‘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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About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
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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!
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15102017/#comment-1400670
+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.
https://www.facebook.com/penny.bright.104/posts/1796625243683493
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!