‘A former New Zealand First MP wants the party to back Labour – saying a large number of voters clearly want change and a decision must account for the party’s long-term survival.
Pita Paraone, who served as an MP from 2002 until 2008, and from 2014 until this election, has on the eve of a final NZ First meeting to decide the next Government thrown his support behind a deal with Labour.
“Personally, I feel the winds of change,” he told the Herald. “I think the decision they must make is one that will also ensure the future of New Zealand First. And I think one of the things they have got to consider is people quite clearly want change.”
Paraone said while National was easily the biggest party, a majority of voters didn’t support it. ‘
If RL’s moderator bold comment is allowed to stand, and Tracey goes, I’m gone too.
I have no actual knowledge of RL’s off line experience with women. And I agree with Tracey’s last comment about my own experiences with women and men. Relationships can be very angst ridden and painful, but that doesn’t mean all our painful experiences are part of gendered abuse of power.
The issue is about power on and off the TS, and is part of a pattern that is very gendered throughout society.
There is widespread use of (usually young) women in the film industry as a decorative accompaniment to powerful men (of various ages) on and off the screen. Sometimes men are used this way, too – and there is a particularly strong use of this power to control women (and men) of colour. In this way, masculine dominance is continually maintained.
All I have seen from RL on gender issues are comments trying to control the discussion of gender on TS to support his own stated interests. It is very much controlling behaviour, that tends to derail and undermine women’s statements of their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. And when women have failed to comply, RL pulls out his moderator status – which seems to be higher than Tracey’s.
Ban me for commented thus, if you will. All I am seeing in such TS discussions of gender, in the final instance, supports a hierarchical masculine dominance – with a small number of men with most power.
Thanks for the support from men like marty mars, and for pointing out the moderation in the linked comment.
“All I have seen from RL on gender issues are comments trying to control the discussion of gender on TS to support his own stated interests. It is very much controlling behaviour, that tends to derail and undermine women’s statements of their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. And when women have failed to comply, RL pulls out his moderator status – which seems to be higher than Tracey’s.”
^^^ This.
and it’s really disappointing that RL effectively removes women from this site because he doesn’t like the way the debate is going.
Oh grow up. I’ve explained several times quite clearly that I did the bold comment simply to make a clear reply. In a fast moving thread it’s very easy for people to miss things, get the timing and sequencing mixed up, talking at cross-purposes.
Nor was there anything unusual in doing this; I can point to many other examples of the same sort of thing done by others. Bolding type does not automatically mean moderation; it’s just a convention to get people’s attention.
Nor can anyone point to any place where I have attempted to control the conversation. That is utterly crazy. If anything I went out of my way to respond to everyone with a reasoned discussion and treated you all with complete respect. At no point was anyone told they ‘could not say something’. At no point did I use moderation to limit or direct anything anyone said.
The sole and specific point that I did make a stand on was just that … categorically in a decade of being here I have been scrupulous to be as even-handed as possible, and to avoid mis-using moderation to control the content of the debate. Being accused of that twice by tracey is a direct personal attack on a moderator, and on a personal value that is really important to me … and I made a clear specific warning to her not to repeat it. Still if she wants to throw her toys out of the cot because of a simple warning … that is absolutely her right to respond as suits her.
Also when other moderators have in my view misused moderation in the past, I have been very careful to not to attack them in public. I’ve either remained silent or ensured they were not undermined.
Given this was the first time in probably 18 months that I’ve said anything significant on a topic that is important to me …. for reasons many of you understand perfectly well … it’s just not tenable to suggest I’m trying to control any kind of discussion.
Nor are there any rational grounds to claim to suggest I am undermining or derailing women’s very real and legitimate interests here. Pointing out that the misuse of power by bullies and predators has many and varied contexts in no way subtracts or diminishes from what women are saying. If anything it adds and reinforces their case; if anything it demonstrates that both genders have a shared interest in addressing the root causes and understandings, if anything I would have expected women to welcome men engaging honestly and openly around their experiences and perspectives. But no; not welcome at all apparently.
But I’m under no illusion this will change anything. I understand exactly why everyone will continue to hate me for saying this, and the sly snarks and deniable personal attacks will just escalate from here. tracey said at one point that ‘this was all about me’. Sure … you made it so when you attacked me personally rather than addressing the content of pretty much anything I was saying.
For instance I referenced at least three interesting articles and some very good work by researcher David Lisak. Not a peep in response, total silence. No actual debate, just emotive claims of ‘derailing’ and “MRA politics’ and the like. Dismissing any discussion of how men might feel about all this, demeaning it as ‘childish me too’ in order to erase and control male voices is a pretty transparent ploy.
In my view TS has fallen well off the pace in this topic; we’ve gotten locked into a stale confrontational debate when there are plenty of balanced and sane voices elsewhere moving making much the same case I am. (Just usually with more research, finesse and eloquence.)
Still as weka and others have clearly stated; they would clearly prefer that any masculine perspective (and emphatically this is not the same thing as speaking for all people with male genitals) should be silenced. And out of respect for my fellow authors and moderators, and because this topic clearly causes far too much disruption … I commit to absolutely never saying anything on any gendered topic ever again.
Note: I’ve made this comment without being logged in so as it’s perfectly clear I’m not moderating or bolding anything.
It was not a threat; it was a very specific and clear warning (again perfectly normal practise) not to repeat a false claim that I was misusing moderation to ‘bully her into silence’.
As far as I’m concerned it’s yesterday’s thread and in the past. I’ve made my case and I’m leaving it there; so clearly the warning has expired.
I think you should take some time out. Your comments on that thread were unacceptable imo. Even today you are still trying to bully people. You don’t want to listen just browbeat people with your well understood views, after all this isn’t the first or second time this has happened is it.
I put this up so Tracey would know she is supported and needed as a commenter and you are once again making it all about you.
I also am sorry you are in so much pain – i hope it is sorted for you sooner rather than later.
Tracey and others made it ‘all about me’ by attacking me personally, rather than addressing the content. I can’t change that now; I’m merely responding just as you are completely entitled to.
And I note that as with every person replying to me, you ALL gang up to express outrage at what I am saying, venting emotion all over me … but not no-one has attempted any consistent explanation why. It’s not very impressive.
But really that has to be it. As I said I’ve committed not to comment on gendered issues again and if you would allow this conversation to wrap up with mutual dignity that would be appreciated.
Ok i’ll make this my last comment to you on this for today.
Your ego and bullshit has undermined the months of work that has gone on to create a safer commenting environment for women here imo. Even now you are attacking people with ‘grow up’ lines. Imo you should be saying sorry to everyone especially women contributors and commenters but you appear to think you are the aggrieved party, that it’s you who have been hurt and misheard. It isn’t.
I have really been working hard not to allow my anger at your attitudes to flow through to the keyboard and have treated you with respect. Pity you cannot do that for others.
“Tracey and others made it ‘all about me’ by attacking me personally.”
The opposite is true RL. You are obviously in pain and I am sorry about that. However, although that explains your bullying behaviour yesterday, it does not excuse it IMO. I realise that you have had to develop various coping mechanisms to deal with things that have happened to you in the past, but maybe it is time you spent some time reflecting on why your comments yesterday were upsetting to many of us.
Its the job of intellectuals to make things look complicated. I just don’t see a justification for it. When you go looking for people with more problems than than yourself with the aim of coming up with big long words and evidence of models that only a few seem to understand – it always ends in tears.
Maybe a vent in the shower or a walk. But seriously. Let me ask you a question. Was the online friendship (if you can call it that) going to end any other way?
Fair enough marty but I think there were one or two other commenters yesterday who perhaps could also benefit from a brief bit of time out. I interpreted RL’s intentions quite differently from the rest of you – maybe because I can fully empathise with his experience. It was Open Mike after all and unlike a dedicated post… commenters are free to post on any topic they wish from any angle they choose. Perhaps it was an unwise decision of RL’s to contribute, but imo his views were as relevant as anyone else’s and therefore were deserving of more respect.
Whatever the issues are with Red’s politics and how he expresses them, there’s also the issue of how he used his moderating powers yesterday. That resulted in TS losing an author, which we really can’t afford. We also can’t afford to lose the few women authors we have and each time this happens it gets that much harder to encourage women to write here. IMO this applies to comments too. It’s a big issue for the site, and very disappointing to see this playing out yet again.
I think it was the wrong place for the subject. Had it been made as a new thread in Open Mike – something like “…with all the recent attention about men harassing women, we should keep in mind it’s a subset of a wider problem of gender power dynamics and bullying…” maybe it wouldn’t have gone off the rails so badly. As it was, to me it definitely came across as a male bullying females in a thread about the problem of males abusing power over females.
Thanks, Anne. There are some fem posters here who come across as quite intimidating. A rapid reversion to doctrine and denigration seems to be a common ploy to close down divergent comment.
Clear instances of ‘tin ear’ and follies in comprehension. Humility might help.
For those on the receiving end – know they won’t listen to any other side, or cut any slack at all. Like the Red Queen: ‘Off with his head!’
Sweet reason is wasted. Just walk away. You don’t have to play with the handmaidens of Kali Maa.
. Pointing out that the misuse of power by bullies and predators has many and varied contexts in no way subtracts or diminishes from what women are saying.
Mate, that’s exactly what it does when you insert yourself and your whataboutism, by casting a fucking big shadow over any discussion about the abuse of women.
.
I think the thing that grated on me the most that Tracey rightly got upset about was the ‘me too’ that often pops up from a few men whenever we try to have a serious discussion about the problems women have with power imbalance and abuse. I can remember this happening a lot in the 60s/70s and consciously or not, it serves to derail a topic that needs serious consideration.
The ‘me too’ commenters act like spoilt children. If there is a significant issue about the treatment of men by women, and this exercises them, then they need to be grown-ups and start their own discussion, not hang on the coat tails of the women who have the courage to speak up.Hopefully most of us will listen with open hearts and minds and not go into ‘me too’ mode.
Stay with us, Tracey, and we will hopefully support you better next time – and don’t you go, either, Carolyn nth – kia kaha, kia kotahi!
I think the thing that grates me about the modern feminist reaction to ‘me too’ from men, is that many women seem to want to wallow in the wrongs they personally receive, pay a little attention to those suffered by women in other countries/religions as if that makes them all sisters, an refer to the ongoing maltreatment of women in wars and conflicts, and don’t have anyconcern left for the rest of hu-man-ity.
It’s ‘Get out of my wallow, and find one of your own’. You are all at fault and we take precedence in bemoaning being victimised by the enormity of lack of respect and empathy for each other, lack of human kindness to each other, and lack of personal integrity in attempting to improve oneselves even to just adopting the simple ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.
I’ve had several tries at answering this, but have come to the conclusion that your use of the emotive ‘wallow’ tends to suggest that you are emoting rather than replying in a way that shows that you have understood what I said.
To whoever…I’ve taken the liberty of quickly editing those comments, but I’ve no idea if it cleans anything up a bit or whether I’ve just knocked a bucket over an already soggy mess.
Thanks marty and everyone for speaking up about this. It’s very helpful to have that support especially for the women authors and commenters. What happened yesterday wasn’t ok, and the more people that point this out the better.
Thanks weka. And a special kia kaha to you because I have seen the improvements here to create safe spaces for women to comment (still need to sort that for Māori but that will happen I think) and I appreciate that so much.
“Though boys throw stones at frogs in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest.”
Clearly this is not ‘sport’, but the point Bion makes is that one’s intentions are not sufficient excuse for one’s actions. One must try to empathise with the recipient and that means understanding that they will perceive things differently from oneself.
A woman’s reaction to her treatment has to be understood in relation to her lifetime experience as a woman, so listen to what she has to say about why she feels as she does.
This a problem endemic to the left – that certain spokesmen think of themselves as the default for human experience – Trotter is particularly egregious on this – and denigrate ‘identity politics’ as a ‘distraction’ from their needs. The right are proud of this blindness, but sadly much of the left is in denial about it’s own flaws.
(It’s a lesson Plunkett could learn too about his ‘social experiment’.)
After listening to three interviews with bill english he dosen’t seem very upbeat or happy at all. Trying not to read anything in to it, but he seems to have an air of defeat around him.
Miss Twelve pointed out to me that he kept looking away from the camera on TVNZ
Mum why is he looking to the left all the time?
Why do you think he is darling?
She replies…. Well I know that some people look away when they aren’t being honest or are nervous.
Later on she asks… Mum what’s up with the chippy shortage?
Climate Change darling…. then go on to tell her about the rain, she grows potatoes.
Mum why aren’t they talking more about Climate Change instead of making jokes about chips?
Yes Miss Twelve. And we were all lead to believe in Honest Bill. Ha!
We only have a tiny section so this year I happen to be growing potatoes in buckets. I drilled holes for drainage and have 12 seed potatoes throwing healthy foliage upwards. Might beat the shortage yet.
Well, the way we see it at our place is that climate has a direct effect on crop production. As the climate changes so must our growing procedures, planting times etc etc.
Have to have a giggle turns out the chippy shortage was a PaknSave blunder. Lmao the crisp munchers of NZ can relax, still…. the potatoe season hasn’t been kind judging from what we saw on the news this morning.
The medical profession officially recognised “burnout” in Hawai’i today – originally the point in time and trajectory when missile fuel combustion exhausts reserves, popularized as applying to humans in caring professions by Maslach in the 60’s.
It will be interesting how scribes construct the implications of even more capable missile technology today – capable of reaching Hawai’i and California from Pyongyang – as if emergency services there did not already have enough to do.
Hippocrates wrote some time ago “above all, do no harm”. The voice of experience ..
Been reading about the effects of EMP after a nuclear detonation , – that in itself is alarming,… there was an article about a nuclear device detonated saying some 249 miles in the atmosphere would knock out most of the electrical grid in the continental US , and parts of Mexico and much of Canada. Civil society would close down rapidly , and the military / rapid response services would be denied any coordinated ability’s.
And Nth Korea has announced this capacity with its nukes. Amazing , – and alarming , that a smallish country like that could in theory , so easily take down a behemoth like the USA.
You may want to have a read of these links, especially the Popular Mechanics article for the source of such claims.
“Back to The Hill article, which claims an EMP attack by North Korea would kill “9 of 10 Americans by starvation and societal collapse.” The first clue that something is amiss with this claim is that, if you trace the link provided in the article, it cites the words of Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who describes a novel he had read called One Second After. Bartlett says:
“I read a prepublication copy of a book called One Second After. I hope it does get published; I think the American people need to read it. It was the story of a ballistic missile EMP attack on our country. The weapon was launched from a ship off our shore, and then the ship was sunk so that there were no fingerprints. The weapon was launched about 300 miles high over Nebraska, and it shut down our infrastructure countrywide. The story runs for a year. It is set in the hills of North Carolina. At the end of the year, 90 percent of our population is dead; there are 25,000 people only still alive in New York City. The communities in the hills of North Carolina are more lucky: only 80 percent of their population is dead at the end of a year.”
Bartlett was so spooked by this novel that after he left Congress he moved into the woods and became a survivalist, where he spends his days “cutting logs, tending gardens and painting walls.” And just to be clear, the claim that North Korea could kill 90 percent of the American people was directly pulled from a science fiction novel.”
The US test “Starfish Prime” is the one referenced in terms of EMP effects and was a yield of roughly 1.4 Mt.
North Korea’s best yield to date is perhaps 250 kt, and it is believed the reliability of their weapons is not the best.
But rather a cumulative thing. The gradual ( in some cases rapid) shortages of food , medical services , and production of thereof , would kick in after just weeks for the population , for others already ill , it would be immediate. City’s would be a slow death trap as resources run out and looting / lack of enforcement began.
Such unpleasanty’s we humans seem to delight in,…
That’s why I posted a line from one of Barry Crumps novels a day or so ago…
” They’re all going mad out there ” ,… Uncle Hec said after listening to the news on the radio broadcast…
How can Tamaki Regeneration Ltd, (100% Crown-owned) with $1.6 billion of formed HNZ Tamaki properties, be a ‘subsidiary’ of Tamaki Redevelopment Company Ltd – which owns NOTHING?
How good is our supposedly leading ‘public audit’ body – the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG)?
How come the OAG didn’t apparently pick up that neither Tamaki Redevelopment Company Ltd NOR Tamaki Regeneration Ltd were even listed as ‘Crown Entity Companies’ under Sch 2 of the Crown Entities Act 2004?
“During the year three additional subsidiary entities were established.
Tāmaki Regeneration Limited (TRL) was established for the purposes of housing redevelopment.
THA GP Limited (THAGP) for tenancy/property management and Tāmaki Housing Association Limited Partnership (THALP) for future use.
TRL and THALP are Crown entity subsidiaries under the Crown Entities Act 2004.
TRL is not, however, a subsidiary of TRC for financial reporting purposes as the Crown controls TRL through the convertible preference shares it holds.
________________
Crown Entities Act 2004 No 115 (as at 01 July 2017), Public Act Schedule 2 Crown entity companies – New Zealand Legislation
There is NO Crown Entity Schedule for ‘Crown Entity subsidiaries’.
Just Crown Entity Companies.
Neither Tamaki Redevelopment Company Ltd, nor Tamaki Regeneration Ltd are listed under the Crown Entities Act 2004, Schedule 2 as ‘Crown Entity Companies’!
File under “You Couldn’t Make This Sh*t Up’.
This 5 minute video explaining the, IMO, ‘Tamaki Scam’ has now had over 174,000 views on facebook.
IMO, the essence of the ‘Tamaki Scam’ has been to use similar-sounding names for different companies, in order to disguise the real private property developer-driven GENTRIFICATION’ agenda, as ‘Regeneration’ of poorer communities.
Car registrations: anyone want to offer a defense of the current fucked-up system we have with wild discrepancies between petrol and diesel and different levies based on a fairly crap “safety” dataset from a foreign country?
Or is it time to ditch the ACC component of registration and load it all onto fuel?
First up, there’s a huge difference in ACC treatment between petrol and diesel. All ACC levies for diesel vehicles are collected from registrations and none from fuel, whereas there is some ACC levy collected from petrol sales and some from petrol vehicle registrations. The only justification I’ve seen for this is mumbling about how commercial and farming users primarily use diesel and they pay ACC levies through the tax system. But those users already have accounting systems set up to track fuel payments etc and it would be bugger-all added expense or difficulty to reconcile ACC levies paid in fuel with the rest of their accounts.
Then there’s the inequity of charging ACC for the act of simply owning a vehicle and keeping it ready for use. I can’t think of any hazard ACC should be concerned with associated with owning a vehicle, except for possible injuries while doing DIY repairs (which are much more likely on classic vehicles that are ACC exempt). The hazard comes from using the vehicle. So putting all the levy on fuel would mean the amount a user pays much more closely tracks the risk of a user making an ACC claim.
Finally, the difference in ACC levy between different vehicles is entirely based on a crap estimate of how well a vehicle protects its occupants, and totally fails to consider the hazard of that vehicle to other road users. I own a 1994 Landrover Defender and a 2001 Daihatsu Sirion. The Defender has exactly the same safety features as the 1984 model Defender, yet is classed as safer (with a lower ACC levy) than 1993 or earlier Defenders. It’s also classed as safer than the Sirion, which has airbags, antilock brakes, crumple zones, pretensioning seatbelts, padding on interior hard points etc, which are all absent in the Defender. And if I’m to get hit by one of them, I’d definitely prefer it’s the Sirion.
Unlike the article, I’m not advocating dumping registration altogether. But I would advocate setting registration fees just at the level needed to maintain the vehicles database. Which would just be the license component of current fees, $52.11 per year.
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were like that, annual fees just covered the database costs. California had basically a wealth tax on registration, where they added an extra fee based on a % (about 1% from memory) of the estimated value of the vehicle.
It’s not just farmers who use diesel off-road. Lots of places have stand-alone generators for uninterrupted power supplies, diesel engines for machinery, and even diesel for those jet-engine-style heaters.
I’d suspect non-transport use of diesel is a far higher component of diesel use than e.g. lawnmowers and weedeaters are a component of petrol purchases.
But my point remains, that those non-transport users almost all have accounting systems set up so it’s a negligible change to them to add ACC levies to fuel.
And at the moment I’m not aware of recreational marine users of diesel paying ACC levies anywhere, so putting the levy on fuel would mean they contribute something to ACC. Coz sure as shit recreational boating does have accidents that ACC ends up paying for.
Actually, recreational fishers would be non-work injuries and come out of a different account @ACC, paid into by all earners or from the general taxes if the injured person is not an earner.
Whereas transport injuries come out of the specific transport account.
I am sending heartfelt wishes for all the victims of the 2 Mogadishu truck bombs in Somalia. 276 dead at least and so many maimed and ruined, so many lives affected and loved ones suffering. I wish I had more to give, I’m sorry I don’t. I have my tears and that seems so inadequate.
This wont receive much coverage in the media, the sad thing is if this had of happened in New York or dare I say it Auckland imagine the coverage. Why does our media pick and choose their coverage of carnage?, do they think we don’t want to know or aren’t as interested because these people look different to us? or is this theory actually true, do we only care about european type atrocities?, makes you wonder.
An atrocity in Las Vegas or New York or Nice gets lots more coverage here because local readers are much more likely to feel some kind of connection to where it happened. Maybe they have visited or know some locals there, and may have a feeling of “that could have been me”. Whereas very very few readers will feel any connection whatsoever to Mogadishu and the people there.
Yep to a point, yet they are people with families and loved ones. I’d imagine it is mainly because they are African and therefore people of colour that has a big influence too on the decisions to run with it. The magnitude of the terror bomb and death will put it on the news tonight and the fact that it is political as in terrorism and it is the biggest atrocity in that country will all counteract the colour issue. The clips will be barely watchable for those with tvs I’d say.
I suppose to try tease out how much of the difference is due to the victims being Africans, and how much is whether readers feel a connection and the “could have been me” factor, you could ponder what the coverage would be like had this happened in say Nairobi or Zanzibar or Arusha. Somewhere that a reasonable number of NZers have actually visited.
Have many visited those places? I wouldn’t have a clue tbh. That side of kiwidom is not one i’m familiar with really – I’m too poor. Although I have been to Aussie and India about 25 years ago when I was in the Hari’s.
Admittedly my social circle probably includes a fairly high number of people that travel a lot. But just off the top of my head I can think of 23 first-hand acquaintances that have been to at least one of them. That’s 23 more than people I know that have been to Mogadishu.
We’re certainly in the genitalia presidency. The orange howler monkey gave us way too much information about his own and his habits with other people’s. Now Tillerson feels the need to clarify the status of his. What next, will other members of cabinet have to clarify whether they’re grabbed or ungrabbed?
Is anyone watching Manhunt Unabomber on the discovery channel?, i’m finding it absolutely riveting, if not check it out, its basically a short series on the hunt and capture of Theodore Kaczynski aka The Unabomber.
Labour/Greens/NZ First won’t fix these issues, they’ve always been with us.
Keep in mind Just because the left-wing element in the media stops with the poor pimping doesn’t mean poverty has been solved.
I just thought it was a good opportunity for people who were so sure Labour are going to be leading our next government to make some $ should they put their money where their mouth is.
Hey – Its OK Ed – I dont think Labour are going “win” either.
Look on the bright side – it will give you (at least) another 3 years to moan.
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The government has decided that someone has done Something Bad. But despite their belief, there seems to be no evidence that they have actually broken the law. So the government's solution is to pass a retrospective law allowing them to be punished anyway, on a lower standard of proof. If ...
So, Judith Collins has done a Facebook rant about climate change, peddling the same shit National has been shovelling for the past twenty years: the impacts are overstated, there's no need to do anything about it, and its too hard anyway (oh, and its so unfair that people who peddle ...
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.nzThere is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...
I came across this song quite by accident. If it isn't one of Greta Thunberg's favourites - it should be.Video courtesy of YouTube.This post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
Last month, NZDF's shoddy coverup of what it knew about civilian casualties in Operation Burnham began to fall apart, with the revelation that a report on the matter, which NZDF claimed not to have, had been sitting in an NZDF safe for the past nine years. Yesterday, the man responsible ...
While many imagine that countries like the USA and Europe dominate space activities, in fact India is now a major player on this stage. It launches satellites for its own purposes and also commercially, and has constellations orbiting our planet and returning data of vital importance to that nation in ...
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...
For the past week, Extinction Rebellion has been peacefully protesting in London to demand action on climate change. The British government's response? Ban their protests:Police have banned Extinction Rebellion protests from continuing anywhere in London, as they moved in almost without warning to clear protesters who remained at the movement’s ...
An essay by Judith Collins MP reported on Carbon News yesterday seems to show an alarming shift in attitude within the National Party. Collins argues against the Zero Carbon Bill, the Paris Agreement, and downplays the magnitude of climate impacts. The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 and ratified ...
When they were running for election, Labour promised to overhaul the Employment Relations Act and introduce fair pay agreements to set basic pay and conditions on an industry level, preventing bad employers from undercutting good ones. They followed this up by establishing a working group, which reported back in January ...
A list of indicators of bad science – many of these are found in articles promoted by anti-fluoride activists. Anti-fluoride activists have been pouring money into a scaremongering campaign warning pregnant women not to drink fluoridated water. They claim fluoride will lower the IQ of their future child. Fluoride ...
Nothing Left To Say: Labour's pollster, Stephen Mills, remains swaddled-up in the comforting myths of the 1980s. As if the experience of Roger Douglas’s genuinely radical post-Muldoon policy agenda was literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing – as much as the party could possibly absorb for at least the next 50 years.MEMO ...
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
How could government evolve over the next decades? Reports of democracy’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. However, satisfaction with political systems in many countries is low, so there is much to do for governments of all political stripes to improve relevance and trust. Digital technologies are seen as one ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
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.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
The Government today announced its support for a project that could substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. The announcement was made as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit to Nelson’s Cawthron Aquaculture Park. The Cawthron Institute will receive $100,000 from the Government’s ...
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni has welcomed the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill. “Every New Zealander has a stake in New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension,” says Carmel Sepuloni. “They are our most common form of social assistance – nearly 800,000 New ...
Babies in Auckland aged six months and over can receive a free vaccination and children will all have access to vaccines, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced today at Papatoetoe High School. The move comes as part of Government efforts to step up the fight against measles. ...
***Check against delivery*** Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here, and to have the honour of opening this important conference on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. Let us take the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who have helped make today possible, including our special ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says the safety of frontline officers and members of the public will be the focus of a new trial of specialist Police response teams in three of our largest urban centres. Police have this morning released details of an initiative to be trialled in Counties Manukau, ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Feedback sought– Lyttelton commercial zone parking The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to remove on-site car parking requirements for new developments in the Lyttelton commercial zone. The proposal, by Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section 71 of the Greater ...
Hon Minister Poto Williams Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration MEDIA STATEMENT Tuesday 15 October 2019 Feedback sought – Hagley Oval The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal about Hagley Oval. The proposal was developed by Regenerate Christchurch ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
US justice reform activists Deborah Small and asha bandele say white supremacy and colonialism are at the heart of punitive drug laws. They spoke to Teuila Fuatai about how drug reform can reverse their effects on minority communities. Deborah Small sees Donald Trump as the US Dorian Gray. “He’s the physical ...
Madeleine Chapman spent a day learning about Christchurch through its most famous dishes.What is there do with with a day in Christchurch? Thanks to the inexplicably early check-out times at hotels all over the world and a 7pm flight back to Auckland, I had a full day to wander the ...
Winston Peters says his party is a handbrake on bad ideas and a "supercharged turbo" for good ones - but will it be in the driver's seat come 2020? ...
Our former prime minister secured a meeting with Chinese premier Xi Jinping outside all normal diplomatic channels. Interest’s Jenée Tibshraeny asks what it means for New Zealand’s evolving relationship with the superpower.Former prime minister John Key secured a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week without the involvement of ...
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‘A former New Zealand First MP wants the party to back Labour – saying a large number of voters clearly want change and a decision must account for the party’s long-term survival.
Pita Paraone, who served as an MP from 2002 until 2008, and from 2014 until this election, has on the eve of a final NZ First meeting to decide the next Government thrown his support behind a deal with Labour.
“Personally, I feel the winds of change,” he told the Herald. “I think the decision they must make is one that will also ensure the future of New Zealand First. And I think one of the things they have got to consider is people quite clearly want change.”
Paraone said while National was easily the biggest party, a majority of voters didn’t support it. ‘
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11933255
You couldn’t make this stuff up!
A porn mogul offers a big reward to get a pussy grabber removed from office!
Comedy gold!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/files/2017/10/LarryFlyntAd.pdf?tid=a_inl
I respect the right to comment here is not a given and over the years I’ve sometimes got angry enough to say bye bye to this community.
We imo don’t have enough voices from women and we know this can be unsafe commenting environment for women because that is what they have told us.
I am more than disturbed that Tracey said she is leaving. I hope that doesn’t happen, I really do. You are wanted and needed here Tracey – Kia kaha!
+1
Yes, that was a seriously disturbing thread. And it wasn’t Tracey’s part in it that upsets me.
Seriously!
If RL’s moderator bold comment is allowed to stand, and Tracey goes, I’m gone too.
I have no actual knowledge of RL’s off line experience with women. And I agree with Tracey’s last comment about my own experiences with women and men. Relationships can be very angst ridden and painful, but that doesn’t mean all our painful experiences are part of gendered abuse of power.
The issue is about power on and off the TS, and is part of a pattern that is very gendered throughout society.
See for instance this Newsroom article today about the context for gendered power relationships in NZ’s film industry. It is in this context that powerful men sexually harass and abuse women, and then use their power to restrict the careers of non-compliant women (and sometimes men).
There is widespread use of (usually young) women in the film industry as a decorative accompaniment to powerful men (of various ages) on and off the screen. Sometimes men are used this way, too – and there is a particularly strong use of this power to control women (and men) of colour. In this way, masculine dominance is continually maintained.
All I have seen from RL on gender issues are comments trying to control the discussion of gender on TS to support his own stated interests. It is very much controlling behaviour, that tends to derail and undermine women’s statements of their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. And when women have failed to comply, RL pulls out his moderator status – which seems to be higher than Tracey’s.
Ban me for commented thus, if you will. All I am seeing in such TS discussions of gender, in the final instance, supports a hierarchical masculine dominance – with a small number of men with most power.
Thanks for the support from men like marty mars, and for pointing out the moderation in the linked comment.
“All I have seen from RL on gender issues are comments trying to control the discussion of gender on TS to support his own stated interests. It is very much controlling behaviour, that tends to derail and undermine women’s statements of their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. And when women have failed to comply, RL pulls out his moderator status – which seems to be higher than Tracey’s.”
^^^ This.
and it’s really disappointing that RL effectively removes women from this site because he doesn’t like the way the debate is going.
+1 Carolyn.
And thanks for your support Marty.
I agree that RL action of putting in comments as a moderator is exploiting a power imbalance between him and Tracey.
This behaviour needs to be acknowledged and stop.
For what it’s worth, I genuinely value the contributions you make Carolyn_nth. And I’d very much like if that continued to be the case.
Oh grow up. I’ve explained several times quite clearly that I did the bold comment simply to make a clear reply. In a fast moving thread it’s very easy for people to miss things, get the timing and sequencing mixed up, talking at cross-purposes.
Nor was there anything unusual in doing this; I can point to many other examples of the same sort of thing done by others. Bolding type does not automatically mean moderation; it’s just a convention to get people’s attention.
Nor can anyone point to any place where I have attempted to control the conversation. That is utterly crazy. If anything I went out of my way to respond to everyone with a reasoned discussion and treated you all with complete respect. At no point was anyone told they ‘could not say something’. At no point did I use moderation to limit or direct anything anyone said.
The sole and specific point that I did make a stand on was just that … categorically in a decade of being here I have been scrupulous to be as even-handed as possible, and to avoid mis-using moderation to control the content of the debate. Being accused of that twice by tracey is a direct personal attack on a moderator, and on a personal value that is really important to me … and I made a clear specific warning to her not to repeat it. Still if she wants to throw her toys out of the cot because of a simple warning … that is absolutely her right to respond as suits her.
Also when other moderators have in my view misused moderation in the past, I have been very careful to not to attack them in public. I’ve either remained silent or ensured they were not undermined.
Given this was the first time in probably 18 months that I’ve said anything significant on a topic that is important to me …. for reasons many of you understand perfectly well … it’s just not tenable to suggest I’m trying to control any kind of discussion.
Nor are there any rational grounds to claim to suggest I am undermining or derailing women’s very real and legitimate interests here. Pointing out that the misuse of power by bullies and predators has many and varied contexts in no way subtracts or diminishes from what women are saying. If anything it adds and reinforces their case; if anything it demonstrates that both genders have a shared interest in addressing the root causes and understandings, if anything I would have expected women to welcome men engaging honestly and openly around their experiences and perspectives. But no; not welcome at all apparently.
But I’m under no illusion this will change anything. I understand exactly why everyone will continue to hate me for saying this, and the sly snarks and deniable personal attacks will just escalate from here. tracey said at one point that ‘this was all about me’. Sure … you made it so when you attacked me personally rather than addressing the content of pretty much anything I was saying.
For instance I referenced at least three interesting articles and some very good work by researcher David Lisak. Not a peep in response, total silence. No actual debate, just emotive claims of ‘derailing’ and “MRA politics’ and the like. Dismissing any discussion of how men might feel about all this, demeaning it as ‘childish me too’ in order to erase and control male voices is a pretty transparent ploy.
In my view TS has fallen well off the pace in this topic; we’ve gotten locked into a stale confrontational debate when there are plenty of balanced and sane voices elsewhere moving making much the same case I am. (Just usually with more research, finesse and eloquence.)
Still as weka and others have clearly stated; they would clearly prefer that any masculine perspective (and emphatically this is not the same thing as speaking for all people with male genitals) should be silenced. And out of respect for my fellow authors and moderators, and because this topic clearly causes far too much disruption … I commit to absolutely never saying anything on any gendered topic ever again.
Note: I’ve made this comment without being logged in so as it’s perfectly clear I’m not moderating or bolding anything.
Sounds like a wise decision.
So does your threat to ban Tracey still hold?
A.
It was not a threat; it was a very specific and clear warning (again perfectly normal practise) not to repeat a false claim that I was misusing moderation to ‘bully her into silence’.
As far as I’m concerned it’s yesterday’s thread and in the past. I’ve made my case and I’m leaving it there; so clearly the warning has expired.
I think you should take some time out. Your comments on that thread were unacceptable imo. Even today you are still trying to bully people. You don’t want to listen just browbeat people with your well understood views, after all this isn’t the first or second time this has happened is it.
I put this up so Tracey would know she is supported and needed as a commenter and you are once again making it all about you.
I also am sorry you are in so much pain – i hope it is sorted for you sooner rather than later.
Tracey and others made it ‘all about me’ by attacking me personally, rather than addressing the content. I can’t change that now; I’m merely responding just as you are completely entitled to.
And I note that as with every person replying to me, you ALL gang up to express outrage at what I am saying, venting emotion all over me … but not no-one has attempted any consistent explanation why. It’s not very impressive.
But really that has to be it. As I said I’ve committed not to comment on gendered issues again and if you would allow this conversation to wrap up with mutual dignity that would be appreciated.
It will wrap up when EVERYONE who wants to say something has the opportunity to say it imo. That is respectful dignity for all.
OK everyone form a queue here and vent on RL.
Fortunately it’s a nice day outside.
Cheers
Ok i’ll make this my last comment to you on this for today.
Your ego and bullshit has undermined the months of work that has gone on to create a safer commenting environment for women here imo. Even now you are attacking people with ‘grow up’ lines. Imo you should be saying sorry to everyone especially women contributors and commenters but you appear to think you are the aggrieved party, that it’s you who have been hurt and misheard. It isn’t.
I have really been working hard not to allow my anger at your attitudes to flow through to the keyboard and have treated you with respect. Pity you cannot do that for others.
“Tracey and others made it ‘all about me’ by attacking me personally.”
The opposite is true RL. You are obviously in pain and I am sorry about that. However, although that explains your bullying behaviour yesterday, it does not excuse it IMO. I realise that you have had to develop various coping mechanisms to deal with things that have happened to you in the past, but maybe it is time you spent some time reflecting on why your comments yesterday were upsetting to many of us.
Wah! Wah! Wah!
[r0b: Is that really a helpful contribution?]
Its the job of intellectuals to make things look complicated. I just don’t see a justification for it. When you go looking for people with more problems than than yourself with the aim of coming up with big long words and evidence of models that only a few seem to understand – it always ends in tears.
Maybe a vent in the shower or a walk. But seriously. Let me ask you a question. Was the online friendship (if you can call it that) going to end any other way?
I think you should take some time out.
Fair enough marty but I think there were one or two other commenters yesterday who perhaps could also benefit from a brief bit of time out. I interpreted RL’s intentions quite differently from the rest of you – maybe because I can fully empathise with his experience. It was Open Mike after all and unlike a dedicated post… commenters are free to post on any topic they wish from any angle they choose. Perhaps it was an unwise decision of RL’s to contribute, but imo his views were as relevant as anyone else’s and therefore were deserving of more respect.
Well i always read your comments with an open mind Anne because we are often in alignment. Thank you for your feedback.
Whatever the issues are with Red’s politics and how he expresses them, there’s also the issue of how he used his moderating powers yesterday. That resulted in TS losing an author, which we really can’t afford. We also can’t afford to lose the few women authors we have and each time this happens it gets that much harder to encourage women to write here. IMO this applies to comments too. It’s a big issue for the site, and very disappointing to see this playing out yet again.
Maybe she will come back?
So agree weka. It need not have happened.
When we deal with the mokopuna when one annoys the other… the perpetrator needs to say sorry…
I think it was the wrong place for the subject. Had it been made as a new thread in Open Mike – something like “…with all the recent attention about men harassing women, we should keep in mind it’s a subset of a wider problem of gender power dynamics and bullying…” maybe it wouldn’t have gone off the rails so badly. As it was, to me it definitely came across as a male bullying females in a thread about the problem of males abusing power over females.
+1 (and there is substantial history on TS).
Totally agree with this ^^^^^^
Thanks, Anne. There are some fem posters here who come across as quite intimidating. A rapid reversion to doctrine and denigration seems to be a common ploy to close down divergent comment.
Clear instances of ‘tin ear’ and follies in comprehension. Humility might help.
For those on the receiving end – know they won’t listen to any other side, or cut any slack at all. Like the Red Queen: ‘Off with his head!’
Sweet reason is wasted. Just walk away. You don’t have to play with the handmaidens of Kali Maa.
Mate, that’s exactly what it does when you insert yourself and your whataboutism, by casting a fucking big shadow over any discussion about the abuse of women.
.
+1
I think the thing that grated on me the most that Tracey rightly got upset about was the ‘me too’ that often pops up from a few men whenever we try to have a serious discussion about the problems women have with power imbalance and abuse. I can remember this happening a lot in the 60s/70s and consciously or not, it serves to derail a topic that needs serious consideration.
The ‘me too’ commenters act like spoilt children. If there is a significant issue about the treatment of men by women, and this exercises them, then they need to be grown-ups and start their own discussion, not hang on the coat tails of the women who have the courage to speak up.Hopefully most of us will listen with open hearts and minds and not go into ‘me too’ mode.
Stay with us, Tracey, and we will hopefully support you better next time – and don’t you go, either, Carolyn nth – kia kaha, kia kotahi!
I think the thing that grates me about the modern feminist reaction to ‘me too’ from men, is that many women seem to want to wallow in the wrongs they personally receive, pay a little attention to those suffered by women in other countries/religions as if that makes them all sisters, an refer to the ongoing maltreatment of women in wars and conflicts, and don’t have anyconcern left for the rest of hu-man-ity.
It’s ‘Get out of my wallow, and find one of your own’. You are all at fault and we take precedence in bemoaning being victimised by the enormity of lack of respect and empathy for each other, lack of human kindness to each other, and lack of personal integrity in attempting to improve oneselves even to just adopting the simple ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.
I’ve had several tries at answering this, but have come to the conclusion that your use of the emotive ‘wallow’ tends to suggest that you are emoting rather than replying in a way that shows that you have understood what I said.
Tracey should stay. Just because RL is annoying is no reason to leave.
A.
PS It is not at all obvious to me that giving mods the power to “ban at will” actually makes the Standard a better place
Thanks for sign-posting marty.
To whoever…I’ve taken the liberty of quickly editing those comments, but I’ve no idea if it cleans anything up a bit or whether I’ve just knocked a bucket over an already soggy mess.
Time will tell.
Thanks marty and everyone for speaking up about this. It’s very helpful to have that support especially for the women authors and commenters. What happened yesterday wasn’t ok, and the more people that point this out the better.
In the past you have done a number of things that in my opinion were ‘not ok’, but I was careful not to undermine you in public about it.
Thanks weka. And a special kia kaha to you because I have seen the improvements here to create safe spaces for women to comment (still need to sort that for Māori but that will happen I think) and I appreciate that so much.
cheers marty. I also think if we can sort the issues for women writers and commenters it will open the way for improvements for Māori too.
I’m glad I missed yesterday.
Bion of Borysthenes, as cited by Plutarch:
“Though boys throw stones at frogs in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest.”
Clearly this is not ‘sport’, but the point Bion makes is that one’s intentions are not sufficient excuse for one’s actions. One must try to empathise with the recipient and that means understanding that they will perceive things differently from oneself.
A woman’s reaction to her treatment has to be understood in relation to her lifetime experience as a woman, so listen to what she has to say about why she feels as she does.
This a problem endemic to the left – that certain spokesmen think of themselves as the default for human experience – Trotter is particularly egregious on this – and denigrate ‘identity politics’ as a ‘distraction’ from their needs. The right are proud of this blindness, but sadly much of the left is in denial about it’s own flaws.
(It’s a lesson Plunkett could learn too about his ‘social experiment’.)
…so please stay Tracey.
Yes. Please stay Tracy.
After listening to three interviews with bill english he dosen’t seem very upbeat or happy at all. Trying not to read anything in to it, but he seems to have an air of defeat around him.
And yet English has that fixed grin on all day and night probably as well. A bit of Key lesson?
Except it doesn’t really work for me.
Miss Twelve pointed out to me that he kept looking away from the camera on TVNZ
Mum why is he looking to the left all the time?
Why do you think he is darling?
She replies…. Well I know that some people look away when they aren’t being honest or are nervous.
Later on she asks… Mum what’s up with the chippy shortage?
Climate Change darling…. then go on to tell her about the rain, she grows potatoes.
Mum why aren’t they talking more about Climate Change instead of making jokes about chips?
Two good points from Miss Twelve
Cinny, please give my best wishes to Miss (Ms ?) Twelve.
Yes Miss Twelve. And we were all lead to believe in Honest Bill. Ha!
We only have a tiny section so this year I happen to be growing potatoes in buckets. I drilled holes for drainage and have 12 seed potatoes throwing healthy foliage upwards. Might beat the shortage yet.
Climate change? Really, 25% more rain in a particular month is evidence of climate change, that’s weather, a completely normal natural process.
Well, the way we see it at our place is that climate has a direct effect on crop production. As the climate changes so must our growing procedures, planting times etc etc.
Have to have a giggle turns out the chippy shortage was a PaknSave blunder. Lmao the crisp munchers of NZ can relax, still…. the potatoe season hasn’t been kind judging from what we saw on the news this morning.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/97924440/potato-chip-supplies-not-affected-by-potato-shortage
And here I am with a twelve month supply of green onion chips purchased this morning……
My thoughts too when I saw him again tonight, I suspect he thinks Peters is taking the piss, guilty conscience if he’s got one.
The medical profession officially recognised “burnout” in Hawai’i today – originally the point in time and trajectory when missile fuel combustion exhausts reserves, popularized as applying to humans in caring professions by Maslach in the 60’s.
It will be interesting how scribes construct the implications of even more capable missile technology today – capable of reaching Hawai’i and California from Pyongyang – as if emergency services there did not already have enough to do.
Hippocrates wrote some time ago “above all, do no harm”. The voice of experience ..
Sun Tzu would doubtless agree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocrates
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyongyang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_California_wildfires
Been reading about the effects of EMP after a nuclear detonation , – that in itself is alarming,… there was an article about a nuclear device detonated saying some 249 miles in the atmosphere would knock out most of the electrical grid in the continental US , and parts of Mexico and much of Canada. Civil society would close down rapidly , and the military / rapid response services would be denied any coordinated ability’s.
And Nth Korea has announced this capacity with its nukes. Amazing , – and alarming , that a smallish country like that could in theory , so easily take down a behemoth like the USA.
You may want to have a read of these links, especially the Popular Mechanics article for the source of such claims.
“Back to The Hill article, which claims an EMP attack by North Korea would kill “9 of 10 Americans by starvation and societal collapse.” The first clue that something is amiss with this claim is that, if you trace the link provided in the article, it cites the words of Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who describes a novel he had read called One Second After. Bartlett says:
“I read a prepublication copy of a book called One Second After. I hope it does get published; I think the American people need to read it. It was the story of a ballistic missile EMP attack on our country. The weapon was launched from a ship off our shore, and then the ship was sunk so that there were no fingerprints. The weapon was launched about 300 miles high over Nebraska, and it shut down our infrastructure countrywide. The story runs for a year. It is set in the hills of North Carolina. At the end of the year, 90 percent of our population is dead; there are 25,000 people only still alive in New York City. The communities in the hills of North Carolina are more lucky: only 80 percent of their population is dead at the end of a year.”
Bartlett was so spooked by this novel that after he left Congress he moved into the woods and became a survivalist, where he spends his days “cutting logs, tending gardens and painting walls.” And just to be clear, the claim that North Korea could kill 90 percent of the American people was directly pulled from a science fiction novel.”
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a25883/north-korea-cant-kill-ninety-percent-of-americans/
The US test “Starfish Prime” is the one referenced in terms of EMP effects and was a yield of roughly 1.4 Mt.
North Korea’s best yield to date is perhaps 250 kt, and it is believed the reliability of their weapons is not the best.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_electromagnetic_pulse
Of course, regardless of the EMP effect, the consequences would still be *!$&ing horrible.
Yeah it seems a bit excessive ( the 90% thing ).
But rather a cumulative thing. The gradual ( in some cases rapid) shortages of food , medical services , and production of thereof , would kick in after just weeks for the population , for others already ill , it would be immediate. City’s would be a slow death trap as resources run out and looting / lack of enforcement began.
Such unpleasanty’s we humans seem to delight in,…
That’s why I posted a line from one of Barry Crumps novels a day or so ago…
” They’re all going mad out there ” ,… Uncle Hec said after listening to the news on the radio broadcast…
And its true.
Depressing, but love the way community helped each other.
The state is wreaked, it can’t help. We need to do it in a new way.
NZ WHISTLE-BLOWER UPDATE:
MORE EVIDENCE OF ‘BANANA REPUBLIC’ NZ.
(Monday 16 October 2017)
How can Tamaki Regeneration Ltd, (100% Crown-owned) with $1.6 billion of formed HNZ Tamaki properties, be a ‘subsidiary’ of Tamaki Redevelopment Company Ltd – which owns NOTHING?
How good is our supposedly leading ‘public audit’ body – the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG)?
How come the OAG didn’t apparently pick up that neither Tamaki Redevelopment Company Ltd NOR Tamaki Regeneration Ltd were even listed as ‘Crown Entity Companies’ under Sch 2 of the Crown Entities Act 2004?
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/51SCSS_ADV_00DBSCH_ANR_71779_1_A546817/74107eb85bc690846d7d489774d35f6130f9798c
“During the year three additional subsidiary entities were established.
Tāmaki Regeneration Limited (TRL) was established for the purposes of housing redevelopment.
THA GP Limited (THAGP) for tenancy/property management and Tāmaki Housing Association Limited Partnership (THALP) for future use.
TRL and THALP are Crown entity subsidiaries under the Crown Entities Act 2004.
TRL is not, however, a subsidiary of TRC for financial reporting purposes as the Crown controls TRL through the convertible preference shares it holds.
________________
Crown Entities Act 2004 No 115 (as at 01 July 2017), Public Act Schedule 2 Crown entity companies – New Zealand Legislation
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2004/0115/latest/DLM331125.html
There is NO Crown Entity Schedule for ‘Crown Entity subsidiaries’.
Just Crown Entity Companies.
Neither Tamaki Redevelopment Company Ltd, nor Tamaki Regeneration Ltd are listed under the Crown Entities Act 2004, Schedule 2 as ‘Crown Entity Companies’!
File under “You Couldn’t Make This Sh*t Up’.
This 5 minute video explaining the, IMO, ‘Tamaki Scam’ has now had over 174,000 views on facebook.
IMO, the essence of the ‘Tamaki Scam’ has been to use similar-sounding names for different companies, in order to disguise the real private property developer-driven GENTRIFICATION’ agenda, as ‘Regeneration’ of poorer communities.
Penny Bright
Just another National Party rort in a strong National seat of Tauranga.
This is more criminal enterprise as a naked scene is laid bare for all to see.
And the media are complaining there’s no news to report, I think they have lost the definition of news and replaced it with opinion
Car registrations: anyone want to offer a defense of the current fucked-up system we have with wild discrepancies between petrol and diesel and different levies based on a fairly crap “safety” dataset from a foreign country?
Or is it time to ditch the ACC component of registration and load it all onto fuel?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/97705202/calls-to-get-rid-of-vehicle-licensing-and-its-235000-fines
First up, there’s a huge difference in ACC treatment between petrol and diesel. All ACC levies for diesel vehicles are collected from registrations and none from fuel, whereas there is some ACC levy collected from petrol sales and some from petrol vehicle registrations. The only justification I’ve seen for this is mumbling about how commercial and farming users primarily use diesel and they pay ACC levies through the tax system. But those users already have accounting systems set up to track fuel payments etc and it would be bugger-all added expense or difficulty to reconcile ACC levies paid in fuel with the rest of their accounts.
Then there’s the inequity of charging ACC for the act of simply owning a vehicle and keeping it ready for use. I can’t think of any hazard ACC should be concerned with associated with owning a vehicle, except for possible injuries while doing DIY repairs (which are much more likely on classic vehicles that are ACC exempt). The hazard comes from using the vehicle. So putting all the levy on fuel would mean the amount a user pays much more closely tracks the risk of a user making an ACC claim.
Finally, the difference in ACC levy between different vehicles is entirely based on a crap estimate of how well a vehicle protects its occupants, and totally fails to consider the hazard of that vehicle to other road users. I own a 1994 Landrover Defender and a 2001 Daihatsu Sirion. The Defender has exactly the same safety features as the 1984 model Defender, yet is classed as safer (with a lower ACC levy) than 1993 or earlier Defenders. It’s also classed as safer than the Sirion, which has airbags, antilock brakes, crumple zones, pretensioning seatbelts, padding on interior hard points etc, which are all absent in the Defender. And if I’m to get hit by one of them, I’d definitely prefer it’s the Sirion.
I always assumed the primary reason for registering vehicles was so they were harder to sell if you stole one. Also, you can’t easily abandon them.
Are there countries that don’t have vehicle registration?
That’s separate from how levies should be applied (or at all). But it’s the difference between altering the system or dumping it.
Unlike the article, I’m not advocating dumping registration altogether. But I would advocate setting registration fees just at the level needed to maintain the vehicles database. Which would just be the license component of current fees, $52.11 per year.
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were like that, annual fees just covered the database costs. California had basically a wealth tax on registration, where they added an extra fee based on a % (about 1% from memory) of the estimated value of the vehicle.
It’s not just farmers who use diesel off-road. Lots of places have stand-alone generators for uninterrupted power supplies, diesel engines for machinery, and even diesel for those jet-engine-style heaters.
I’d suspect non-transport use of diesel is a far higher component of diesel use than e.g. lawnmowers and weedeaters are a component of petrol purchases.
Sure. And diesel for marine use.
But my point remains, that those non-transport users almost all have accounting systems set up so it’s a negligible change to them to add ACC levies to fuel.
And at the moment I’m not aware of recreational marine users of diesel paying ACC levies anywhere, so putting the levy on fuel would mean they contribute something to ACC. Coz sure as shit recreational boating does have accidents that ACC ends up paying for.
Actually, recreational fishers would be non-work injuries and come out of a different account @ACC, paid into by all earners or from the general taxes if the injured person is not an earner.
Whereas transport injuries come out of the specific transport account.
More hateful bullying from the extreme right corporates at IHC. Despicable.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/341656/eviction-forces-seriously-ill-man-to-live-in-motel
I am sending heartfelt wishes for all the victims of the 2 Mogadishu truck bombs in Somalia. 276 dead at least and so many maimed and ruined, so many lives affected and loved ones suffering. I wish I had more to give, I’m sorry I don’t. I have my tears and that seems so inadequate.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/97902678/deadliest-attack-ever-in-somalia-kills-189
jeez that sucks.
This wont receive much coverage in the media, the sad thing is if this had of happened in New York or dare I say it Auckland imagine the coverage. Why does our media pick and choose their coverage of carnage?, do they think we don’t want to know or aren’t as interested because these people look different to us? or is this theory actually true, do we only care about european type atrocities?, makes you wonder.
An atrocity in Las Vegas or New York or Nice gets lots more coverage here because local readers are much more likely to feel some kind of connection to where it happened. Maybe they have visited or know some locals there, and may have a feeling of “that could have been me”. Whereas very very few readers will feel any connection whatsoever to Mogadishu and the people there.
Yes I think you are probably right.
Yep to a point, yet they are people with families and loved ones. I’d imagine it is mainly because they are African and therefore people of colour that has a big influence too on the decisions to run with it. The magnitude of the terror bomb and death will put it on the news tonight and the fact that it is political as in terrorism and it is the biggest atrocity in that country will all counteract the colour issue. The clips will be barely watchable for those with tvs I’d say.
I suppose to try tease out how much of the difference is due to the victims being Africans, and how much is whether readers feel a connection and the “could have been me” factor, you could ponder what the coverage would be like had this happened in say Nairobi or Zanzibar or Arusha. Somewhere that a reasonable number of NZers have actually visited.
Have many visited those places? I wouldn’t have a clue tbh. That side of kiwidom is not one i’m familiar with really – I’m too poor. Although I have been to Aussie and India about 25 years ago when I was in the Hari’s.
Admittedly my social circle probably includes a fairly high number of people that travel a lot. But just off the top of my head I can think of 23 first-hand acquaintances that have been to at least one of them. That’s 23 more than people I know that have been to Mogadishu.
If you said Goa i’d be the same.
Ok, then ponder what kind of coverage we might get had this atrocity happened in Goa.
We’re certainly in the genitalia presidency. The orange howler monkey gave us way too much information about his own and his habits with other people’s. Now Tillerson feels the need to clarify the status of his. What next, will other members of cabinet have to clarify whether they’re grabbed or ungrabbed?
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/15/politics/tillerson-sotu-fully-intact/index.html
Is anyone watching Manhunt Unabomber on the discovery channel?, i’m finding it absolutely riveting, if not check it out, its basically a short series on the hunt and capture of Theodore Kaczynski aka The Unabomber.
Well here is a fantastic opportunity for all the lefties who are so confident of a labour led government
https://www.betfair.com.au/exchange/politics/event/28338644/market?marketId=1.133262888
Great odds for you to make some serious money.
Unless you are wrong of course.
When you are rich, politics is just a game.
When you are poor, politics means a lot more.
Like life and death.
‘1600 deaths attributed to cold houses each winter in New Zealand’
‘Child deaths caused by cold, overcrowded houses ‘deeply saddening'”‘
‘Childhood diseases in the land of milk and poverty’
http://www.noted.co.nz/currently/social-issues/1600-deaths-attributed-to-cold-houses-each-winter-in-new-zealand/
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11913852
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11913334
You’re going to be highly disappointed Ed.
Labour/Greens/NZ First won’t fix these issues, they’ve always been with us.
Keep in mind Just because the left-wing element in the media stops with the poor pimping doesn’t mean poverty has been solved.
BM = Bullshit Mastery
Do you actually care about the plight of others?
Hey – you could make a big bet, double your money if Labour win and then donate the money to a good cause to help.
Do you actually care about the plight of others?
Whats that got to do with anything I posted.
I just thought it was a good opportunity for people who were so sure Labour are going to be leading our next government to make some $ should they put their money where their mouth is.
Hey – Its OK Ed – I dont think Labour are going “win” either.
Look on the bright side – it will give you (at least) another 3 years to moan.
Simple question.
Do you actually care about the plight of others?
It seems one you are most unwilling to answer.
I will say that I don’t care about you or your questions.
So it is clear you do not care about poverty and inequality.
Nice, james….
And its clear you do not care about Llamas.
James
Just hope you’ve got a couple grand on English, cos seeing him tonight spells disaster.
Meh ,… I’d rather listen to the music…
Doobie Brothers – Listen To The Music – YouTube
Great album too!