Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step right up to the mike …
Looking at the accompanying photo, I’m again reminded how much I hate the aggressive body language of these politicians, who throw themselves at a person they’re meeting and forcefully grab their hand as if to impose dominance. With Abbott, it looks like he’s reliving his days as a boxer, of whom a sparring partner said “I never saw a punch that Tony Abbott couldn’t block. With his face.”
Am I wrong about this or is a corporation that makes profits in the billions simply ignoring their obligations under legislation because it is convenient to to so, or perhaps because they haven’t been challenged to do so?
You are wrong in one respect, ACC should never make a profit in the same sense as a company which can then pay a dividend to shareholders. It is more like a mutual society or cooperative – it should only be charging levies to provide what it needs to generate the money to pay claims, including reserves for future payments necessary to preserve generational equity. If National starts plundering the ACC for money to reduce its growing borrowing obligations, we should all vigorously protest!
ACC was never supposed to even run at a surplus or have investments as it was a pay-as-you-go scheme. As I point out over here such can be run at very close to cost and is thus far cheaper than any system that requires a profit.
It got changed because of the stupidity of the neo-liberals in Labour.
One speaker at the Wellington march today made the point that rape isn’t an accident and it’s actually a bit shit to make people who have been assaulted go through the same process as people who’ve fallen off a ladder putting up Christmas lights.
“As world leaders converged on Colombo for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting this weekend, there is growing momentum for an international inquiry into alleged atrocities carried out in the final months of the 26-year conflict, which ended four years ago. The New Zealand government is yet to back calls for an inquiry.
McCully rejected a suggestion it is a deliberately soft stance to protect burgeoning dairy trade with the island nation.
“No, it’s not. And I don’t think that our stance is soft by comparison. We sit pretty much in the middle of the spectrum,” he insisted.”
What is the ‘middle ground’?
“Key is due to meet with President Rajapaksa tomorrow and has pledged to raise Sri Lanka’s human rights record. He will spend much of the weekend lobbying for a seat on the UN Security Council.”
Nothing public that would on love taking any moral stand. BS he will. He’ll laugh, say ‘sorry everyone is being mean to you’ and ask for support.
Apparently human rights in Sri Lanka is such an mild, non-controversial topic that Key and his mates will ‘mull over’ torture, illegal imprisonment and murder of non-combatants while having a few drinks.
. . . “There have been twelve pieces of legislation in recent years that have been identified as inconsistent with the rights and freedoms protected in the New Zealand Bill of Rights, and on a number of occasions urgency has been used in Parliament to limit or bypass select committee scrutiny,” he [New Zealand Law Society President Chris Moore] says.
“The Law Society is also concerned that there has been legislation prohibiting review of government decisions by the courts, and proposing restrictions on rights to legal representation in Family Court proceedings. Other significant concerns include giving the power to amend legislation by regulation without parliamentary scrutiny, and not vetting late amendments to draft bills for their consistency with the Bill of Rights” . . .
The Canadian and Indian leaders boycott CHOGM because of genocide.
The UK Prime minister visits the Northern city Jaffna and lectures the SRA Lankan government over these atrocities.
Our PM mulls it all over a drink.
David Tong commented how he was ashamed to be a New Zealander over the government’s reaction to the Philippines.
adoptanegotiator.org/2013/11/12/and-they-laughed/
This is just another example of how quickly we are becoming a laughing stock in the world thanks to our merchant banker P.M.
He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Good point “Over a drink” this guy likes his drink to much ,and it is showing.
His antics in parliament are those of a person who has had a bit to much.
The Canadian and Indian leaders boycott CHOGM because of genocide.
The UK Prime minister visits the Northern city Jaffna and lectures the SRA Lankan government over these atrocities.
Our PM mulls it all over a drink.
David Tong commented how he was ashamed to be a New Zealander over the government’s reaction to the Philippines.
adoptanegotiator.org/2013/11/12/and-they-laughed/
This is just another example of how quickly we are becoming a laughing stock and a pariah in the world thanks to our merchant banker P.M.
He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Our politicians and powerful poohbas ideas about history I view with sadness and resignation.
I hear McCully about the decision of the government to go to Sri Lanka and to look forward and not dwell on the past. Otherwise what a waste of opportunity for poster boy. McCully is well placed in this government bogged down in self serving attitudes. Forget history, ignoring it is more convenient for making personally and politically advantageous moves.
And the same thinking is what applies to Pike River’s people hurt and bruised from the coldness of government, the callousness after warm heartfelt words from Key. It takes energy to maintain will though, and NZ is short of energy, National finds it too expensive. They have done a cost benefit on the energy required to stand behind promises and avowed intentions and meet people’s expectations, and have matched it to the ratio of votes they might lose by not spending it and like the shareholder owners of Pike River now have decided that the putea is empty.
There is a piece on Radionz this morning on Pike River from Rebecca Macfie who is a gem seam of information. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday
Audio will probably be up around 12 pm.
11:05 Rebecca Macfie
Rebecca Macfie is a senior writer with the New Zealand Listener. She has 25 years’ experience in journalism and many awards to her credit including magazine feature writer at the 2013 Canon Media Awards. Her new book is Tragedy at Pike River Mine: How and Why 29 Men Died (Awa Press, ISBN: 978-1-877551-90-1).
And our attitudes to history. Do we forget about World War 1? No. It is personally and politically advantagous to ride a popular wave of gathering around on Anazc Day. There are votes in it. People go to a parade and then there are heads down while pious things are said and people take their boys along to see the uniforms and feel the drama.
I go along to a small civic memorial held by a memorial by the local high church. A few years back I asked for some input, some words from ordinary people, a poem from someone, some thoughts from the College youngsters. I think done once, but now I have to stir again just to get a mike so people can hear the set program read from year to year. I should memorise it.
How often does WW2 get remembered and officially mentioned at ceremonies? It took ages for Vietnam.
Don’t bother about history. Don’t learn from history. It makes it easier if you choose to not look at the near past, the medium past.. It is safe to go back to the classic past and quote from Roman, Greek, conflicts, the Bible. Then look forward and follow the trend to be punitive, to show them, to act in revenge, to do the pre-emptive strike, to see everything from your own perspective with no deflecting to admit there are other points of view to understand, with rituals that satisfy shallow sentiment and convention
. . . A few months later Jackson was convicted of shoplifting and sent to Angola prison in Louisiana. That was 16 years ago. Today he is still incarcerated in Angola, and will stay there for the rest of his natural life having been condemned to die in jail. All for the theft of a jacket, worth $159.
Jackson, 53, is one of 3,281 prisoners in America serving life sentences with no chance of parole for non-violent crimes. Some, like him, were given the most extreme punishment short of execution for shoplifting; one was condemned to die in prison for siphoning petrol from a truck; another for stealing tools from a tool shed; yet another for attempting to cash a stolen cheque . . .
Not really, I’ve noticed (and if I’ve noticed then others must have) that when hes speaking to the converted hes all fire and brimstone and he’ll do this and he’ll do that and then at the end he’ll quietly say something like “if the books allow” but when hes talking to business groups the message changes considerably
“If the books allow” seems a fiscally responsible stance to have. I know you righties would like him to make huge promises he may not be able to deliver due to the economic straightjacket Nact have fastened, but it’s DC who is being astute in not over promising.
DC deserves praise for wanting to minimise gambling harm, and Key deserves scorn for caring more about the owners of a gambling den he gives preferential treatment to.
“But the Labour leader seems to want to have it all ways. He told Parliament that Labour – if it won power – would not “dynamite” a half-built convention centre. Neither would it rip up the contract . Yet, Labour reserved the right to review the contract, particularly the number of gaming tables.
That would still amount to breaking the contract. But Cunliffe says Labour is not guaranteeing that it would pay compensation.”
Sky City certainly never got broad parliamentary agreement for this, so farken tough luck. If Sky City want to win a bid through avoiding process and Key personally leaving his mark on the landscape, well tough farken luck. If the process was open and rigorous and had achieved satisfaction from all major stakeholders, no problem. If we want to buy a few jobs by selling some sick gamblers to an arrogant Aussie corporate to feast on…well they weren’t going to vote National anyway right?
You vote for the Tories, Chris. They offer you your nirvana. Offer them advice.
Just don’t expect all parties to listen to Tories’ and their sage advice.
Something tells me that their advice has other motivations.
Maybe you should be posting your thoughts on right wing websites for your kind of people.
Astute would be a poor word to use for that attempt to paint Cunliffe as some kind of two headed beast. If Armstrong thinks DC is a liar he should be ‘man enough’ to say so. Maybe you mean he’s astute for trying to sow seeds of doubt about Labours ability to be fiscally responsible when he says:
“Labour already has its work cut out convincing voters it would be a responsible manager of the economy without being lumbered with the perception that it might ride roughshod over a contract without paying compensation, and could yet do so.”
The whole piece just screams “I’ve got friends a SkyCity too, and we all want to know exactly what financial hit (if any) we could be in for.”
Maybe Chris you could point out the bits you feel are so ‘astute’…
I think Armstrong did basically call out Cunliffe as a liar but Armstrong doesn’t have the same protection as MPs so I guess he has to be a bit more circumspect
John Armstrong does not get to write Labour policy on Sky City. Cunliffe is man enough to know that. I wish they would rip up the contract and refuse to pay compensation. Sky City should be paying us compensation instead.
phillip ure
Noelle? Are you serious? Father Christmas would do as well. He has vast international, cultural and manufacturing experience. A man of the people and loved by nearly all.
What do you think about Mark Sainsbury then? His name has come up.
Chris Laidlaw does have a brain even if sometimes it is a bit RW. I do want someone who can match him and who has ideals and some background of proving them and can think about the hard subjects including philosophy ethics what it means to be human. How we can keep on living etc.
I don’t want to listen to mainly stories that would find their way into middle class magazines, how to garden, dress, listen to music,but it might be interesting to hear about fabrics that indicate your mood on a science bit. But actual thought, research – many of the invited commenters have written books. They have to be read by a really interested, able, literate interviewer so they can do the interview for the best result. We need to have a top notch thinker and presenter not just someone who has been around and has shown promise. Brian Edwards I think liked Paul Henry. We need someone better than those two for a start. No excuses for the crass style adopted by someone playing to the idle-brain gallery. Now I always like a sense of humour, but who is the butt, and how often? What about political satire? You have to understand more than which side your bread is buttered to do good stuff there.
The sort of dross that gets delivered is what gets largely delivered by Jim Mora. His what you would take on a journey to Mars is just not the modern version of being cast on a desert island. Today there are poohbas and curious coves who really want to spend a lot of money, sometimes their own, setting up space expeditions of various kinds. It’s part of the creepy modern world that we constantly enjoy the thought of being in the grip of the fabulously rich and powerful manipulating us from above and all around really, which shows that many of us don’t have two parts of a brain to rub together.
..you will know that she is a very skilled broadcaster..
..one of her strengths is the amount of research/information she comes armed with..
..that combination of work-ethic and natural skills/intelligence/’oirish-charm’ is a potent/entertaining mix..
..and one of the marks of a good broadcaster is that ability to switch from the seemingly frivilous to the deeply serious..and to be good at both..and mccarthy can do that..
..’sainsbury’..?..now it is my turn to ask if you ‘are serious’..
..like laidlaw is now..sainsbury was flogged out in his final days..
..both just going thru the motions..
..none of the other suggestions..(save for mora taking sunday..and mccarthy taking his spot..)..comes within a bulls-roar of mccarthy…
(disclaimer:..i have never met/communicated with mccarthy..and have been critical of her in the past..)
phillip ure
So its not just the carefully accented oirish then. And she will switch from serious mainly to frivolous only occasionally? guarantee? it would be good to have a bloke though. i think one or two men of perception are around i just want someone as good as kim hill but bald?
No phillip gender does matter. Men need to have role models too. I don’t want all the top Radionz announcing positions to go to women. Let’s try for equality here. Let’s get et searching for some good men.
Would they be able to come from private radio, or does that bend a bloke’s mind to unattractive pavlovian responses. What about television, likewise?
Graeme Hill for mine. Maybe the best ever BFM breakfast host (guess the accent may have been the greatest radio quiz ever!). High hipster quotient too; played in a top indy band and loves Italian football.
And he looks like Brian Edward’s love child, so there’s that.
Like most people, I regard politicians as frauds and liars and the current political system as nothing more than a bureaucratic means for furthering the augmentation and advantages of economic elites.”
In their single-minded focus on serving the interests of the economic elite, says Brand, politicians are allowing the planet to go to rack and ruin, ignoring the people they are supposed to serve and fostering massive inequality which in turn has created a sullen, apathetic underclass.
Paul Thomas writes:
In America, the spiritual home of democracy, Republicans in the House of Representatives are now solely concerned with pandering to the zealots who dominate party membership in their gerrymandered districts.
This week New Jersey’s Republican Governor, Chris Christie – one of the few remaining recognisable human beings in his party – pointed out that Republican obstructionism in Washington had held up distribution of billions of dollars in federal aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy by six months.
Is that the “government of the people, by the people, for the people” that Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, evoked in the Gettysburg Address? Or does Brand have a point?
Changes in global (ocean and land) precipitation are among the most important and least well-understood consequences of climate change. Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations are thought to affect the zonal-mean distribution of precipitation through two basic mechanisms. First, increasing temperatures will lead to an intensification of the hydrological cycle (“thermodynamic” changes). Second, changes in atmospheric circulation patterns will lead to poleward displacement of the storm tracks and subtropical dry zones and to a widening of the tropical belt (“dynamic” changes). We demonstrate that both these changes are occurring simultaneously in global precipitation, that this behavior cannot be explained by internal variability alone, and that external influences are responsible for the observed precipitation changes. Whereas existing model experiments are not of sufficient length to differentiate between natural and anthropogenic forcing terms at the 95% confidence level, we present evidence that the observed trends result from human activities.
Oh PLEASE!!! NO!!!!
As a locum for Mora, just as Lynne Freeman is as one for Rinny – maybe.
I’d hoped that at least weekends and nights could keep Natrad something worth listening to. I guess Sunday Mornings will soon become off limits.
Just as well there are other options.
You do surprise me Phillip! Still, stranger things have happened at sea.
btw – you’ll probably get your wish though.
Bill Ralston (that bastion of wisdom and sage advice, foreskin of what he himself described as “State TV”)) says if it was up to him, it’d be between Noelle and a Walrus. (Stuff 12/11/2013 from memory)
(Next: just watch Kim Hill signal her intention to resign – uphill shit push).
If it were up to me Phil – I’d rather see her on 7#.
Delve a little deeper!
i actually think freeman is better than the current inhabitant of that slot..
..a major quality that freeman has..is that she gives interview subjects the space to say/finish what they have to say/to make their case..if they have one..
….she doesn’t view it as a gladiatorial-contest..from the get-go..
..she seems to attempt interview more as a conversation..
..whereas the current seat-warmer does too often go all gladatorial from the get-go..
..it is her major fault as a broadcaster..
..and the current warmer (admits she) watches far too much fox-tv..
..and i think a process of osmosis has taken place..
..she has become quite ‘foxy’..
..and you listen to that nat-rad nite-person..?..crump..?..
..really..?
..whoar..!
..i think you are the first person i have ever met who does..
..careful..demographers/profilers/’ists’ of all sorts –
…. ffffff whoar!!!1 (core – hot pants brutha – MOVE over!)
Do I listen to that nitetime stuff with Barry or Bryan or whatever his name is – Bryan – yes him
… not often, probably once in the last 6 months, but what did strike me when I did was the diversity of sources (as contributors) to his? programme
I’m picking though that my reply to your last is now so passe as to now be irrelevant
…. next
…. next (with an upper case, octave higher-even inflecSHUN?)
….. nexxxt ??
Why on earth would you “Ignore the Bomber reference”?
You aren’t treating it as being in some way derogatory are you?
After all the man himself positively wallows in its use. I personally think it is more appropriate for a person of 15 or so to adopt such a name than a middle-aged man but if he wants to use the nickname why shouldn’t everyone else?
Fantastic misunderstanding of my comment Alwyn – I was getting at Billy Boy’s pathetic assertion that National Radio is left wing, for Christ’s Sake. As it happens PU your comment pretty much reflects my appreciation of BB’s contribution (not) to political journalism.
OK. I see that this can be interpreted in two ways.
I read it as being two comments on the one opinion rather than the first part merely identifying the phrase you were talking about.
NZ First believes in environmental sustainability but far too many of the Green Party’s comments are about “stopping everything”.
“We have difficulty understanding a lot of their intentions and motives,” Mr Peters says, adding that the chance of being part of a coalition that would include the Greens is “extremely remote“.
– Never say never with winnie but interesting comments
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One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Climate denial is dead. Renewable energy denial is here. As “alternative facts” become the norm, it’s worth looking at what actual facts tell us about how renewable energy sources like solar and wind are lowering the price of electricity. As ...
SIR GEOFFREY PALMER is worried about democracy. In his Newsroom website post of 27 January 2025 he asserts that “the future of democracy across the world now seems to be in question.” Following a year of important electoral contests across the world, culminating in Donald Trump’s emphatic recapture of the ...
The Government hasn’t stopped talking about growth since the Prime Minister made his “yes” speech at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last week. But so far, the measures announced would seem hardly likely to suddenly pitch New Zealand into the fast-growth East Asian league. The digital nomad announcement hardly deserved ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Health NZ's CEO has resigned, but frontline healthworkers are sceptical that installing new leadership will make any difference to a system grappling with problems. ...
Gail Duncan, Chairperson of the St Peter’s on Willis Social Justice Group, one of the organisations invited to submit on the Bill, says the Government’s actions are unprecedented. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amani Kasherwa, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland In late January, a rebel group that has long caused mayhem in the sprawling African nation of Democratic Republic of Congo took control of Goma, a major city of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yee-Fui Ng, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University An ad falsely depicting independent candidate Alex Dyson as a Greens member.ABC News/Supplied The highly pertinent case of a little-known independent candidate in the Victorian seat of Wannon has exposed a gaping ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland Nik/Unsplash You might have heard that eating too many eggs will cause high cholesterol levels, leading to poor health. Researchers have examined the science behind this myth again, and ...
Everything you missed from the third day of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard four hours of oral submission. Read our recaps of day one of the hearings here, and day two here. Parliament was quiet on Friday for the third day of hearings on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Tijana Simic/Shutterstock The news last week that three people in Sydney were hospitalised with botulism after receiving botox injections has raised questions about the regulation of the cosmetic injectables industry. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jens Blotevogel, Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader for Remediation Technologies, CSIRO Mino Surkala, Shutterstock Lithium-ion batteries are part of everyday life. They power small rechargeable devices such as mobile phones and laptops. They enable electric vehicles. And larger versions store ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edith Jennifer Hill, Associate Lecturer, Learning & Teaching Innovation, Flinders University Netflix Netflix’s new limited series, Apple Cider Vinegar, tells the story of the elaborate cancer con orchestrated by Australian blogger Annabelle (Belle) Gibson. The first episode opens with Gibson’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dee Ninis, Earthquake Scientist, Monash University Greece’s government has just declared a state of emergency on the island of Santorini, as earthquakes shake the island multiple times a day and sometimes only minutes apart. The “earthquake swarm” is also affecting other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Western Australian state election will be held on March 8. A Newspoll, conducted January 29 to February 4 from a sample ...
She’s back behind the wheel, and this time, she wants to find out what it is that makes us tick. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. After a prolific career on stage and screen, 83-year-old Miriam Margolyes is on the road again. ...
A new poem by Jordan Hamel. Real Poet Every word earned its place and so did he, so should you. Real poet lives in the capital but writes himself into the Mackenzie country golden hour, man of the paper land, he neglects to mention his pollen ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Understanding Te Tiriti by Roimata Smail (Wai Ako Press, $25) No better time to get ...
The committee has published this list to inform the public about its work, and to give clarity to submitters who have contacted the committee asking if they will be invited to make an oral submission. ...
Alex Casey and Gabi Lardies dissect their Laneway 2025 experience. Gabi Lardies: Hi Alex :))))))) Congratulations on not getting sunburnt. Everyone I talked to at Laneway yesterday was braving the sun for one thing. Charli XCX. How was your brat experience?Alex Casey: We will talk about the rest of ...
The US President's suggestion, which sparked enormous debate globally, has been labelled as a threat, not a proposal, by the Federation of Islamic Associations. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Interior of Auckland South Men’s Prison.Getty Images Prisons are not colourful places. Typically, they are grey or some variation of a monochrome colour scheme. But increasingly, ...
FICTION1Tree of Nourishment (Kāwai 2) by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)Interesting to note that the author of the biggest-selling New Zealand novel in Waitangi Week is Māori (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai, and Ngāti Kahungunu).2 Kāwai: For Such a Time as This (Kāwai 1) by Monty Soutar (David ...
Remembering the renowned New Zealand writer, who died on February 5, 2025. The Stopover When the trout rise like compassion It is worth watching when the hinds come down from the hills with a new message it will be as well to listen. – Brian Turner Poet, environmentalist, sportsman, journalist, ...
Survivors can choose to have former High Court judge Paul Davison assess their individual claims to tailor payments to their personal circumstances. ...
Are we too modest when it comes to celebrating our putrid plant life?She’s beauty. She’s grace. She smells like a decaying corpse and lurks in the backrooms of Auckland Zoo, wallowing tragically in a bucket. In recent weeks an Australian corpse plant named Putricia has captured the noses and ...
Politicians from the coalition government received a frosty reception at Waitangi this year, but Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says the pōwhiri that received so much attention was just one part of many events throughout the week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Allen, Postdoctoral research associate, Griffith University A humpback whale mother and calf on the New Caledonian breeding grounds.Mark Quintin All known human languages display a surprising pattern: the most frequent word in a language is twice as frequent as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Keogh, Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University Jordan Mailata is an Australian-born NFL star who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive left tackle. This position favours very tall, heavy and strong athletes who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nigel Tucker, Research Associate in Environment and Sustainability, James Cook University TREAT volunteers planting treesTREAT Like ferns and the tides, community conservation groups come and go. Many achieve their goal. Volunteers restore a local wetland or protect a patch of urban ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karyn Healy, Honorary Principal Research Fellow in Psychology, The University of Queensland Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock The start of the school year means new classes, routines, after-school activities and sometimes even a new school. This can be a really exciting time for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerrie Sadiq, Professor of Taxation, QUT Business School, and ARC Future Fellow, Queensland University of Technology The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released a discussion paper this week on investment tax breaks. The study looks at whether tax incentives, such as instant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naomi Zouwer, Visual Artist and Lecturer in Teacher Education, University of Canberra Galleries and art museums can be intimidating and alienating even for adults. Imagine it from a child’s point of view. Stern security guards in uniforms stationed the doors, bags checked, ...
The clock is ticking in the great chain chase. 2025 is an election year in New Zealand. Not the general variation, obviously, but the local form. If you’re thinking of running, nominations open in just five months, and your chances are good – about 50% across the various races; in ...
Claire Trevett writing the usual fawning nonsense for her masters at the Herald.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/claire-trevett/news/headlines.cfm?a_id=74
Looking at the accompanying photo, I’m again reminded how much I hate the aggressive body language of these politicians, who throw themselves at a person they’re meeting and forcefully grab their hand as if to impose dominance. With Abbott, it looks like he’s reliving his days as a boxer, of whom a sparring partner said “I never saw a punch that Tony Abbott couldn’t block. With his face.”
On a day of action against rape culture I ask why ACC who are legislated to prevent accidents (ref: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2001/0049/latest/DLM103143.html ) have not acted to prevent sexual abuse from happening?
Am I wrong about this or is a corporation that makes profits in the billions simply ignoring their obligations under legislation because it is convenient to to so, or perhaps because they haven’t been challenged to do so?
In sharp contrast we have a very grateful RPE for the $11K raised through social media: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1311/S00196/social-media-raises-over-11k-for-rape-prevention-education.htm
Good point!
You are wrong in one respect, ACC should never make a profit in the same sense as a company which can then pay a dividend to shareholders. It is more like a mutual society or cooperative – it should only be charging levies to provide what it needs to generate the money to pay claims, including reserves for future payments necessary to preserve generational equity. If National starts plundering the ACC for money to reduce its growing borrowing obligations, we should all vigorously protest!
ACC was never supposed to even run at a surplus or have investments as it was a pay-as-you-go scheme. As I point out over here such can be run at very close to cost and is thus far cheaper than any system that requires a profit.
It got changed because of the stupidity of the neo-liberals in Labour.
One speaker at the Wellington march today made the point that rape isn’t an accident and it’s actually a bit shit to make people who have been assaulted go through the same process as people who’ve fallen off a ladder putting up Christmas lights.
+1
The visits to Sri Lanka epitomise everything wrong with our government.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9407222/McCully-sits-on-fence-on-Sri-Lanka-war-crimes
“As world leaders converged on Colombo for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting this weekend, there is growing momentum for an international inquiry into alleged atrocities carried out in the final months of the 26-year conflict, which ended four years ago. The New Zealand government is yet to back calls for an inquiry.
McCully rejected a suggestion it is a deliberately soft stance to protect burgeoning dairy trade with the island nation.
“No, it’s not. And I don’t think that our stance is soft by comparison. We sit pretty much in the middle of the spectrum,” he insisted.”
What is the ‘middle ground’?
“Key is due to meet with President Rajapaksa tomorrow and has pledged to raise Sri Lanka’s human rights record. He will spend much of the weekend lobbying for a seat on the UN Security Council.”
Nothing public that would on love taking any moral stand. BS he will. He’ll laugh, say ‘sorry everyone is being mean to you’ and ask for support.
Key, fence sitter.
Apparently human rights in Sri Lanka is such an mild, non-controversial topic that Key and his mates will ‘mull over’ torture, illegal imprisonment and murder of non-combatants while having a few drinks.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9405539/hope-they-vomit-on-it
He really is the most embarrassing PM ever.
Chatting about the cricket is about as far as he could manage.
your comments are deep Paul,
Key needs to wave a flag, that would show them.
He already has; a white one.
‘
Huh? New Zealand is in no position to lecture Sri Lanka about humans rights. John Key is there to get handy hints for going forward.
While I agree that our govt is poor, it could be worse.
http://guardianlv.com/2013/11/sri-lanka-tortures-and-rape-become-uncovered/
The Canadian and Indian leaders boycott CHOGM because of genocide.
The UK Prime minister visits the Northern city Jaffna and lectures the SRA Lankan government over these atrocities.
Our PM mulls it all over a drink.
David Tong commented how he was ashamed to be a New Zealander over the government’s reaction to the Philippines.
adoptanegotiator.org/2013/11/12/and-they-laughed/
This is just another example of how quickly we are becoming a laughing stock in the world thanks to our merchant banker P.M.
He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Good point “Over a drink” this guy likes his drink to much ,and it is showing.
His antics in parliament are those of a person who has had a bit to much.
So thats where he is on a Thursday arvo, No wonder he’s never seen.
The Canadian and Indian leaders boycott CHOGM because of genocide.
The UK Prime minister visits the Northern city Jaffna and lectures the SRA Lankan government over these atrocities.
Our PM mulls it all over a drink.
David Tong commented how he was ashamed to be a New Zealander over the government’s reaction to the Philippines.
adoptanegotiator.org/2013/11/12/and-they-laughed/
This is just another example of how quickly we are becoming a laughing stock and a pariah in the world thanks to our merchant banker P.M.
He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
+2 🙂
Our politicians and powerful poohbas ideas about history I view with sadness and resignation.
I hear McCully about the decision of the government to go to Sri Lanka and to look forward and not dwell on the past. Otherwise what a waste of opportunity for poster boy. McCully is well placed in this government bogged down in self serving attitudes. Forget history, ignoring it is more convenient for making personally and politically advantageous moves.
And the same thinking is what applies to Pike River’s people hurt and bruised from the coldness of government, the callousness after warm heartfelt words from Key. It takes energy to maintain will though, and NZ is short of energy, National finds it too expensive. They have done a cost benefit on the energy required to stand behind promises and avowed intentions and meet people’s expectations, and have matched it to the ratio of votes they might lose by not spending it and like the shareholder owners of Pike River now have decided that the putea is empty.
There is a piece on Radionz this morning on Pike River from Rebecca Macfie who is a gem seam of information. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday
Audio will probably be up around 12 pm.
11:05 Rebecca Macfie
Rebecca Macfie is a senior writer with the New Zealand Listener. She has 25 years’ experience in journalism and many awards to her credit including magazine feature writer at the 2013 Canon Media Awards. Her new book is Tragedy at Pike River Mine: How and Why 29 Men Died (Awa Press, ISBN: 978-1-877551-90-1).
And our attitudes to history. Do we forget about World War 1? No. It is personally and politically advantagous to ride a popular wave of gathering around on Anazc Day. There are votes in it. People go to a parade and then there are heads down while pious things are said and people take their boys along to see the uniforms and feel the drama.
I go along to a small civic memorial held by a memorial by the local high church. A few years back I asked for some input, some words from ordinary people, a poem from someone, some thoughts from the College youngsters. I think done once, but now I have to stir again just to get a mike so people can hear the set program read from year to year. I should memorise it.
How often does WW2 get remembered and officially mentioned at ceremonies? It took ages for Vietnam.
Don’t bother about history. Don’t learn from history. It makes it easier if you choose to not look at the near past, the medium past.. It is safe to go back to the classic past and quote from Roman, Greek, conflicts, the Bible. Then look forward and follow the trend to be punitive, to show them, to act in revenge, to do the pre-emptive strike, to see everything from your own perspective with no deflecting to admit there are other points of view to understand, with rituals that satisfy shallow sentiment and convention
“Key, fence sitter.”
You spelt “coward” wrong
‘
Home of the brave and land of the . . . ummm . . . what was it again?
Moar from the ACLU.
Meanwhile..
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/11/sweden-closes-prisons-number-inmates-plummets
Scandinavians understand crime and punishment.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/04/bastoy-norwegian-prison-works
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11157962
– An astute piece of commentary with some sage advice for Cunliffe…but is he man enough to take it?
c73 what utter trash
Remove your blinkers and you might see what a large portion of the voting public sees…
I think you mean what Armstrong wants the voting pubic to see with the help from his blue tinted glasses.
Not really, I’ve noticed (and if I’ve noticed then others must have) that when hes speaking to the converted hes all fire and brimstone and he’ll do this and he’ll do that and then at the end he’ll quietly say something like “if the books allow” but when hes talking to business groups the message changes considerably
“If the books allow” seems a fiscally responsible stance to have. I know you righties would like him to make huge promises he may not be able to deliver due to the economic straightjacket Nact have fastened, but it’s DC who is being astute in not over promising.
DC deserves praise for wanting to minimise gambling harm, and Key deserves scorn for caring more about the owners of a gambling den he gives preferential treatment to.
Yep, chris73 is upset because Cunliffe isn’t making rash promises.
Sucks because chris73 already had all his lines worked out so now he has to lie about reality to make it fit his fantasy.
“But the Labour leader seems to want to have it all ways. He told Parliament that Labour – if it won power – would not “dynamite” a half-built convention centre. Neither would it rip up the contract . Yet, Labour reserved the right to review the contract, particularly the number of gaming tables.
That would still amount to breaking the contract. But Cunliffe says Labour is not guaranteeing that it would pay compensation.”
Sky City certainly never got broad parliamentary agreement for this, so farken tough luck. If Sky City want to win a bid through avoiding process and Key personally leaving his mark on the landscape, well tough farken luck. If the process was open and rigorous and had achieved satisfaction from all major stakeholders, no problem. If we want to buy a few jobs by selling some sick gamblers to an arrogant Aussie corporate to feast on…well they weren’t going to vote National anyway right?
A voting pubic? With a blue tint?
Sounds like a style fashion to follow the Brazilian 🙂
Ha…well spotted 🙂
Any Avatar stars on the electoral roll should have their vote counted too!
For fender :
“the history of religion is the history of the state ” and they struggle on…
🙂 That Trevor Hodgett sure got a lesson he needed, what an appalling review. The Stormcock album is a masterpiece ffs!, hats off to (Roy) Harper he’s a one man rock and roll band
The voting public are sheep , C73, just they way you are having to play trollop in this site.
Large portions of the voting public, don’t see, or understand, squat!
FIFY
Baa
Large portions of the voting public, don’t see, or understand, squat!
– I won’t disagree thats why the headline of the article is so important, most people will read the headline and skim over the rest
So the headline is the most important (astute) thing in a one-eyed propaganda piece?
You should have just said that in your initial comment/link.
You vote for the Tories, Chris. They offer you your nirvana. Offer them advice.
Just don’t expect all parties to listen to Tories’ and their sage advice.
Something tells me that their advice has other motivations.
Maybe you should be posting your thoughts on right wing websites for your kind of people.
Well I’d offer them advice except that they one the last two elections and look like they’re on traack to win the next so I don’t think they need any
Then relax.
Find something better to do.
He can’t relax because it’s not really looking like “they’re on track to win the next” election.
Hoorayyy (slow clap) the blue team won.
Never mind the effects of the national govt on the people, environment, and economy of NZ.
drooling infant soils himself and leaves a mess for others to clean up.. thanks chris73
Geez I thought you guys would have gotten used to National being power by now, no matter you’ll have another three years for it to sink in
But seriously the reason they’ll get in is because the voters know they’ve done a good job in trying times
hope you’re enjoying the sunshine while it fades.
Certainly did, bought some new boots, went gun city to look at ammo and took the dogs to the dog park…a full day in my book (bit warm though)
change from re-loading your own ammo at Cameron’s then.
Ha. Some people got to the cinema to look at a movie, or Kelly Tarlton’s to look at fish. Tories go to gun city to look at ammo. Did it look back?
Yes, chris73, banksters, corporations, and millionaire property developers are very pleased with their investment in Nactional™ Inc.©®. You can bask in the glow of John Keys beatific smile and trust in his benevolent nature.
Just Armstrong in his PR for National guise.
Astute would be a poor word to use for that attempt to paint Cunliffe as some kind of two headed beast. If Armstrong thinks DC is a liar he should be ‘man enough’ to say so. Maybe you mean he’s astute for trying to sow seeds of doubt about Labours ability to be fiscally responsible when he says:
“Labour already has its work cut out convincing voters it would be a responsible manager of the economy without being lumbered with the perception that it might ride roughshod over a contract without paying compensation, and could yet do so.”
The whole piece just screams “I’ve got friends a SkyCity too, and we all want to know exactly what financial hit (if any) we could be in for.”
Maybe Chris you could point out the bits you feel are so ‘astute’…
I think Armstrong did basically call out Cunliffe as a liar but Armstrong doesn’t have the same protection as MPs so I guess he has to be a bit more circumspect
So you think it’s astute because he called DC a liar without using the word, wow you are easily pleased.
Yes thats exactly what I think
It’s a shame you don’t do that thinking a little more deeply.
John Armstrong does not get to write Labour policy on Sky City. Cunliffe is man enough to know that. I wish they would rip up the contract and refuse to pay compensation. Sky City should be paying us compensation instead.
noelle mccarthy to replace chris laidlaw on nat-rad sun-morn..?
..yes please..!
..phillip ure..
phillip ure
Noelle? Are you serious? Father Christmas would do as well. He has vast international, cultural and manufacturing experience. A man of the people and loved by nearly all.
What do you think about Mark Sainsbury then? His name has come up.
Chris Laidlaw does have a brain even if sometimes it is a bit RW. I do want someone who can match him and who has ideals and some background of proving them and can think about the hard subjects including philosophy ethics what it means to be human. How we can keep on living etc.
I don’t want to listen to mainly stories that would find their way into middle class magazines, how to garden, dress, listen to music,but it might be interesting to hear about fabrics that indicate your mood on a science bit. But actual thought, research – many of the invited commenters have written books. They have to be read by a really interested, able, literate interviewer so they can do the interview for the best result. We need to have a top notch thinker and presenter not just someone who has been around and has shown promise. Brian Edwards I think liked Paul Henry. We need someone better than those two for a start. No excuses for the crass style adopted by someone playing to the idle-brain gallery. Now I always like a sense of humour, but who is the butt, and how often? What about political satire? You have to understand more than which side your bread is buttered to do good stuff there.
The sort of dross that gets delivered is what gets largely delivered by Jim Mora. His what you would take on a journey to Mars is just not the modern version of being cast on a desert island. Today there are poohbas and curious coves who really want to spend a lot of money, sometimes their own, setting up space expeditions of various kinds. It’s part of the creepy modern world that we constantly enjoy the thought of being in the grip of the fabulously rich and powerful manipulating us from above and all around really, which shows that many of us don’t have two parts of a brain to rub together.
@ greywarbler..yes i am serious..
..if you have heard mccarthy subbing for mora..
..you will know that she is a very skilled broadcaster..
..one of her strengths is the amount of research/information she comes armed with..
..that combination of work-ethic and natural skills/intelligence/’oirish-charm’ is a potent/entertaining mix..
..and one of the marks of a good broadcaster is that ability to switch from the seemingly frivilous to the deeply serious..and to be good at both..and mccarthy can do that..
..’sainsbury’..?..now it is my turn to ask if you ‘are serious’..
..like laidlaw is now..sainsbury was flogged out in his final days..
..both just going thru the motions..
..none of the other suggestions..(save for mora taking sunday..and mccarthy taking his spot..)..comes within a bulls-roar of mccarthy…
(disclaimer:..i have never met/communicated with mccarthy..and have been critical of her in the past..)
phillip ure..
phillip ure
So its not just the carefully accented oirish then. And she will switch from serious mainly to frivolous only occasionally? guarantee? it would be good to have a bloke though. i think one or two men of perception are around i just want someone as good as kim hill but bald?
“.. i think one or two men of perception are around..”
..um..!..don’t mean to man-bash here..
..but got any names..?
..i can’t think of any..
..hirsute or not..
..and surely gender doesn’t matter..?
..quality of product should be the sole-determinant..
..eh..?
..phillip ure..
No phillip gender does matter. Men need to have role models too. I don’t want all the top Radionz announcing positions to go to women. Let’s try for equality here. Let’s get et searching for some good men.
Would they be able to come from private radio, or does that bend a bloke’s mind to unattractive pavlovian responses. What about television, likewise?
…..Noelle is completely up herself…..
……her politics wishy-washy in the extreme…….
…..and she was also done for plagiarism a few years back…..
…..why have I adopted the ridiculous ure-style……?
have you tried shaving..?
(but seriously..!..)
..don’t/didn’t you find it liberating to be free of those illogical-lingual-conceits..?
(and for true homage..ease back on the dots a bit..
..and throw in the odd -..
..otherwise a good effort..a b+..
..(it failed a tad on coherence of content..eh..?..)
phillip ure..
….ha ha….
…excellent….
Laidlaw has long since degraded into a kind of bourgeoise neurotic sludge, and should have been shovelled out of the Aegean Stables long ago.
We need someone under 30, with a sense of humor, who can provoke us to laughter, anger, and to a great book, within one hour.
over 30 definitely, 40-50 okay.
Graeme Hill for mine. Maybe the best ever BFM breakfast host (guess the accent may have been the greatest radio quiz ever!). High hipster quotient too; played in a top indy band and loves Italian football.
And he looks like Brian Edward’s love child, so there’s that.
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/hold-me-1990
+1
Looks don’t matter Te Reo Putake. And being a top musician, sports person , blah is not enough to get into the thinking-talking-heads in-group.
No, thank you!!
Russell Brand:
Paul Thomas writes:
It’s not Tea Party politics per se; it’s their character as people.
Any fool politician can destroy something.
It takes a leader to build something.
Something else to ignore.
/
Abstract
Changes in global (ocean and land) precipitation are among the most important and least well-understood consequences of climate change. Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations are thought to affect the zonal-mean distribution of precipitation through two basic mechanisms. First, increasing temperatures will lead to an intensification of the hydrological cycle (“thermodynamic” changes). Second, changes in atmospheric circulation patterns will lead to poleward displacement of the storm tracks and subtropical dry zones and to a widening of the tropical belt (“dynamic” changes). We demonstrate that both these changes are occurring simultaneously in global precipitation, that this behavior cannot be explained by internal variability alone, and that external influences are responsible for the observed precipitation changes. Whereas existing model experiments are not of sufficient length to differentiate between natural and anthropogenic forcing terms at the 95% confidence level, we present evidence that the observed trends result from human activities.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/11/05/1314382110
Chapters in a future history book of New Zealand??
NZ ‘God’s zone’ A dream of utopia on earth
1935 – 1984
NZ Corporate playground for the world’s elite
1984 – ??
Exactly, Paul
Recommended Reading
1. The Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise by Austin Mitchell
2. Pavlova Paradise Revisited
3. ???
Wanaka, Queenstown, Pauanui and a few of the gated communities up north already have full global playground status.
The Koru lounge before Queenstown flights – particularly before public holidays – is quite a network.
(the small-questions..eh..?..)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/is-there-an-afterlife-the-science-of-biocentrism-can-prove-there-is-claims-professor-robert-lanza-8942558.html
phillip ure..
So Colin Craig is trying to grab any remaining religious bigots that still vote Labour / New Zealand First
Craig – No mandate for Govt to sell more state-owned assets
LOL
Translation: Yes, we’re against asset sales but we’ll support continued selling of them when we enter coalition with National.
So that would put him in play as a potential Labour coalition partner as well.
Oh PLEASE!!! NO!!!!
As a locum for Mora, just as Lynne Freeman is as one for Rinny – maybe.
I’d hoped that at least weekends and nights could keep Natrad something worth listening to. I guess Sunday Mornings will soon become off limits.
Just as well there are other options.
You do surprise me Phillip! Still, stranger things have happened at sea.
btw – you’ll probably get your wish though.
Bill Ralston (that bastion of wisdom and sage advice, foreskin of what he himself described as “State TV”)) says if it was up to him, it’d be between Noelle and a Walrus. (Stuff 12/11/2013 from memory)
(Next: just watch Kim Hill signal her intention to resign – uphill shit push).
If it were up to me Phil – I’d rather see her on 7#.
Delve a little deeper!
tim..
i actually think freeman is better than the current inhabitant of that slot..
..a major quality that freeman has..is that she gives interview subjects the space to say/finish what they have to say/to make their case..if they have one..
….she doesn’t view it as a gladiatorial-contest..from the get-go..
..she seems to attempt interview more as a conversation..
..whereas the current seat-warmer does too often go all gladatorial from the get-go..
..it is her major fault as a broadcaster..
..and the current warmer (admits she) watches far too much fox-tv..
..and i think a process of osmosis has taken place..
..she has become quite ‘foxy’..
..and you listen to that nat-rad nite-person..?..crump..?..
..really..?
..whoar..!
..i think you are the first person i have ever met who does..
..careful..demographers/profilers/’ists’ of all sorts –
– will descend upon you..!
.phillip ure..
…. ffffff whoar!!!1 (core – hot pants brutha – MOVE over!)
Do I listen to that nitetime stuff with Barry or Bryan or whatever his name is – Bryan – yes him
… not often, probably once in the last 6 months, but what did strike me when I did was the diversity of sources (as contributors) to his? programme
I’m picking though that my reply to your last is now so passe as to now be irrelevant
…. next
…. next (with an upper case, octave higher-even inflecSHUN?)
….. nexxxt ??
This from Billy Boy Ralston on Stuff re Chris Laidlaw’s replacement on Sunday Morning:
“Blogger Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury: He’s too Left even for National Radio.”
Ignore the Bomber reference. Check out “…….even for National Radio”.
For Christ’s Sake Billy Boy. Where did that shit come from ?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/9408108/Top-talent-to-chase-Radio-NZ-spot
Why on earth would you “Ignore the Bomber reference”?
You aren’t treating it as being in some way derogatory are you?
After all the man himself positively wallows in its use. I personally think it is more appropriate for a person of 15 or so to adopt such a name than a middle-aged man but if he wants to use the nickname why shouldn’t everyone else?
sheesh..!..chill..!..alwyn..!
phillip ure..
don’t forget north..ralston was the coalface of the dismantling of any serious current-affairs/news-culture @ tvnz..
..he took it to its’ darkest place..
..as the unquestioning-tool of that current political-elite/elites-paradigm
..from which to this day it still struggles to return..
..ralston was the media-tool for the neo-lib-revolution..
..he spun/danced to that tune..
..in fact he led one of the bands..
..and he still sings those songs..
..that’s where that ‘shit comes from’..
..phillip ure..
the pieces of the case against ralston..
http://whoar.co.nz/?s=ralston
phillip ure..
Fantastic misunderstanding of my comment Alwyn – I was getting at Billy Boy’s pathetic assertion that National Radio is left wing, for Christ’s Sake. As it happens PU your comment pretty much reflects my appreciation of BB’s contribution (not) to political journalism.
OK. I see that this can be interpreted in two ways.
I read it as being two comments on the one opinion rather than the first part merely identifying the phrase you were talking about.
Sweet! . 😀
Well well:
NZ First believes in environmental sustainability but far too many of the Green Party’s comments are about “stopping everything”.
“We have difficulty understanding a lot of their intentions and motives,” Mr Peters says, adding that the chance of being part of a coalition that would include the Greens is “extremely remote“.
– Never say never with winnie but interesting comments
edX Courses for Horses.
Jazz appreciation? I prefer country…