphy is a Canadian writer and journalist She runs the Feminist Current website which she founded in 2012. She was a keynote speaker for the Feminism2020 conference in Wellington this month. When Massey University cancelled the original venue booking Feminism2020 was hosted in Parliament by MP David Seymour. Meghan ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Colombia has lived through one week of protests against the economic measures taken by president Duque. What looked like a protest that would fizzle out after its first day on November 21st is still going strong. Part of the reason for the continuance ...
Around a million billion pass through you each second, almost all originating from our sun, but few of them are likely to interact with you enroute. I was reading in a physics magazine earlier in the week about the nature of neutrinos. These are extremely numerous elementary particles, but only ...
By Pallab GhoshThere’s value in covering new research advances, even when the underlying science is unsettled. But there are also risks.The recent announcement that scientists discovered water on the planet K2-18b, 110 light years away, prompted a media swoon. News stories, including a piece written by me, billed ...
I wrote this review a couple of years ago when I was still in the process of getting my head around the politics of transgenderism, and specifically the claim that intersex conditions lend support to the notion that sex is ‘socially constructed’. Since writing this review I have come across ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzHow much does our use of air travel contribute to the ...
Minor planet/asteroid (2309) Mr. Spock is named not for the character in Star Trek, but for a cat that was itself imperturbable, logical, intelligent and had pointed ears. In a preceding blog post I introduced one of my favourite asteroids, (2472) Bradman, and also mentioned (6581) Sobers amongst a few ...
Today the death toll from measles in Samoa rose to 32. All but four of the dead were less than 5 years old. Absolutely terrible, heartbreaking, news. That statistic alone should be enough to give the lie to the common claim by antivaccination activists plague enthusiasts that “measles is a ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh It is late here in Bogotá, almost 11.30pm on Monday the 25th of November as I write this. The day began full of hope with yet more massive marches throughout the country, a mix of the International Day of Non-Violence Against Women and the National Strike. ...
Anti-fluoride activists are rubbing their hands in glee over what they claim is “yet another study” showing fluoride harms the brains of children. But their promotion relies on IQ relationships which the paper’s authors acknowledge disappearing when outliers or other factors are considered. And they completely ignore other relationships ...
The feature below is the conclusion of A History of Economic Thought, whose author was a leading Marxist economist in Russia in the early 20th century, Isaac Ilyich Rubin. The book arose from a course he ran at Moscow University following the Russian Revolution. First published in Russian in 1929, ...
There are many thousands of asteroids with formal names, some humdrum but other more noteworthy (depending on your predilections). One of my favourites, the name of which I was involved in suggesting, is (2472) Bradman, named for the Australian cricketing great. As a minor planet (synonym: asteroid) spotter, I have ...
Tory manifesto: big on austerity, low on promise, non-existent on delivery. The Tories: the party so big on ambition they couldn't be arsed writing a manifesto. MLK: "I have a dream!"BJ: "I'll just have a nap." Labour: Broadband!Tories: Narrow minds! Labour have hope, dreams and ambition. The Tories will save ...
The Ministry of Health has announced that “people under the age of 50 travelling from New Zealand to Samoa, Tonga, Philippines and Fiji” are now on the list of national priorities for MMR vaccination. Given the outbreaks of measles in Samoa, Tonga, Philippines and Fiji, the Ministry of Health is ...
Hong Kong has been protesting for six months for, demanding democracy, human rights, and an end to police violence. Today, they went to the polls in district council elections - a low-level of government with virtually no power, similar to community boards in New Zealand. But while the positions themselves ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh On Friday 22nd of November a curfew came into effect and troops were deployed on the streets, here in Bogota. It was the first time since September 1977 that a curfew had been imposed on the city. The decision was a cynical pre-planned ...
Meanwhile, while the government is planning to restore voting rights to prisoners, National is promising to turn our prisons into US-style slave-labour camps:The Opposition is proposing compulsory education, training or employment for prisoners who are serving sentences of two years or more. [...] On Sunday, National Party Leader Simon Bridges ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman Spinifex Press, 2013. Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the second part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
Dalmeet Singh ChawlaIn 2008, psychologists proposed that when humans are shown an unfamiliar face, they judge it on two main dimensions: trustworthiness and physical strength. These form the basis of first impressions, which may help people make important social decisions, from who to vote for to how long a ...
Claas Kirchhelle, University of Oxford; Adam Roberts, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and Andrew Singer, Centre for Ecology & HydrologyAntibiotics are among the most important medicines known to humankind, but we are running out of this crucial resource. Decisive action is needed if we are to retain access to ...
Things That Make You Go - Hmmmm: “All right. Let me come at this another way. I’m guessing that what you’ve got in that box contains names, dates, bank account numbers – all the details you need to put Winston Peters and Jacinda Ardern squarely in the cross-hairs. So, the first ...
Coasters Turn Out In Droves: It’s precisely the widening gulf between those with actual experience of things like guns, chainsaws and drilling machines, and those who regulate their use, that accounts for the angry crowd at Greymouth’s Messenger Park on Sunday, 17 November 2019. In the rarefied atmosphere where decisions ...
There are perennial arguments about the circumstances of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, and in particular whether more than one shooter is required by the evidence (such as the Zapruder film). Those who know little about physics frequently claim that the sharp backwards motion of JFK’s head as ...
Apparently, some people enjoy washing their cars. Each to his or her own, I suppose. I mean, some people like duck shooting, some people follow Coronation Street, and some people’s idea of a good day out is to sit on a grass bank at Seddon Park and watch cricket all ...
Last week we learned that New Zealand First had apparently tried to enrich itself from public office, with a dodgy forestry company linked to a number of NZ First figures sticking its hand out repeatedly for government money. Today in Question Time Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had his ...
Finally, governments seem slowly to be beginning to act on climate change. But its not enough. While they're publicly signing up to targets, they're planning to destroy the world by continuing fossil fuel extraction:The world’s nations are on track to produce more than twice as much coal, oil and gas ...
Stuff has begun interviewing NZ First's secret donors, and it turns out that its as bad as we expected. They start with racing industry figure Garry Chittick, who is predictably grumpy about NZ First's coalition choices. Meanwhile, I'm looking at the list of pork NZ First has effectively given its ...
Stag At Bay: Twelve years ago, Winston Peters was still robust enough to come back from the political crucifixion which his political and media enemies had prepared for him. In his seventies now, the chances of a second resurrection are slim. We should, therefore, prepare for the last gasp of ...
Satellites pass over NZ all the time (literally). Here I focus on the 187 Planet Labs ‘Dove’ Earth-imaging satellites, and I show that one can determine in advance where they will be, enabling scientists on the ground to correlate their environmental and other data collection with opportunities to get imaging ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
New Zealand First are celebrating the announcement of an investment of $3.5 million into five new trapping devices. These are a range of bait and trap devices, all designed to be left unattended for long periods of time. NZ First conservation spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says that this latest development will ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Conservation New Zealand First is proud to announce the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has allocated $3.5 million to develop innovative predator control approaches which will reduce the need for repeated 1080 use. $19.5 million of PGF funding was announced for Predator Free 2050 Limited in February ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Police New Zealand First is proud to have delivered on a key Coalition Agreement commitment to adding 1800 new frontline police, with the graduation of Recruit Wing 332 in Porirua today. Law and Order Spokesperson Darroch Ball says increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries Today the Government announced the delivery of the promise to protect New Zealand interests by applying a new National Interest Test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. This further strengthening of the Overseas Investment Act will ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced further support as the Government of Samoa responds to a serious measles outbreak. “New Zealand will deploy a further 18 vaccination nurses, bringing the total to 30 working in Samoa over the next ...
The Coalition Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high-risk assets to overseas buyers. Under current Overseas Investment Act (OIA) rules, assets such as ports and airports, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity and ...
Rt Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Allegations raised this morning by Stuff Limited / Fairfax concern a party matter but I am confident that New Zealand First has operated within electoral laws, now and for the last 27 years. Declarable donations were declared to the Electoral Commission. Our ...
The chairman of the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy (UNISCS) working group, Wayne Brown, has hit back at critics of his group’s recommendations to relocate the Ports of Auckland cargo operations to Whangarei’s deepwater port of Northport. The working group's recommendation to close Auckland waterfront to all but cruise ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
The next phase of the Pike River Re-entry project is underway, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little says. “Fresh air will be pumped into the Pike River Mine drift this week, following acceptance of the plan for re-entry beyond the 170m barrier by New Zealand’s independent health and ...
New Zealand consumers will have greater certainty about their insurance cover when they need to make claims as a result of proposed government changes. “Insurance is vitally important in supporting consumers and businesses to be financially resilient when unexpected events happen,” Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi said. ...
The Crown is providing an opportunity for the hapu of Ngāpuhi to rebuild its framework from the ground up for collective negotiations to deal with its historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Crown is also ...
A Bill enabling referendums to be held with the 2020 General Election has passed its third reading. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Act is important for upholding the integrity of New Zealand’s electoral process. “The Government has committed to holding a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis at the next ...
The first release of public information on the two referendums to be held at next year’s General Election was made today with an informative new Government website going live. Additionally, the draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill has been released, showing the strict controls on cannabis that will apply if ...
The Government is taking action to protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections by banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon and passed under urgency. “There’s no need for anyone other than New ...
Governments and tech companies are holding a two-day workshop, hosted by YouTube/Google in Wellington, to test the Christchurch Call Shared Crisis Response Protocol. The workshop aims to refine and strengthen the response in the event of a terrorist attack with online implications. Companies, governments, civil society experts and NGOs will ...
The new independent Cancer Control Agency has formally opened today, delivering on the Government’s plan to improve cancer care in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health David Clark marked the occasion by announcing the membership of the Advisory Council that will be supporting ...
Small businesses who deal with government departments are set to be paid faster and have improved cash flow as a result, under a new strategy released today. The Government is backing recommendations from the Small Business Council (SBC) and has agreed to implement three initiatives immediately to support business and ...
The Education and Training Bill 2019, introduced in Parliament today, proposes the biggest education changes in decades and is an important step towards improving success for all our learners, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “The Bill’s rewrite of education legislation is long overdue. Indeed one Education Act, parts of which ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Bali to represent New Zealand at the 12th Bali Democracy Forum that will be held on the 5-6 December. “The Forum is a valuable opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences and best practice in building home-grown democracy and fostering ...
A package of new and expanded technology and other tools will encourage responsible camping and help communities and local councils better manage freedom camping this summer, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “Our Government has been investing to improve the freedom camping experience for everyone because we want to support ...
The government is laying the groundwork to understanding our genes – work that can help us tackle some of our biggest health challenges, like heart disease and diabetes, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. $4.7 million has been invested in the Genomics Aotearoa Rakeiora programme. The programme will ...
Nearly every state schools will receive a capital injection next year valued at $693 per student to bring forward urgent school property improvements, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The one-off cash injection is the first project to be announced from the Government’s infrastructure package ...
The Government has decided to bring forward major investments in New Zealand’s infrastructure to future proof the economy. “Cabinet has agreed to a significant boost to infrastructure investment. I have directed the Treasury to help bring together a package of projects that can be brought into the Government’s short and ...
It is a great pleasure to be with you today in Whanganui. Like the Prime Minister I grew up with the TV clip of Selwyn Toogood booming “What do you say Whanganui, the money or the bag?” to an unsuspecting ‘It’s in the Bag’ audience. For those under the age ...
New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, was officially opened in Blackball today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage alongside the family members of the Pike 29 and Ngāti Waewae. Local mayors and MP for the West Coast Hon Damien O’Connor were also in attendance. “Paparoa National Park ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark turned the first sod of earth on the infrastructure works for the new P-8A Poseidon fleet at RNZAF Base Ohakea today. “The Coalition Government’s investment in Ohakea will ensure the Royal New Zealand Air Force can manage, maintain and task the new fleet efficiently ahead ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare today announced the establishment of the new National Emergency Management Agency from 1 December 2019. The National Emergency Management Agency will replace the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. It will be an autonomous departmental agency, hosted by the Department of the Prime ...
New Zealand tertiary students with top grades and a passion for space will once again be offered the opportunity to work with the world’s best and brightest at NASA, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Recipients of the New Zealand Space Scholarship are nominated by the Ministry of Business, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further support to Samoa in the wake of an ongoing measles outbreak in the country. Additional medical supplies and personnel, including a third rotation of New Zealand’s emergency medical assistance team (NZMAT), further nurse vaccinators, intensive care (ICU) specialists and Samoan-speaking medical professionals, will ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new data showing a sharp drop in the number of people who can’t afford to visit their GP is a sign of real progress. One year after the Government made it cheaper for about 600,000 Kiwis to visit their doctor, results of the New ...
Hell’s bells it’s Gone By Lunchtime, with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire shooting the breeze on Kris Faafoi, Jason Kerrison, Winston Peters, NZ First donations, a cannabis referendum, and the year to come.Just when you thought politics was tucking under the duvet for Christmas, along comes the guy ...
Tis the season for hangovers, so we convinced some of New Zealand’s most experienced consumers of food and/or drink (OK, Spinoff staff and a bunch of chefs/hospo people) to share their tried-and-true culinary remedies.A hangover is a very individual thing. For some, it manifests as a splitting headache and extreme ...
Before Britain’s Got Talent: Champions hits our screens tonight, let’s take a fond look back at some of the show’s weirdest and most wonderful acts.Place your hands on your Golden Buzzer, because Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions kicks off this weekend. Champions is BGT bigger and better than it’s been before, ...
Following the raging success of the 2018 non-goat ethical Christmas gift guide, here for you today – responsibly wrapped in reusable gift wrap – is the 2019 list of ethical, sustainable, socially conscious, or charitable gift ideas to satisfy all kinds of family members and budgets.Budget Category: ‘Can we pay ...
Lime brought e-scooters to Auckland and changed the way we travel in less than a year. Now, the council is replacing it and Wave with three new contenders. Josie Adams goes to the Lime warehouse to say goodbye to the original scooters.In a warehouse in Eden Terrace, almost a thousand ...
Analysis - The government's first crack at cannabis legislation runs into trouble, a foreign donations bill is rammed through Parliament and a select committee refuses to listen to former NZ First officeholders. ...
Dr Ben Jansen is Oceania's leading prescriber of cannabis medicines, and a co-founder of the Hemp Foundation.org.nz “I’d like to thank the Labour Party and Chris Woodney. Thanks to his policy remit at Labours national conference, and Labours full support, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South Australia Australian 15 year olds were around three and a half years behind their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitri Perrin, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology More than a year ago, the world was shocked by Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui’s attempt to use CRISPR technology to modify human embryos and make them resistant to HIV, which led to the birth ...
Cabinet minister Kris Faafoi has apologised to the Prime Minister for his messages to Jason Kerrison regarding an immigration case, but will not lose his job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Flinders University The decision to merge the Department of Communications and the Arts with Transport, Infrastructure and Regional development (dropping the “Arts” entirely) ends a year in which Australian politics has been deeply confused over its ...
A historic referendum on independence has been completed in Bougainville. Johnny Blades of RNZ was there. People in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville have voted in an historic independence referendum. The long-anticipated referendum is the ultimate provision of 2001’s Bougainville Peace Agreement, which followed a brutal, protracted ...
Dairy farmers had some Xmas cheer this week, as dairy giant Fonterra told them the forecast payout would be the fourth-highest-ever, at the mid-point of its farmgate milk price range. The $7.30kg/ms means the cash payout for the season will reach $11.2bn, a rise of about $400m from the earlier forecast. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland When you find dinosaur skeletons, how can you tell how old the dinosaur was? Like, if the skeleton is from a child dinosaur or an adult dinosaur? – Henry, aged 8. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) has had to clarify the law with Police and receive their reassurance that while the amnesty for ammunition was not extended to 20 December, Police will act as if it has been. ...
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 We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall & Tim Denee (Massey University Press, $70)Superlative ...
This week a petition with more than 15,000 signatures was presented at parliament to Nicola Willis, MP and opposition spokesperson for Early Childhood Education. Also attending were Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick and Hon Nikki Kaye. ...
It’s that time of year again when, for the third year running, a new A Christmas Prince movie is released. Sam Brooks was in front of a TV screen for the latest instalment’s debut on Netflix last night, and here catalogues the many stupid, wild, and wildly stupid things he ...
One of the most highly rated members of Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet is under pressure over assurances given in relation to an immigration case. How bad could it get, asks Toby Manhire.There has never been a New Zealand prime minister more engaged with contemporary homegrown music than Jacinda Ardern. She’s forever ...
Kris Faafoi, Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media; Minister ofCommerce and Consumer Affairs;Minister of Government Digital Services; Associate Minister forHousing; MP for Mana.The latest allegations of a corruption scandal involving a Cabinet minister suggests this government is far too loose when it comes to providing access to power ...
The National Party cannot credibly critique the Government’s hikes to fuel tax while it refuses to commit to reversing these hikes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Simon Bridges has lambasted ...
Newspaper staff were among those to express dismay and fury during the frenzy of denunciations that followed publication of an ill-considered cartoon about Samoa and the measles epidemic. The Spinoffrecorded their reactions under the heading ODT cartoonist infuriates his colleagues with Sāmoa measles epidemic ‘joke’. It also reproduced the ...
New Zealand Police Association condemns comments made by People Against Prisons Aotearoa following the fatal police shooting of an armed man who had made threats of suicide. ...
A new poem by Harry Ricketts. The Writing Life You want to write.You want to be published.You want to be read. You want to be a cult figure.You want to be reviewed.You want to write. You want to win prizes.You want to be anthologised.You want to be read. You want to be taught in schools ...
As Christmas is near, it’s time to set the record straight on some of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of employment law that apply to the festive season. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Kris Faafoi immigration case Fiona Connor and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): ‘I’m on it bro’: Messages show Kris Faafoi offering help to ...
The Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta has announced changes to prevent Māori wards being voted down by referendums are off the table, saying she believes such a change is not possible within the coalition. ...
It’s officially the festive season, and what does that mean? An office Secret Santa with a budget of $20 and you’ve picked your boss. Instead of settling for a bottle of average wine and a ribbon, follow our essential guide on what to get those unique workmates.At last year’s Secret ...
The shooting of a suicidal man in Southland shows that police armament is dangerous, says criminal justice group People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The shooting comes just over a month into the controversial trial of heavily armed police teams in 3 regions ...
The Prime Minister should deal urgently with reports Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi offered to help a friend over an immigration case, National Party leader Simon Bridges says. ...
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...
A woman who went on a Tinder date with the man who murdered Grace Millane tells her story, and issues a warning to other women to trust their instincts when something doesn’t feel right.First published on Newshub.co.nzI went on a date with Grace Millane’s killer while her body lay in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gottfried Lechner, Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Telecommunications Research, University of South Australia, University of South Australia Satellites are becoming increasingly important in our lives, as they help us meet a demand for more data, exchanged at higher speeds. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond University According to the latest figures, homicides in Australia are at historic lows and compare well against international trends. So what do the trends tell us and why is the homicide rate in Australia declining? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy O’Rourke, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, The University of Queensland Welcome to the next article in our Designing Hospitals series, where we explore how architecture and design shape our hospitals and medical centres. Today, we look at what Indigenous people tell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results are bad news for Australian students, parents, employers and policymakers. Pretty much everyone. Australian 15-year-olds are now below the OECD average in mathematics, and our results in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Clode, Senior Research Fellow in Creative Writing, Flinders University It is only mid-November but we have to walk early to avoid the heat. A northerly wind picks up clouds of dust and pollen, sending dirty billows across the paddocks. The long ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes coming to fuel market, anti-vaxxer arrested in Samoa, and banks told to hold more capital.New recommendations to increase competition in the fuel market have been made by the Commerce Commission, reports the NZ Herald. Their conclusion is that it isn’t competitive ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. ...
An alliance of top researchers is trying to keep New Zealand ahead of complex health challenges from overuse of antibiotics, threats to freshwater quality and emerging infectious diseases. ...
The birthplace of the Labour Party is once again at the forefront of a new movement, this time harnessing the power of the collective to step away from coal towards a low carbon future.Blackball is a small place with a huge history. This week the town, 29 kilometres from Greymouth, ...
Life expectancy is increasing all the time, and now actuaries and retirement experts say young people need far more information on what they’ll need to do with their money if they live to 100. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. The message from the Retirement Income Interest Group of the New ...
German politician Joschka Fischer has had a remarkable career. From street violence and helping to set up the Green party, he matured into the foreign minister and vice-chancellor of a united Germany, serving until 2005. His understanding of power politics led him to support the use of force in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison said it with a straight face, and repetition for emphasis. “I’m very pleased, very pleased, with the performance of all of my ministers,” he declared on Thursday. This ringing if unconvincing universal endorsement ...
PARENTS AROUND THE WORLD PLEA FOR URGENT CLIMATE ACTION 222 parents groups from 27 countries have released a heartfelt joint plea calling on negotiators at this year’s UN climate summit – COP25 – in Madrid to push for ambitious and urgent ...
Government proposals to overhaul insurance contract laws should make the whole process of taking out insurance easier and simpler to understand for consumers, says Financial Advice New Zealand. ...
Despite New Zealand First lobbying hard at the Cabinet table, the Finance Minister says the case to move Auckland's port operations north has not yet been made. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Tomnay, Assoc. Professor / Director of Centre for Excellence in Rural Sexual Health, University of Melbourne Around one in six Australian women have had an abortion by their mid-30s. These women come from all age groups and demographics: some are mothers ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roslyn Petelin, Course coordinator, The University of Queensland Reports this week about the demise of the Apostrophe Protection Society may have been greatly exaggerated. The Apostrophe Protection Society was set up in 2001 in the UK by retired journalist John Richards with ...
Today the Court of Appeal released their decision to allow Helen Milner (The Black Widow) to have the last remaining body samples of the husband she murdered, in an attempt to prove her innocence by trying to see if he had an underlying heart condition. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Pearse, Lecturer, Department of Political Economy, University of Sydney Federal Labor this week commemorated a dubious anniversary – a decade of climate policy failure. And it pointed the finger of blame squarely at the Greens. Labor claimed that had the Greens ...
The recent statement by Simon Tyler on behalf of the National Provident Fund and the Government Superannuation Fund, that environmental and social goals must be balanced with financial risk and reward, displays conceptual confusion about the role of ethical ...
A bill designed to deal with terrorists returning from overseas has hit its latest speed bump as human rights groups raise concerns that it could be used to stifle press freedom. ...
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‘
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/7819005/Trust-in-police-hits-new-low-survey-shows
Arresting an MP for bad parking and beating housing protesters to help the government steal and vandalise state houses.
Illegal links with foreign spies and agents.
Toadying to Hollywood business interests
Refusing to investigate perjury by themselves
Spying
Law breaking
Is it any wonder?
Indeed!
With the demand for tighter links with the US….
Will this be the new, New Zealand police force look?
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jtes/walmart-workers-strike-for-safe-warehouse-conditio
As our security and police are already in lockstep agreement with the US in taking ‘over the top’ actions in partizan defence of corporate interests, even if it entails breaking the law. It can only be a matter of time.
When it comes to civil liberties, as the saying goes; “You will only know what you’ve got, when it is gone”
The civil liberties which we enjoy today have been hard fought for over centuries by previous generations, and are there for a reason.
Fight to keep New Zealand sovereignity and civil liberties inviolate.
Demand:
NO illegal spying!
NO soft touch for police perjury!
NO extradition with out a hearing!
NO hearings without evidence being presented!
Today Ira Bailey will be made a scape goat by MSD and the media, following Paula Bennett’s example of publicly outing anyone who speaks against them.
I call upon you my fellow commentators not to let this go undefended and to constantly retort that Ira was only doing what is industry standard – asking for a reward for uncovering vulnerabilities is normal practice, not blackmail as they will try to imply.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7821061/Key-critical-of-Winz-security-breach-finder
Look at the framing, “he is a terrorist!” – So “blackmail” is no worries for Bailey then eh!
We have some truly evil people “running” this country, and the MSM are a utter disgarace!
muzza – evil people running the country only get away with it, surely, only because they are supported by voters who compromise with evil.
Dr T, see my comment at 4.2.3.1..
You are correct in that evil doers can only exist when the populace are complacent, or disenfranchised etc, which allows badness to happen.
Perhaps if people understood that they were part of the whole, instead of operating in silo, then we might not be in such a mess.
The corrupting/breaking of the human spirit, is the major feature of what we see these days!
But equally amazing is the statement that they checked the Kiosks after he rang in, and they could not find this simple breach? Who they using for IT security ? Daffy Duck?
And the biggest question of all that has not been answered is Why were they on the same network as the corporate system?
And that the flaw was there for up to a year!
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/319250,nz-government-needs-to-start-over-on-security.aspx
No way would this have been missed in the design/security, its too fundamental – This looks like another way of telling people that internal resources are not good enough, we will have to use external i.e Google etc, who can keep yoru privacy secure…This is BS!
So, it was raised, with who? and why was it not fixed….smells like more BS!
Every fuck up by MSD/WINZ that makes it to the MSM is fodder for the eventual push to privatise welfare.
Correct Weka – Its all part of the plan, you can call it a conspiracy too, because that is exactly what it is!
Ill reitterate – The is NO WAY, that this security flaw was missed in the design/security assessments gates that are mandatory in the delivery! There are multiple vendors operating inside the public sector/govt space, who would have been involved in delivering this system. Notice that there is no mention of who was invovled, only reference is to “IT Department” ensuring that in the minds of the reader, this = Internal IT department = amateurs!
Sometimes the plan comes apart, like with K.D.C, and TPTB need to re-group, but otherwise what is read and published in the papers, and via policy is the agenda of others, being forced down our throats!
https://twitter.com/Min_Reyes/status/258055300727308288/photo/1
This government fails rape victims AGAIN. By constantly underfunding, changes to ACCSCU, and disregarding the law commissions recommendations I can only conclude they would like all of us to go away and die (providing they don’t have to pay for that). http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7819530/Help-for-rape-victims-under-threat
I really wish someone on the left would organise around women’s votes before the next election.
What people need to understand is the darkness that is running all of the shows – Woman/Children/families, continually under attack, while men are left to rot not knowing what their role in life is, and the youth suicides of young boys and girls continues to climb, along with the poverty rates, and child abuse!
Its time for people to start learning, understanding and accepting what those who claim to represent them, actually represent!
Only when people understand what their enemy really is, can we collectively know how to respond!
and the Twain shall never meet
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/10582_487699991263452_1173247088_n.jpg
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/tv-star-is-third-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-girl-in-saviles-dressing-room-8198500.html
The British arm of the “entertainment industry” exposed again, while the US head of the “entertainment industry” (hollywood) division is writing scripts, which “our govt” and others are following, and executing.
Think only movie/tv scripts are written by the “entertainment industry” – Better think a whole lot harder, cos its your kids!
Money (and greed) are today’s priorities. Humanitarian causes simply do not count.
Dr T,
Money = what people have been told they have to chase/have/get at all costs to survive/keep up with the jones’s/use to dominate industry and people/bribe corrupt etc – Money has corrupted by design. Now the people who control it are removing it from the financial system, in various ways.
Money = the illusion designed to create the society we have seen, and are seeing being created, by the above, and below!
Greed = The enevitable result of the “Its all about you”, and you only, must have money, policies which kill people, but being written by “money” and so society reaps what it sows. The great marketing/advertising lies, the political lies, the greed is the symptom of the absorbed messages!
There is so much more at play than money and greed!
Should be getting used to that by now as it seems that one year is how long this government expects people to forget what they said.
A 24 hour service is a right and a person would rather not need to have to use a rape service. The government just do not get it how complicated being raped can be and that such a service is a big help.
I’ve decided that the Mixed Ownership Model is actually quite sensible. Today, I will be mainly lobbying my local Nat MP to extend the model to Telecom, TelstraClear, Vodafone and SkyTV. Tommorow, I’ll be moving on to convincing my MP to MOM the oil companies bobbing around the Taranaki coast and the gold companies in the Coromandel. Later in the week I hope to convince the MP to MOM all the housing stock in Parnell, because its important to lead from the top. Pip Pip!
And I’m all for extending PPP Public private partnerships. Now how about the govt signs a contract with the Teacher’s Union for the provision of teaching services in schools. Big penalty clauses if the schools are removed! I’m sure there are other groups that will sign up to run services.
Jeez, I just hope that the same people fixing the teachers pay database ain’t gonna have a go at fixing WINZ database. And apparently WINZ tell beneficaries and child support customers that their computer talks to IRD computer – should that make us all a little uneasy? And what about this ‘white paper’ doesn’t it advocate that health, welfare and other databases talk to each other – hey I know, lets just go back to the town cryer concept, much cheaper and just as effective apparently as all these big brother databases ‘communicating’ with each other?????
As a health worker I had to study the Privacy Act for 3 years, sometimes I wonder whether some of the politicians understand the laws and acts that they employ other people to govern or adhere to. I just heard John Keys say on TV3 to Rachel “we’ll have a LITTLE look at that” he was talking about checking out the apparent security breach. Now thats certainly ‘downplaying’ speak. I fear AsleepWhileWorking could be right.
John Key is such a f*^#w*t
WINZ also data match with Customs so that they can catch beneficiaries who go overseas and stay long than they are allowed. I think they just do random sampling as they don’t get everybody. Thinking about it now though, I wonder how they do that…
Matching up health, welfare and the records of children isn’t about addressing poverty. It’s about controlling poor people. I don’t know why they don’t just chip ’em and be done with it.
Interesting; now I do not mean to get all apocalyptic, it is just that a man I encourage study with asked about this, this morning; It is helpful to bear in Mind, considering it was a “vision” approximately 2000 years ago;
He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and Slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 3: 16- obviously)
Now, the study notes I had at the time identified the economic system; Interesting.
Now, the notes I have in front of me at present, speak of allegiance to the Imperial cult; Now, none of this is new, nothing new under the sun etc, However, there is certainly One spirit directing everything I seem to encounter; Careful what you wish for? I wish I did not see, as I am sure Millions of others do, not with standing the earth has been through these pains before, but It makes you wonder. This still may take decades or centuries to play out, nobody “Knows the Mind of God”,
Yet, still interesting, none-the-less.
So, Concerning Light and Darkness, here is a Mazda Wonder Light,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorastrian
Here, are some writings most churches hide,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnostic_Gospels
The Gospel of Thomas, is Liberating
http://gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl_thomas.htm
Why Sabbath are so appealing
(only One Sabbath, all others, wannabees, imo)
The rest? Remains to be seen!
Prophecy is The Ultimate Weapon; Bring on The Prophetess
Yes Key’s reaction to the whole thing seemed to be blase. You know the computer system is old Yeah right. Just lay the blame where ever. A classic Not Me. If I ever saw one.
It does, every time you phone! (Beware, it says, if you earn and don’t tell us, we’ll get you!)
joining the Battle-fleet Captain
(I like It)
this is my body, I share for you
🙂
Rogue Trooper…welcome mate!!! (Are you familiar with the AD2000 story? His battalion was massacred by traitors within their own central command, and he went rogue in order to find out the truth!)
now that is interesting Viper ( I did not know that), but it is clear for those who choose to see.
Been many years since I delved into comics (great strip Draco, by the way); Archetypes? Essences? Myself, I was a Ghost Rider “Fanboy” I suppose (well, you can see how that played out, but it takes a lot of Capital to make even a big-block-1450- haul ass like something from the Rising Sun; the euros have been onto it for the last couple of decades but they may have left their run too late).
🙂
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/comics/2000adstrips/rogue/roguetrooper01.shtml
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v235/draco1337/Free%20Vue%20Renders/Taniwha.jpg
Backdrop courtesy of NASA
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111011.html
damn yankees
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090516234851/marvel_dc/images/a/a9/Jonah_Hex_Vol_2_35.jpg
stuck southerners
Good Thing we have some direction then Commander
😉
just imagine what is out there
I just Love It
Heads should roll
They’re so focused on downplaying the issue that it appears they think WINZ clients don’t have any rights to privacy at all…
Jeeze, that Herald article you link to is a nasty piece of work. Fuck the MSM and their apology of a profession.
+ 1 Good stuff Jackal.
from that NZH thingy you mentioned weka
On planeitKey you can say what you like about people
Ira explains exactly that he was not charging a fee
key knows all about fees – it’s the honey
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10840124
Live chat with Stephen Jacobi at 12.00 today go ask him some questions on the TPP and other underhanded American practices, lets make him feel right at home lol.
The start and Question Time in Parliament is Must View time for me, at least. Could be very interesting with everything going on at present.
First, presumably, Key will ask to make a personal statement to “correct” his previous answers on KDC and the GCSB.
Then questions cover:
Re Q8, Peters’ written question 3326 (2012) and the response are:
From memory (may be wrong), this period covers the aboutface on KDC’s application to purchase the Crisco Mansion in Coatsville – and Key’s trip to Washington DC via Warner Bros in LA.
“There is no record of what was discussed at that meeting and I have no recollection of the discussion.”
On Planet Key, we need to understand and sympathise with John Key that truth, competence and accountability are “in a dynamic environment”.*
Convenient memory loss, selective self-characterised ignorance, resistance to reading reports, heaping blame on others, and lack of documentation/record are noble virtues and ethical practices to be instilled in asspirants 🙂
*Guyon Espiner: Is it okay for politicians to bend the truth?
John Key: Well, we live in a dynamic environment, so of course things change.
Thanks Jim. An example of typical evasion. How are we meant to interpret that reply?!
A Political Cluster-Bomb should about do It
That was BRILLIANT.
Key was shown up to be so hopeless. His party wan’t even backing him up.
Big whinge in the Dompost this morning because David Shearer called tod niall (what sort of name is todd) and larry williams by their surnames.
boo bloody hoo.
who do they think they are?
Todd Niall – good (PSA) union member and delegate, and thoroughly good bloke. Also wrote a book about the homegrown NZ car, the Trekka. One of the best guys in the MSM.
Parliament has been in session 2 minutes and someone has already shouted something about God from the public section and Winston and Trevor Mallard (Pretty sure it was him) have been asked to leave the chamber.
Should be an interesting session
EDIT: Mallard left voluntarily left and is back.
Things always get volatile before the meltdown. In any setting.
There has already been someone try to jump from the public gallery.
Those with eyes open will see these as indicators, or ripples, of what is to come ….
Before question time there were a lot of points of order around Peters’ letters to the Speaker regard the PM’s breach of parliamentary privilege. There were objections to the letters being tabled.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7822519/House-uproar-as-Key-clarifies-Dotcom-record
i believe they were finally tabled during a later point of order, was it on the third attempt?
The Speaker said the answer from the PM was received yesterday and was to be considered today and it was after this i believe the next request for tabling the letters was not objected to
I’m not sure what happened, but several members of opposition parties defied the Speaker and kept standing to raise a point of order, as the PM was trying to make a statement correcting his previous answers to oral questions. Parker was ejected from the House – Peters also I think.
It is going to be a fun day.
Pity, Peters had the first question and I want to hear the discussion
EDIT: Sorry, it was Shearer on the first question, not Peters
Lock them all in, sprinkle them with hippo pheromones from the gallery and then release Billy the horny hippo into their midst.
Na, not hippo’s, fucking Walrus’s man. Walrus Rape
Ha, ‘rape as behavioural correction’ you guys are so edgy.
No no, walrus rape. It’s very…different.
Take Care (not for juvenile eyes)
No, I just want them all to to at least be seriously injured and humiliated and have it captured on film.
Hippos are great because when worked up they’ll crap all over everyone as well, it would be the best day in parliament ever seen in this country.
Elephant seals?
As long as they’re incontinent.
I certainly wouldn’t consider an elephant seal to be house trained.
New Material?
Time for Crucifixion for bnnt the sacrificial lamb
(play with the “big boys”? )
(“operational matter” this! )
Opinion from NYT: The Self-Destruction of the 1 Percent.
The story of Venice’s rise and fall is told by the scholars Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, in their book “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty,” as an illustration of their thesis that what separates successful states from failed ones is whether their governing institutions are inclusive or extractive. Extractive states are controlled by ruling elites whose objective is to extract as much wealth as they can from the rest of society. Inclusive states give everyone access to economic opportunity; often, greater inclusiveness creates more prosperity, which creates an incentive for ever greater inclusiveness.
That’s a kind of strange piece. Essentially then, there is no systemic problem with capitalism/markets. All that’s wrong (and therefore fixable) is a selfish short sightedness on the part of a tiny ruling elite.
I mean, you gotta laugh at some of the claims
Yup. Unless you were and/or are indigenous, black, female, Irish, Latino…..and so on right on down or up to the point where you hit the white male protestant where the borders of the virtuous circle of inclusiveness were historically set.
And as an aside I don’t get the reference to Venice and its shrinking population being made (as though that’sa mark of decline) with absolutely no reference to the Black Death or, with refernce to later centuries, the city’s unique character/location. But hey.
edit. That comment was a response to Joe90’s comment and link….but the entire comment be gone now. Oh well.
I Like It
🙂 (open-minded)
those hispanics be giving the WASP’s a serve shortly though; that’s demographics for ya
No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs-John Lydon
(I could be wrong, …I could be right…may the road rise with you)
Next
Yeah, it’s all Capitalism is great until the capitalists take over and then it’s fucked but it’s still great. Certainly made a hell of a lot of assumptions that bear no resemblance to reality.
Scroll through this;
National appear worn and worried and no second Act
Bnnt admits, she needs to revisit her past
Betrayal (Williamson quoting Zeppelin, well I be f#ck$d) Remember Rohm?
no amount of pastel can soften the piranha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impression_management
you don’t impress me
MIKE BEHRENS for SUPREME JUSTICE (God bless you Mike) now there is a discerning and merciful Judge.
Key; certainly lost his rag / doll
Go Metiria
http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/4E81D2D8-A12B-4C60-A5C2-D9FB8C5BD401/211281/IncomeTaxUniversalisationofInworkTaxCreditAmendmen.pdf
Yet Dunny wants to flush it??
Now this Open Adoption Movement, about freakin Time (read some developmental psychology)
Keys Jokes are just not funny anymore, if they ever were, to more than sycophants.
(now, Pinot Noir (wee anasthetic) and Mainland Tasty ARE something decent we produce)
HONE HARAWIRA AUCKLAND DISTRICT COURT (ALBERT ST) APPEARANCE WEDNESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2012 9AM (?)
“Supporters meet outside Auckland District Court at at 8.45am Hone Harawira and others with serious injuries from the protest will be there. Get there if you can…” message from John Minto)
Hone Harawira gets arrested by Police for a purported minor traffic offence – but Police do NOTHING against the Leader of the ACT Party – MP for Epsom John Banks for alleged electoral fraud and ‘white collar’ crime? I’ll be there! Join us if you believe in ONE LAW FOR ALL? And if you oppose ‘ECONOMIC APARTHEID’ and ‘WAR ON THE POOR’?
WEDNESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2012 – AUCKLAND DISTRICT COURT
ALBERT ST AUCKLAND CITY:
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
Well said Penny 🙂
“but Police do NOTHING against the Leader of the ACT Party”
They couldn’t (though I wish they could).
CRAP.
Police could have charged former fellow Directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd John Banks (and Don Brash) under s.58(3) of the Securities Act for signing Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 which contained untrue statements.
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1978/0103/latest/DLM29406.html
ONE LAW FOR ALL?
How come Peter Huljich was the only one of those 3 Directors who was charged for a STRICT LIABILITY offence?
Corrupt political protection?
For background details – check out http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz and http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
I assumed you meant the the recent donations scandals which the police couldn’t prosecute.
I’d be more than happy to review any evidence you have of Banks wrong doing in the Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme. I don’t know enough about it to make any call of wrong doing so if you could provide me with some evidence of impropriety I would like to see it.
I’ve given you the links for this information.
However – it may require you to do a little work and READ this information?
Please bear in mind that it takes a LOT longer to research and write up this information than it does to read it?
Happy homework 🙂
For background details – check out http://www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz and http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
Penny Bright
This is called ‘elephant hurling’, where in you direct the person asking the question to massive volumes of your own data.
Specifically I am wondering about the links you used to draw your conclusions, not links to your own conclusion.
Sure you’re not just being lazy?
🙂
You could always try reading the above-mentioned Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 – which I’ve taken the trouble to make available for public perusal?
Hardly ‘my’ data?
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
No it’s called elephant hurling.
But all my reading has uncovered so far is that there is not enough evidence to proceed with charges against either Brash or Banks. This is no way a testament to their character on my part, I am merely trying to establish what evidence you have that charges should have been forthcoming and/or the police/judiciary somehow acted with impropriety.
“I don’t like them” or “They were obviously guilty” aren’t good enough, I’m afraid. Only evidence will work. This is in no way a defence of Banks mind you, I dislike him quite strongly.
TheComedian
That’s meant to be a joke… Right? The relevant law that you have obviously not bothered to read states:
I hope that wasn’t too much reading for your delicate sensibilities TC. We wouldn’t want you to strain yourself and do an injury. You wouldn’t be such an effective apologist for old corrupt bastards then eh!
And Hullich was charged.
Apparently he can now remember the presence of a video camera, but he cannot remember the, more important, contents of a presentation.
Somewhere in the mix he has stated he remembered being advised that the presentation would not be recorded, yet those same charges have done a “full” review of the period in question (having said previously that it wouldn’t be recorded???) Confused Mmmmm – selective memory.
John Key ordered the investigation, he’s culpible no one else.
Late Edition last night RNZ, if any recording turns up of Key on February 29 2012 in the GCSB cafeteria it does not get destroyed, it gets archived.
I reckon the archives would be the first place to visit.
Is it permissible for Key to have any information destroyed held by the GCSB?
Not permissable no, not even in accordance with Information Tracking Procedures either.
They keep everything, that’s how it works.
I am sure anything prior to 19 January 2012 regarding Key discussing Dotcom will have a very secure archive.
When people like Sir Jeffery Palmer come out and say what the relationship between the PM and the GCSB is like, in a heart beat I am not fooled.
Can I prove it? No.
Does this make me wrong? No
When it comes to probability did Key know about Dotcom prior to 19 January 2012? Yes
Yes, it appears all very odd to set up a camera and not record…I believe they said there was a camera on a tripod set up….
A Sustainable Energy Future For NZ (without the hot air) – An Update
Well, at least somebody is asking the right questions. Pity it’s not the government.
Yes we can survive.
They’re called “Brownouts”and “Power Flicker”.
They’ll take care of the consumption problem nicely M8.
The stove and the water heater will keep working … digital stuff i’ll be toast, and flicker will kill the TV as well.
Heaps of recycled electronic goods as well, worth thinking about 🙂
Rolling black outs mate, easier on the electronics than brown outs.
Big market in surge protectors and UPS’s in the future I bet.
Related.
http://energybulletin.net/stories/2012-01-13/will-new-zealand-be-first-developed-country-evolve-steady-state-economy
Pop-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projection_(psychology)
Next? (I am just being n0rty now)
🙂
(he’s not the messiah, he’s just a naughty boy)
🙂
Johny Sparkles defined by Wikipedia, Who’d a thought?
They always get a “Glow on” when Freud is mentioned
I propose a new Thesis ….
“The Power of Vacuum” a study of Johny Sparkles 🙂
Power fills a vacuum
🙂
(and not “personal power” either; collective power)
Pride b4 fall, or bloated explosion with apology?
Vacuum far outweighs everything else in this Universe.
No one else is gonna call it yet, I’m going with Landslide Labour/Greens/Mana/NZFirst myself.
Not me. Don’t know. It is Shearer’s fault. It is Ira’s fault. Not my job to oversee Spy agencies. Don’t know what Projection means and don’t want to know.
Lies within lies, on top of lies. Lies flanked and protected by lies. Lies about lying, lies about spying.
John Banks publicly stated that he had “nothing to fear, nothing to hide,” over the donations scandal.
Nothing to fear?
Nothing to hide?
As it turns out, John Banks did fear something, and in contrast to his public assertion that he had nothing to hide, asked the police to keep their investigation into his Mayoral donations hidden from the public.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7822867/Banks-fought-Dotcom-file-release
John Key said he would have no confidence in John Banks as Minister if he found he had lied to him.
Now that solid proof has come out that Banks lied in claiming that he didn’t ask the police to suppress evidence arising from the police investigation into his mayoral campaign donations.
Will John Key act on his promise in relation to John Banks as a Minister?
Or was that a lie?
Is John Banks lying about donations from Dotcom?
Is John Key lying about everything to do with Kim Dotcom, relating to the GCSB illegal spying?
Without a doubt John Banks is a proven liar.
But is the Prime Minister a liar?
Time will tell. If after this latest revelation John Key keeps John Banks as a Minister in his government.
Is John Banks lying about donations from Dotcom? Yes!
Is John Key lying about everything to do with Kim Dotcom, relating to the GCSB illegal spying? Yes!
And the reason they’re both lying through their teeth is because both have so much more to hide.
Apart from the fact Key still needs Banks’ vote etc., he will keep Banks as a Minister in his government because Banksie knows where the bodies are buried.
India Inc.
http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/in-india-gm-crops-come-at-a-high-price/?
and while ” we “are all being so popularly precious about Gender in the West
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1015/breaking56.html?
(pray for the young girl shot in the head)
Why do you not take your “whine” some place else?
‘What the hell was that’ ‘I want to see all you children in my office next school day’
Supposedly intelligent,articulate,bright (debateable) set of parliament ministers,pm and
the speaker launch into what could be described as a ‘free for all ‘ forget the fists,
words will do,a scene of total disobediance.
But hey, shonkey did admit he talked dotcom at the feb 29th meeting,phew, now
we wait and see if there are any dates earlier than 29th feb……….
Maybe Shearer should stay leader: the ‘tape’ story is getting obliterated by the MSD story, which is then bleeding into a wider data-trust narrative.
Labour needs a leader who can fuck up, AND be lucky. Yes?
Stuff is running a poll asking ‘How is the Government doing?’
On this link
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7822867/Banks-fought-Dotcom-file-release
Presently
22.5% well
73 % not well
4.5 % don’t care
Feel free to add your vote…………
“Not well” is rather polite.
Landslide on the Net M8!
Anyone know what the fracas at the beginning of Question Time was all about. Two ordered out of House. Trevor chose to walk out.Something about the PM- letter about PM sent by Winston to the Leader- issue before the Parliamentary or Privileges Committee- Key’s response received yesterday. What the!!!!
Anyone?
Wasn’t is something to do with some letters??
I don’t know either, but it was obviously something of some importance.as Winston was prepared to lose his question for it.
The letter to the Speaker was sent on the 5 October(?) and again 15 October(?) and concerned John Key and maybe the Privileges Committee. If my half heard version is so, then the irony is obvious. Key having Peters in front of Priv Committee in 08. What if Peters now has Key up before the Priv Committee???? Forgive me. Probably got it wrong.
Here is the start of Question time:
http://inthehouse.co.nz/node/15472
It was something to do with Key’s personal statement. It seems he got up to make it without first asking for a ‘point of order’. God knows why Winnie et al got their knickers in a twist. Some nuance of which I’m not familiar.
I think Winston Peters has sent a letter to the Speaker accusing John Key of a breach of parliamentary privilege. Lockwood Smith has yet to rule on whether there is a case to be answered. We all know what the answer will probably be.
Key never spoke a word , the speaker spoke the words “point of order” for him.
Engineered denial …… Go Winston Peters and Others!
I think that there are rules to be followed. Can’t be a majority decision of the House otherwise no charge could ever be laid against the Government. Watch this space!
They wanted to raise a point of order and Key wanted to make a personal information. Points of order trump everything else and should have been considered first.
They were just playing stupid political games for no apparent reason. Most people grow out of that when they get to college.
Wrong. They were calling for points of order, and as micky says they should have been acknowledged immediately.
What Lockwood allowed Key to do there was disgraceful and a gross insult to the entire house, and by extension to all of New Zealand.
If you knew anything about parliament you wouldn’t need this explained to you. Lockwood knew he was wrong too, that’s why his voice was breaking.
Yes, disgraceful.
It is starting to feel like the government is close to breaking point.
Thanks for that felix. I think I see what happened now. After the House stood and clapped for the Cook Island Speaker, everyone sat down with the exception of John Key who remained standing and started to launch into his personal statement without going through established protocol as set down by the House rules (Standing Orders) and without so much as a bat of an eyelid from the Speaker.
Pre-arranged? I expect so. Disgraceful and totally underhand!
@micky, Isn’t it usual for the politicians to ask for leave of the house to make a personal
statement, in such circumstances and lockwood does protects the right too often.
There should be an independant speaker,outside of any political party,perhaps
a retired judge etc.
@ianmac, It was bleedin hard to tell really,it wasn’t what i got my coffee and a chocky biky for,key said he talked kim on the 29th feb,it all happened so quick even the mic couldn’t keep up.
this government just wants to make it up as it goes along.
they dont believe in government anyway.
Has anyone asked this question?
When was the PM approached by the US authorities (channels of US administration) to request /advise him that an operation was desirable in New Zealand? At what level and at which meeting in the year(s) prior to the raid in February 2012 did the US departments approach the PM of New Zealand?
If nothing else, it beggars belief that the leader of a friendly sovereign state would not be approached by a very high level delegation prior to their operatives working in that foreign state.
Just trying to imagine similar circumstances in other “friendly” nations of the world?
Australia, Canada, Great Britain, France, South Africa, Germany … Sweden, mmmmmmm, nah.
Ah, yes … it was during the heady days of the appearance on the Letterman Show. No wonder he forgot.
It was no doubt a standard request under the extradition treaty NZ has with the US. The PM would not need to be involved although he may have been advised as a matter of courtesy.
Is this a treaty we should ignore? Are there other treaties we can ignore?
Whilst it’s true a standard request would have been investigated and dismissed once residency was attained, they arrested him anyway …… why would they do that buddy???
The goal was reached when Megaupload was closed down. The US are not interested in side show Key, keystone cops and are probably laughing at the GCSB/SIS for being so gullible.
They obviously have a “Debt Recovery” mentality/agenda.
For some reason they think a “Difference Caching” engine is grounds for “Informed copyright Infringement”
Which ultimately means because Megaupload cranked the time to live on those files upto 100 years, (Which most ISP’s will do to save backbone data), has made them a target of the US law enforcement trying to recover “Missing Transactions” for “Projected” film sales.
They’ll lose bud, the above is “The Case”, they know it too, so why is Dotcom on bail again?
What? dotCom having residency has nothing to do with whether he is able to be extradited or not. Otherwise it would already all be over. But DotCom does still have to go and argue his case as to why he shouldn’t be extradited. And he might not win.
Yeah, but these were US officers operating in a friendly state. Not just NZ officers executing an arrest and extradition. That would surely involve keeping the PM informed.
So, Southland anti-choicers have decided to “name and shame” abortion providers. I had a little play with the idea of naming and shaming other medical providers, and came up with #namethedentists.
How about name and shame the anti-choicers?
That would only work if there were widespread societal stigma against being moralising wankers who try to endanger people’s health so they can feed their superiority complexes.
Actually, it would only work if the moralising wankers could be made to feel shame about being moralising wankers. I doubt that this is possible.
Funny how you shriek about Rights! Rights! Rights! for gay ‘marriage’. Wax lyrical about “My Love Rights!”
Then kill off an unborn child because it’s “inconvenient for my career”.
or because you were raped by your father.
Extreme example there, but thats ok, I’m not against abortion in certain situations. Just not interested in that gender bigot feminist extremism that wants abortion on demand.
So, just to be clear, there’s not actually a moral issue with “killing off an unborn child” as long as you, k_p, think the circumstances warrant it?
😉
And now Banks has been proven to be lying while a minister.
So, will Key hold Banks to account? Na, of course not.